So you come see a Lalas show. The choreography, costumes, staging, coordination, rehearsal, marketing, shameless self promotion – all those things – pieces of yummy cake. What takes the longest? Selecting the music. For myself, (hence – for The Lalas) choosing the perfect song is key for a burlesque act. Music is the basis of the entire idea, it’s where I get all the crazy ass ideas that you see on stage. THEN, I add the costumes, the staging, the choreography, the concept. But it all starts out with a song.
Doing the music for the shows (i.e. I’ve already started for 5.18.12 at The Federal Bar, and also for The Palms in June) is so time consuming – but I’m obsessed. I sit hunchback over my computer purchasing song after song – and I don’t bat an eyelash at buying over 100 songs in a sitting. It’s just how I roll. Then, the absolute second I hear ‘the’ song – I know I have it, and then everything falls into place.
When people approach me post Lalas show and say “LOVE your music” or – “I want to buy your show soundtrack” I am extremely content in knowing that I did my job. Because let’s face it – burlesque fan or not – if there is good good good music, they’ll be back.
So below is a list of some nugget gems of mine that I will continue to use. This list is primarily a little grainier than some traditional burlesque fans favor, but that is who The Lalas are. A little edgier, a little more off the beaten path. If you want big band stuff (which I absolutely love) – well, maybe I’ll make a different list. But the following list is guaranteed to get the audience toe tapping, and you – you little burlesque soloist – in the mood to start teasing and peeling off ‘them’ costumes!
I have probably heard each of these songs a minimum of 100 times, but I will never tire of them. There are definitely a few songs that I am keeping off the list because I don’t want the cat out of the bag – and if you love them that much – come to the show and Shazam them on your fancy iphone.
1. Led Zeppelin – I Can’t Quit You Baby
2. 60 Feet Tall – The Dead Weather
3. ZZ Top – La Grange
4. Hoochie Coochie Man – Muddy Waters
5. Devil Down In The Hole – Tom Waits
6. How You Like Me Now – The Heavy
7. What I’d Say – Ray Charles
8. I Can’t Get Next To You – Al Green
Add to the list!
OR
What songs would you like to see The Lalas perform to?
By now you’ve guessed it. A majority of my work is video editing – but I just LOVE doing it. I’m no pro, but going through the footage of The Lalas shows makes me giggle, at the girls little idiosyncrasies and what they do when they perform. Love my job! Check out the latest – and be sure to like us on facebook! www.facebook.com/thelalasburlesque
RARELY I mean rarely – do you see The Lalas in normal clothes. Here is your chance people! Bloopers, off choreography, nit picking – all the things that go into The Lalas show that noone else get’s to see
I want to know people. The question of the day:
Do you need technique and training to be considered a burlesque dancer?
For me, YES. Especially when you include the timing, presence, charisma and confidence that burlesque dancers exude. Everything shoots through the roof even if you have had basic training.
It’s as simplistic as the timing of peeling off a glove, posture, stance, the tilt of your head as you eyeball the audience and make them WAIT in anticipation of the next reveal. To me, that screams ALL things technique.
But what do you think? My Lalas are professional dancers and are trained in ballet modern jazz tumbling aerial and other specialty acts. What about the more traditional old school burlesque dancers though – even taking it back back to the origin of burlesque. They weren’t trained.
I’m a book nerd. If it wasn’t for my destino – meeting my husband and moving down to Manhattan Beach, The Lalas would have NEVER been born. With that said, my college dance history classes emphasized the ballet, the modern, and the jazz – and never thinking that I would actually have a burlesque group – and have it be a big portion of my career and life – I didn’t really know much about burlesque. Even when The Lalas were born, I didn’t know much. Um – girls stripping down – adding comedy – costumes – and BAM burlesque!
Shit – I still don’t know a lot – but after diving into some websites, and reading to my little heart’s content – I figure I’d share with you some quick facts you burlesque fans out there. Maybe you knew these things, maybe you didn’t. All I’m saying – is that it is good to flaunt a few facts now and then to know where the roots came from, and these little nuggets of wisdom will make you look uber cool at the next social burlesque show outing!
I’ll keep it short and sweet. There will be no quiz, but when you see The Lalas show next Friday, there are hints of history throughout – no matter what our songs are, no matter what our costumes look like.
Here we go!
1. The word Burlesque derives from: Italian burlesco, which means a joke, ridicule or mockery
2. Burlesque in a few critic’s minds led two lives: one in ancient Greece and then eventually all over Europe, where it was more focused on being a “play” and comedy – the other in America, where it was known more as a “striptease.”
3. In the 1840s, burlesque comedy skits entertained the lower and middle classes by making fun of (or “burlesquing”) the operas and the upper classes.
4. I’ve ready many articles that say that burlesque goes way way back to Athens where this writer named Aristophanes create and wrote plays in which the wives of Athenian soldiers hole up in the Acropolis, depriving their husbands of sex until the war was done. Basically the women were teasing their husbands, guiding their minds towards sex, and then locking that shit away. Sounds like burlesque to me!
5. When burlesque made its way to London – the first credited burlesque performance goes to a lass by the name of Lydia Thompson. She had a group of bleach blonde women called “The British Blondes” – the public was pissed and outraged that such women with fleshy legs big hips and big boobs would wear such revealing costumes – and her troupe grossed over 300,000 pounds in a year!
6. The same chick Lydia Thompson brought her group over to NYC in the 1860s and that was where burlesque began to boom. Burlesque clubs were associated with booze – hence when prohibition began it took a serious hit.
7. After World War II the pinup brought back the hay day of burlesque and it has been rocking ever since. There are hundreds of thousands of burlesque groups today – and whether they are modernizing the traditional art form, or are keeping it old school – I give a big fat thumbs up to all keeping this art alive.
Long Live The Lalas!
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I don’t know what it is about this week, but as I dig into my old Lalas files, I keep pulling up and reminiscing on how we were in our FIRST 2 shows. I just think that we have come a long long way, and like my midwest momma says – DON’T forget your roots!
With that said, check out this very first promo reel, made in November 2009
And look where we are now! Better costumes, production value, themes, content, solos, music, EVERYTHING. I love how we got our start, and how much we have grown since!
I awoke at 5:30am to be on set for the ABC comedy Suburgatory! Not only was I choreographing a hilarious scene, but I brought on board 2 of the lovely Lalas – Camille & Erika to dance in the scene! It was a blast, and I’m so thankful to have booked the job. Stay tuned for the episode, it is the season finale – pictures on the next page!
From set, I went home, got ready, and headed to The Belasco to meet up w/ TK, Melissa & Saraanne to rock out the Valentines day show. Damn I love watching those girls dance. Here is a link of all of the pictures of the event taken by the lovely Collin-Young-Wolff!
As I’m working on this brand new spanking show that is making its appearance next Friday at SKinny’s Lounge – I am constantly searching and creating and looking for new music to morph into a burlesque show, a solo, an act. ANYTHING. It is one of my favorite things to do, it is also one of the things that makes me want to gouge my eyes out. I have close to 10K songs on my itunes, and sometimes I feel like I have NO music.
Burlesque is subjective, but in my eyes it is all in the music, and all in the performer. Music first because that helps create the story, engage the audience. Make them sit at the edge of their seats or whip out their iphone and take a picture. To get toes tapping, slight head nods, and giggles from the audience – I am victorious. Anything else- and I never use the song again. The brilliant thing about choreographing is that – you are not ALWAYS on point. Maybe us artists are all just self depracating folk, but I have sat in my own Lalas shows and have said – AHHHHH, shit. That doesn’t work. I hate it. I’m never using it again. And that is OK – b/c atleast I’m branching out – always pushing some sort of envelope. Atleast I’m not recycling the same show over and over again. There is nothing wrong with it – lots of groups do it – and I do it with some #s. But whole shows? IT just ain’t me.
That leaves me to – what songs will I ALWAYS want to use, and NEVER tire from. Take it from me, I like The Lalas performing once a month, it gives me time to make this shit up, BUT – there are some solos I could just have The Lalas perform over and over and over and over again. And I will never tire. I don’t care if it sounds like I’m a dance mom and these are my babies on stage. The shit is rad.
Here are my top ten bitching awesome rocking amazing burlesque songs that I have on CONSTANT rotation even when I’m working on non-Lalas projects.
1. Colleen, The Heavy
2. I Can’t Quit You Baby – Led Zeppelin
3. 60 Feet Tall- The Dead Weather
4. What I’d Say – Ray Charles
5. I Just Want to Make Love to You – Muddy Waters
6. Nice Tits no Tats – Big Willie’s
7. Sway – Rosemary Clooney
8. Summertime – Janis
9. Down in The Hole – Tom Waits
10. New Dog Blues – The Flying Neutrinos
Listen to them, love them and create your own. Lord knows I do!
Back to this show next week. Skinny’s, Friday the 27th, 2012. 8:30pm – ONE big fat f-in burlesque show with an intermission. More details on our gigs page. Follow us on @lalasburlesque, general admission ticket giveaways happening today!
