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A review of my appearance at the World Burlesque Games!
http://www.thisiscabaret.com/review-wor
http://www.thisiscabaret.com/review-wor
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| Chicago Burlesque Dancer Red Hot Annie Weinert She really makes the wieners boil! |
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Hope to see you at one of my upcoming shows this weekend!
Friday, May 18, TBD - Show Me Burlesque Fest Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd, St Louis MO ($35) - more details  ---------------------------------------- Saturday, May 19, 10:30pm - Vaudezilla's Burlesque Bandstand Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont Av, Chicago IL ($19) - more details 
I'll be judging tomorrow's competition in Kansas City!
Looking forward to seeing what the ladies & gents are bringing! xo Saturday, Apr 28, 8pm - Kansas City Burlesque Fest (Judge) Uptown Theater Complex, 3700 Broadway, Kansas City MO ($20) - more details 
What a fun show last night. There's something absolutely invigorating about developing a show that is as complex and unusual as CarniVAUDE. It really puts me back in touch with my theatre roots, which I occassionally miss in a big way!
I'm so proud of my cast & crew. We did it!
Hey lookie! I'm a winnrar! :)
 Yay! What a lovely year 2012 has been!
Getting everything ready for Texas Burlesque Fest where I'll be competing! It's a fun lineup, full of unique and lovely performers, so I'd be honored to win any title!
I'm bringing my Art-Tease-T act! Woot, woot! I'll be performing on Saturday night at 8:30pm in Austin TX http://www.texasburlesquefestival.com/
Here's your opportunities to see me perform for the rest of April!
---------------------------------------- Saturday, Apr 14, 8:30pm - Texas Burlesque Fest / Competition The Marchesa, 6226 Middle Fiskville Rd, Austin TX ($30-40) - more details ---------------------------------------- Friday, Apr 20, 7:30pm - Marijuanarama! Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N Milwaukee Av, Chicago IL ($12) - more details  ---------------------------------------- Saturday, Apr 21, 10:30pm - Vaudezilla presents Fatally Cool Burlesque Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont Av, Chicago IL ($18) - more details  ---------------------------------------- Thursday, Apr 26, 8pm - Kansas City Burlesque Fest Uptown Theater Complex, 3700 Broadway, Kansas City MO ($20) - more details ---------------------------------------- Saturday, Apr 28, 8pm - Kansas City Burlesque Fest (Judge) Uptown Theater Complex, 3700 Broadway, Kansas City MO ($20) - more details ----------------------------------------
Oh my goodness, only 11 days to go, and still 'bout $1100 to raise. Truly, any backing is appreciated, even $1! If you can't donate, please help me spread the word! ♥
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vau
Today, I've got a couple private classes at the studio and then I'm going to start getting ready for St Louis this weekend - I've got canvases to paint and props to add embellishment to.
I can't believe that the (almost) the whole troupe is going to be traveling down to St Louis tomorrow. We'll miss Jeezy, Mia, & Jackie, of course, but everyone else will be there! And - if you can believe it, we've already sold a TON of tickets. That's very exciting and unexpected! I really hope we have a nice crowd, of course! Maybe I'll see some of my St Louis friends/fans at the show. Don't be afraid to say "Hi!" after/between the shows - I love to meet new people, and I'm not at all shy! <3 ![](http://redhotannie.com/img/jumpinjupiter2.jpg") Friday, Apr 6, 9pm - Vaudezilla's Second City Burlesque Jumpin Jupiter, 7376 Manchester Rd, Maplewood MO ($20) more details: http://vaudezilla.com/events.html xo Annie
I'm Kickstarting my first aerial act. Thank you in advance for any support!!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vau
I'm just finishing up this great book called "Thinking: Fast & Slow" which really undermines the idea that our judgements and decisions are rational.
One of the chapters that struck me in particular dealt with "pain" - in the chapter, the author (Daniel Kahneman) demonstrates how we are willing to tolerate longer periods of subdued pain over shorter periods of more extreme pain. His experiment was, essentially, to have subjects put their hand in: (1) extraordinarily uncomfortable cold water for 60 seconds (2) extraordinarily uncomfortable cold water for 60 seconds, followed by 30 seconds of slightly less uncomfortable cold water (although still painful) The result? People preferred option #2! Their memory of the painful incident had nothing to do with the duration of the pain, and everything to do with the peak feeling of pain and how it felt at the end. One of my favorite tidbits from the book is here: "In the cold-hand experiement, the error reflects two principles of memory: duration neglect and the peak-end rule. The mechanisms are different but the outcome is the same: a decision that is not correctly attuned to the experience. Decisions that do not produce the best possible experience and erroneous forecasts of future feelings - both are bad news for believers in the rationality of choice...Tastes and decisions are shaped by memories, and the memories can be wrong. The evidence presents a profound challenge to the idea that humans have consistent preferences and know how to maximize them, a cornerstone in the rational-agent model." Indeed, I think about all the relationships I've personally abandoned because of a particularly sharp and painful moment, plus the pain of deterioration as the relationship was ending! Regardless of all the good things within the relationship, I sometimes shrug the whole thing off as an ugly experience with an ugly person! It doesn't change a whole lot, but at least I take solace in knowing that it's irrational...but inately human! Great book - I highly recommend it for folks who are interested in behavior, communication, and how our brains work! xo Annie
Starting to contemplate what costume pieces & movement sections I have time to polish and adjust before getting into the thick of festival season. None of the acts that I'm traveling with need anything other than some costume adjustments (repairs, mostly) and the movement sections really only need to get more specific in some cases.
This was one of the first things that really attracted me to burlesque - the ability to refine an act over time! It's also another something I've been trying to break down and examine so I can teach it. Sometimes you see an act and it's hard to tell what needs to happen to make the act more refined. Here's my first stab at a new graph that helps you make educated choices about where your act is in development! As always, your feedback and thoughts are welcome! Obviously, like all graphs or systems, a person could have some elements from a higher Phase and still have an act that is in the lower Phases, or vice-versa. It's not fool-proof, but certainly a good tool when learning burlesque - or as a professional who finds herself stuck! The Life Span of a Burlesque Act
I'd love your feedback - have you ever felt stuck in one of these phases? I know I personally have perfectly acceptable acts that fall into Phase 3 and no desire to push them up to Phase 4, instead trying other concepts that I think have better potential to be "Crowd Favorites!" What do you think? xo Annie
There's no way I can cover all of the things that happened this weekend, so I'll touch on so of my favorite highlights.
I got to see my beautiful niece! I did a new trick in aerial class! Jeezy's Juke Joint was a no-holds-barred success. Arguably the best show I've ever seen in Chicago, and certainly within the top 3! Perle Noire was electric, but the cast was totally made up of excellent performances. I made it into Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend in June. For those of you who don't know what this is: http://burlesquehall.com - it's the single largest burlesque event in the world - the Mecca of Burlesque - many performers make a yearly pilgrimage to watch the legends perform, as well as watch the industry's best performers compete for titles. Not only am I performing, but Jeez Loueez also made it in with her duet with Ray Gunn! It truly is a banner year for Vaudezilla! I got to hang out with the lovely and well-educated Chicava Honeychild (http://browngirlsburlesque.com/) all weekend, which turned out to be a perfect match, since we're both the kinds of folks who like to analyize the inner workings of the burlesque "business" model. Such great conversations! The rest of the month promises to be very quiet, and I have to admit I'm really grateful for it - getting into BHOF as thrown a proverbial wrench in my budgeting for travel this year. You see, I didn't think I had a shot in hell to get into London or BHOF, so I applied to a bunch of other festivals, too - all of which are coming back with "yes"... Momma did not anticipate all this travel! So I'm spending much of April/May out of town, and I still have a trip to Montreal for my good friend's wedding later this year, plus I'm doing a lot of new work for Windy City Burlesque Fest (organizing sponsors & hospitality), and we're planning on remounting Big Lebowski Burlesque... Plus our regular monthly theatre shows, which are developing into their own peices of art. I'm so proud to be part of really special shows in Chicago, but putting together cohesive shows with curated, polished acts is a lot of work. It's the reason why you're far more likely to see "every man for himself" type cabaret/bar shows or "anyone can do burlesque" novice shows in Chicago than thoughtful, professional works. And it's also why you can't charge $30 or $40 for a ticket...YET! (Not unreasonable...if the people attending know they are in for professional-level quality!) It is my goal to have the highest price ticket (and best pay) in Chicago (while still selling out at full price, no groupons) by the end of the year. I don't see the performers in Vaudezilla as hobbyists! (Duh!) My vision for Vaudezilla is as a group of performers who work together to create really thoughtful, boutique shows that speak to the heart of my performers first - thereby giving them a reason to express and create something special and exhilarating that our audience craves. So much more than a cheap thrill, my vision is of Vaudezilla as a kind of "Cirque" of Chicago burlesque. Unique, clever, full of diverse talent, and visually stunning. Anyways, that's what I'm thinking about this morning! Hope y'all have a lovely day! xo Annie |
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