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Cupcake pasties! Yes, these are friggin' adorable! A couple more color options will be coming shortly!
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| Chicago Burlesque Dancer Red Hot Annie Weinert She really makes the wieners boil! |
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Cupcake pasties! Yes, these are friggin' adorable! A couple more color options will be coming shortly!
The Chicago Reader has just released their "Best of Chicago 2013" ballot. Don't forget to voice your support for your favorite businesses, and be sure to write in your favorite burlesque troupe.
We'd be tickled if you mentioned Vaudezilla!  VOTE NOW: http://posting.chicagoreader.com/chicag
DRUMROLL, please!!
Introducing Vaudezilla's newest ensemble members:  Zara Estelle (burlesque) - this high-energy, high-kicking dance phenom brings a jolt of electricity to Vaudezilla. Strong, limber, and intense, Zara will bring down the house by sheer force of dance technique.  Brittny Congleton (variety) - the perfect blend of comedy, sketch, and music, Brittny has infused Vaudezilla with a sense of spontaneity through improv. Funny, pretty, and always in the moment, when she's not creating a off-kilter, lovable character (and often, even when she is), you'll find Brittny hosting many of our upcoming events!  Sadie O'Swirl (variety) - part songstress, part vaudeville comedian, Sadie puts Vaudezilla back in touch our old-school burlesque roots through her developed sense of polished patter. Sometimes funny, sometimes sexy, always adorable, Sadie O'Swirl is one heck of a girl! http://vaudezilla.com/cast.html
New images with the love of my life, Dick Dijon!
 3 Images Red Hot Annie & Dick Dijon for "Vaudezilla!" weekly Chicago burlesque show at Stage 773 Saturdays, 10:30pm -- tickets at http://Vaudezilla.com MC Newman - http://mnewman1.photobiz.com/ Chicago burlesque showgirl - Red Hot Annie - http://redhotannie.com
Yes, I made these adorable UFO Spaceship pasties for Trixie Sparx's X-Files act last night. You, too, can own a pair for a mere $30 (including LEDs). Check'm out: 
Enjoy the new surprise ending! :)
Images from April's "Vaudezilla!" show at Stage 773.
  6 Images on Flickr "Vaudezilla!" Weekly Chicago Burlesque Show at Stage 773 - Saturdays at 10:30pm Images by Oomphotography - http://http://oomphotography.com/ Chicago burlesque performer Red Hot Annie - http://redhotannie.com
Lookie lookie at these adorable fridge magnets made by yours truly! You get a pair of two for $5!
 And - little known fact -if you buy something from my Etsy shop, every penny of your purchase (including shipping) goes to someone I know who needs it more than I do. :) xo Annie
New video from my new act (in development):
Images from April's "Vaudezilla!" show at Stage 773.
  6 Images on Flickr "Vaudezilla!" Weekly Chicago Burlesque Show at Stage 773 - Saturdays at 10:30pm Images by Oomphotography - http://http://oomphotography.com/ Chicago burlesque performer Red Hot Annie - http://redhotannie.com
New images! Enjoy!
  6 Images on Flickr Image by David de Lara (Austin TX) - http://www.daviddelara.com/ Chicago burlesque performer Red Hot Annie - http://redhotannie.com Feathers by Fancy Feather (10% off with code "Vaudezilla") - http://fancyfeather.com
This really gave me a hoot this morning! Hahaha!
One of the very first group acts I ever choreographed for Vaudezilla. All those miles and miles of ruffles sewn on skirts! What a hilarious learning experience, overall! A fond memory, to be sure! :) I think we should bring this one back - it's actually stood the test of time, choreography-wise, more than I would have thought, although it would all benefit from some pre-act stretching & technique adjustments! LOVE IT!! :)
So glad I waited this long (nearly five years of producing) until I started putting together this weekly show.
 I'm most grateful that my skin has gotten so thick. A weekly show can be one of the most trying things on a burlesque ensemble. If you're lucky, you've got a team that will give you a relatively constant stream of feedback - good, bad, and otherwise, but will still "buy in" even if their ideas aren't implemented, because they see the bigger picture and opportunity for growth. But that doesn't mean that the feedback will be easy to swallow. It's comforting to realize that I'm at the point in my business where I can finally sit back, listen, and not take any of it personally, and I can really hear some AMAZING ideas because of that. The first four week series (After Dark) of "Vaudezilla!" was more successful than I believed it could be - we got a couple great reviews, sold out a couple of the shows, and had a great audience at each and every show. Now, as I look forward to the next five weeks of Naughty Nostalgia, and what it means to produce a show where I'm not even part of the ensemble for four to six weeks, I'm humbled by how far we've come. It's incredible to me that I have finally found such a great, cohesive group of performers who believe in the evolution of a show and are willing to roll up their sleeves and make it into something special. We are not pretty girls doing pretty, sexy things while the men take the "heavy lifting." We are leaders, teachers, and creatives working towards a common goal - we are comedians, actors, dancers - AND burlesque performers - all rolled into one filthy, glitter-filled package. Vaudezilla has never been complacent. And it shows. We started by inventing the sustainable free bar show, where performers get paid for performing on a regular weekly/monthly basis. There was no such thing prior to our arrival on the local scene, and even nationally, most performers have never heard of this kind of arrangement. We instituted a variety of sustainable ways to systematize one's show, as well as larger scale ways of making burlesque into a business, many of which are now used locally to many producer's success. Like every other burlesque troupe that has ever existed, we've lost performers - and not very many, considering the hundreds of shows we've produced in just five years, the mandatory weekly rehearsals that include candid act critiques, and my own personal shortcomings - when applicable! :) But, we've also expanded and refined how we introduce new performers into the world of burlesque in a way that's most supportive of their skills - and with every new project, we have fearlessly experimented with our formatting, our ensemble, our production crew, and more. With every year, we are able to put more and more money into our performer's pockets. Two years ago, spurred on by an explosion of personal suffering and a desire to rise above it, I opened my first storefront - a dance studio. It's hard to believe that Vaudezilla Studios has been around for two years, and from the looks of things, there's no sign of slowing down! Having the studio has allowed our performers to further refine their performance, communication, and business skills by allowing many of us a level of autonomy and leadership when teaching - and has let us put more money into our performer's pockets. While many may fumble with issues like performer pay, we are continuing to reinvent the way our performers are compensated, and building a business that allows us to put several thousand dollars into the majority of our performer's pockets each year. And it's not because I'm awesome (which I am), it's because I've always held strong to the Aaron Sorkin's little word of advice: "If you're dumb, surround yourself with smart people. If you're smart, surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you." My team is what has made it all happen. We are creating the sustainable burlesque ensemble. xo Annie
A bunch of new pasties added today! Enjoy the ever-growing selection!         
In classes this session, I challenged myself to create faster acts for my Basic & Intermediate classes. I personally tend more towards slower songs, so it was a really fun exercise. Fun enough that it inspired me to create my own fast-paced act (Cheeky Tease - http://redhotannie.com/videos/cheekytea
I'm looking forward to my short hiatus in 2 weeks, where I'll be resting easy and healing from hip surgery. I've got a little tear in the cartilage on my hip joint - something brought on by my own personal physiological makeup (rather than an injury, per say). Turns out I'm pretty "knobby" in there and that combined with being naturally extra flexible has caused some rubbing away and a small tear. It's been causing me some pain for the last year or so, as well as some minor instability, so it's time to get it fixed. Fun! Strangely, this will be the first time in 5+ years where I'll have taken more than 2 weeks away from performing, so I really feel like the hiatus is overdue and will do positive things for me, physically, emotionally, and creatively! Even if I bounce back within a couple weeks (I'm optimistic, since I'm healthy as a horse), I've scheduled things so that I've got the full month of May off before I can even try to be in a show or teach a class. :) That said, I feel like I can't talk about this hip surgery without expressing gratitude for having a team who can keep everything running and in tip-top shape while I'm "away." I know many small business owners who would be afraid of taking it easy for a month, but I've been really lucky to find so many dependable people/artists in my line of work. It isn't easy, and I'm grateful for what hard-workers they are. Anyways, that's the update du jour. I'm performing this Saturday (your last chance to see me perform publicly til June):  Vaudezilla! (After Dark) Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont Av, Chicago IL Saturday, April 27, 10:30pm $18 Hugs & kisses! Annie |
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