Links to performers-inspiration sources and info [desperately] invited... And I'll tell you why...

Those of us who dont sing, play an instrument, and prefer to save the audience from suffering a striptease (honestly, I'd love to get my kit off but it really is the audience I am thinking of), then what excuses can we find to get ourselves on to the stage?

Does anyone else cast their mind accross the miscellaneous varieties of acts past and present but still find themselves left gropping desperately for performance inspiration? Possibly my lack of experience in the performing arts is showing? You see, for those of you that don’t know me, I haven't yet made it onto a stage larger than the kareoke machine at the Spiral Staircase... (is that still open these days) but we all need a dream, don't we!

"Well what can you do?" my friend asked me last Saturday night as we propped up the bar watching the lights rotate round the otherwise empty dance floor. Oh my God, there is so much to choose from, thought I! ... and promptly avoided the subject by concentrating on the effort it was taking me to cross my fishneted legs and hook one heel up on the foot bar of my stool (I had spent so long sewing the lace trims onto the hem of my skirts - yes I was wearing three - I was bloody well going to have the masterwork admired) without suffering from the 'guillotine effect' (if you don’t know don’t ask!).

But avoiding thinking about it is not going to produce a routine worthy of performance is it. Of course, we identified quite a lot of skills - none of which, sadly, can I claim to have. Here's an example of our musings:

Acrobat Aerialist Balloon Modeller Caricature-Artist Clown Comedian Compere Contortionist Drummer Face-Painter Fakir Fan-Dancer Fire-Performer Hand-Balancer Juggler Lookalike Magician Mime-Artist Puppeteer Robot Rope Walker Statue Stilt-Walker Striptease-Artist Sword-Swallower and Unicyclist.

Despite being faced with my list of negatives, my friend bravely persevered with me, "So what would you LIKE to do?" On this occasion I will save you from the list of wonderful acts that have produced a cry of "Oh, Oh, I could do that!" but suffice to tell you that we agreed how a cabaret act that is creative, lively and, above all, fun to watch and to perform, can come in an infinate range of shapes and sizes. Well, of course, but still the old question of inspiration, story and choreography. "Oh bugger...", I summarised, "...now I feel like such an awful failure!"

"No wonder this conversation is going from bad to worse", my sagely friend pointed out, "...what I meant to ask was, what do you REALLY REALLY want to do?" lol. Well why hadn't he said so in the first place? I really, really want to be a burlesque dancing girl performing in my Moulin Rouge finery, of course. Bloody obvious wasn't it?

I took part in a wonderful big-stage-style Charleston routine last month, you know the sort of thing, lots of jumping into Lindy-style back-charleston steps with a few mini-ariels thrown in for extra wow factor. It looked pretty good with ten of us syncronised and such a shame the boys'n'gals didn’t want to take it further and do a performance.

But I still have the promise from a girl friend of mine, who intends to sign up for one of the forthcoming burlesque workshops, that she'll take to the stage with me for a double act. I rather fancy the 'Fairytale Mime with Dance' idea - well perhaps I'll sleep on that idea!

Oh, did I mention, I am a 6'2" guy (6'6" in heels!).

Links to performers-inspiration sources and info [desperately] invited.
Yours hopefully
Karma
x

The moulin Rouge advertises for boy and girl dancers in the stage news paper.
couldn't hurt going to an audition.

Funny girls in blackpool is a constant stream of inspiration.

So is the fabulouse juliet dragon .

google her or check my my space for a link.

heathersweet_wastaken x x x x x x

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buxom bimbo and political poltergeist

hey there...

if i might suggest a couple of things...

write a list of what you can do - everything!!!!

eat crackers ?
trampoline ?
knitting ?

write another list of characters you think you would love to be.....

JFK ?
Ghandi ?
christopher dean ?

are you funny ? , theatrical, scary, or wierd in any way ?

and some music that you just got to move to : )

then see what you come up with..

x x x

redsarah

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Winner "Best Female Performer 2007" MOB Awards
Mistress of Make Believe
Veteran of Circus and British Burlesque
http://www.redsarah.com
http://www.myspace.com/cherrybombola

i'd say go with redsarah's idea.

and to be honest, i'm many of those things on your list and i still struggle to come up with ideas. Sometimes it's harder to put a skill into an act than to just be yourself and play a character. Trust me, watching someone juggle for four minutes can be excruitating

Don't believe you have to be super-talented to be on the stage...one of the most beautiful acts i've ever seen was in ladyboys of bangkok when the main dancer takes off her make-up and reveals herself as a man to the theme of "my way".I nearly wept!

have a good look on wikipedia.org it's really good for connecting styles and introducing new performers....

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www.frayedknot.org.uk
http://www.myspace.com/ameliesoleil

I'm a 6'2" guy! We must be related or something! Anyhoo, there's all sorts of reasons for people to get on stage:

Give fake town meetings.

Speak at strangers funerals.

Invent a dance (that's crazy) and give it a crazy name (like the Jiggle-pants) and show it to people when there's an excess of ten people around you.

Learn poi- hey, I'm considering making money from swinging weights on string about.

Learn an instrument- hey shut up! You can, I'm teaching myself to play the viloin- Yeah shut up- I'm pretty good alright. I've learned Blackadder, blind date, Red Dwarf and Dallas. I'm 24 and am forcing music into my receeding brain, so make a list of life ambitions or something and dedicate your life to pursuing them.

Or something.

Fake your death.
Then go to your funeral and see who turned up.
Haunt the buggers who didn't with Scoby Doo mirror effects.

Do stand up. Practice first though.

Join the Blue Man Group. They're aliens who paint drums.

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"Sometimes things that look like things often look more like things than things." - Esmerelda Weatherwax.
http://www.myspace.com/effsix
http://www.effsix.com

Thank you for the sound advice. Do watch this space and I'll let you all know what we come up with for a first public performance.

Can anyone else share their secret sources of inspiration?
K

It depends.

For one routine I utilise my special skills, i.e. the skills I use when I'm at work. If your job requires any use of manual dexterity or something similar, hijack it!

Sometimes songs I like inspire certain dance moves and I build up routines from that.

Or sometimes just a part of a costume can build up into a character if I think about it long enough.

But my favourite is the random inspiration - you're just walking along and something springs into your head!

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Terry Pratchett to Fleur - "Oh, are you the cleavage lady?"
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