Create a burlesque act that stands out
in the safety of your own home.
Enrollment Now OPEN for Burlesque from the Inside Out Live Online Course
September - November, 2020
Tuesdays 5pm or Wednesdays 11am
Create and confidently perform a soul-nourishing, passionate, custom act...the kind that leaves you feeling more alive and at home in your body than you might have thought possible.
Burlesque from the Inside Out LIVE ONLINE program
Nine Week Live Online Program with 1:1 + Group Coaching with Kellita the Showgirl Shaman
* Limited to 8 participants *
Dear Friend,
Starting in 2010, I began offering a live, in-person program I now call Burlesque… from the Inside Out to guide women to create burlesque solo performance acts.
Over the years, I've guided womxn (and one man!) to craft 100+ performance pieces (including the concept, choreography and costumes); pieces they could be proud of and couldn’t wait to perform. Pieces that left their audience gasping with astonishment and laughing with delight. And I then saw them perform it and leave the stage glowing. And feeling free, feeling powerful, feeling accepted for all of who they are. Feeling like they had come home to their bodies.
Dear Friend,
Starting in 2010, I began to offer a live, in-person program I now call Burlesque… from the Inside Out to guide women to create burlesque solo performance acts.
Over the years, I guided womxn (and one man!) to craft 100+ performance pieces (including the concept, choreography and costumes); pieces they could be proud of and couldn’t wait to perform. Pieces that left their audience gasping with astonishment and laughing with delight. And I then saw them perform it and leave the stage glowing. And feeling free, feeling powerful, feeling accepted for all of who they are. Feeling like they had come home to their bodies.
“I wore a tighter shirt and sarong to work today. Went to my regular Peet's on the way to work - one of the Peets guys who knows me, on other side of counter, asked what was different... ‘new hair? makeup?’ From where he stood he could only see my head & shoulders. Ha ha ha, no time to tell him the whole story. Just smiled. :)”
~ Sunny Delight
I had NO idea that offering Burlesque…from the Inside Out as an online performance coaching program could be as powerful as the live in-person I led over the last decade. I'm so happy to say that in many ways it's a deeper and more intimate experience!
This is an online course for kind, smart, sensitive, soulful women looking to create & perform a burlesque solo that truly comes from inside of them.
And this is the central piece here: the act comes from inside you.
Why does this matter?
It is an opportunity for you to call home some parts of yourself that somewhere along the way got edited out of your experience. And not just to call those aspects back home, but to celebrate them, and create directly from them.
What’s Unique About My Approach To Creating Burlesque Performances?
I believe that what I call the 3 R’s (Reveling in your body, Revealing your radiant essence & Receiving what you desire) are the essential foundation of a good act, and that without them, the commonly named 3 C’s (Choreography, Costuming, & Concept) stand no chance of landing with the audience, or the performer, for that matter.
There are 3 Secrets to Burlesque Routines That Audiences Love and Leave Raving About ::
There are a lot of ways that a routine can go right or wrong. Why do some work and others don’t? I know that many people would focus on the ‘Three C’s’ of choreography, costuming and concept. But I’ve seen hundreds of performances that were a 10/10 on all three C’s and yet left the audience bored, yawning or somehow disengaged. So, what’s really at the root of why certain performances fall flat or leave the performer feeling ‘off’ even if the audience responded just as they’d dreamed?
I believe it’s these three things. If you get these right, the Three C’s will shine to their fullest, if you get them wrong, no amount of innovative choreography, ornate costuming or clever concept will be enough. When you really understand the following three distinctions, your performances will come alive in a way you never imagined possible.
Mimicking is when the artist is mimicking movements she learned that she thinks look good or sexy. Reveling in her body is what happens when the artist is fully present and confident, regardless of what what she’s wearing or how she’s moving. Reveling is when the artist is present in the very center of herself. Instead of making an exaggerated pin-up inspired facial expression, she might be standing center stage taking a deep breath with a neutral gaze to arrive fully in her body. Instead of strutting in stiletto heels in a prescribed way that she learned is ‘sexy,’ she might choose to be barefoot--or wear combat boots or tennis shoes--if she feels more in her own skin that way. Whatever she is wearing or however she is moving, she is certainly aware of all that she is both sensing physically and feeling emotionally and is working with that, and using it as fuel for her expression.
When she’s performing in reaction to something (either rebellion OR submission). By reacting, I mean she is using her act exclusively as a way of being outrageous for outrageousness sake. She is expressing what she is not, who she is not, who she is flipping off, instead of expressing who she IS. By submitting, I mean the artist is on stage to be pretty or funny, to fit in with what she thinks will give her acceptance, to simply entertain the audience. She’s essentially wearing a mask. Revealing happens when the artist is radiantly coming alive, full of vitality, truly expressing herself. Revealing happens when she has transcended her need either to push against, or succumb to whatever social or personal obstruction exists to her being herself. We’ve been trained for so long to be pretty &/or funny to earn acceptance and praise. When the artist has had her full fill of OMG and WTF at how she’s been oppressed and not seen and not heard and not mirrored and not appreciated, and then instead of calcifying in anger about it all, or drowning in grief and powerless surrender, she takes the time and care to choose what she would like to create with her life, in this case, beginning with her burlesque solo. She uses her solo to create a template for the life she chooses to live, and to inspire others from her very example.
When the artist is moving constantly, with an absence of stillness she is actually blocking connection with her audience, and with herself.. When the artist incorporates enough artful stillness (read: continues to breath throughout it) in her performance she is allowing herself to both deepen her tangible presence and the possibility of giving and receiving between her and her audience. Before an artist has even shown me her act, I can be 90% sure that if I could only give one piece of feedback that would be most useful it would be to do LESS. To move less. To take more time with the chosen movements. An artist doesn’t need to do much on stage to completely captivate an audience.
So, you have the Three C’s of choreography, costuming and concept.
And you have the Three R’s of Reveling in your body, Revealing your radiant essence and Receiving what you desire.
How do they relate?
I believe that The Three C’s of must be in service to the Three R’s. If it’s the other way around, there is no life in your act.
- The 3 C’s are like the light bulb and the 3 R’s are like the electricity that moves through it.
- The 3 C’s are like the windmill and the 3 R’s are like the wind.
- The 3 C’s are essential, but without the 3 R’s, they are like a body without life, rather than a living, breathing, animated body.
- The Three C’s are the ego and the Three R’s are the soul.
Why am I offering this as an online program?
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1. Create a global new Burlesque Culture:
With Burlesque from the Inside Out, we’re aren’t just creating burlesque acts, we’re creating a new way of creating together. Creating individual pieces of embodied art in each solo, and creating a new way of seeing and relating to ourselves and each other that is affirming, liberating, respectful, empowering and life-giving. I love sharing this with groups of women who gather from all over the world together at once.
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2. Safety & Privacy:
Taking Burlesque from the Inside Out (BIO) live online also allows you more privacy in your creation process, should you want that. I know many women for whom it may be too scary to show up in a room with other people and move improvisationally in front of these new people. Some women need tiny steps and there’s no shame in that. Some women, for a thousand and one good reasons, need to have more choice about and control in how much they show someone else their process. The live BIO program offers the alive, magic of taking risks while being compassionately held by an intimate group. The online version offers a deep safety and control in the privacy of your own home where you get to choose when, where, how and with whom you share your work (if you ever do).
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3. Greater Convenience:
I also want to remove the potential barrier of travelling to San Francisco. For years, I’ve known of many women who have wanted to attend but, once they factored in travel and accomodations, realized they couldn’t afford the time or money. PLUS: travel is kind of prohibited right now during the pandemic!
This Could Be Perfect For You If You...
You’re excited about the idea of creating a Burlesque act you feel proud of and comfortable with.
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Warm to the idea of mind, body & spirit unifying activities, and likely you’ve tried yoga, but you’re seeking a more vivacious way to feel at one with yourself. You’re ready to take the confidence you may have in another part of your life, into your relationship with your body and your ability to take up space.
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Know keenly and acutely what it’s like to have something to say that is burning to be said and either you can’t quite put your finger on what it is or you know it and it’s terrifying to consider saying. This could be at work, at home, with a friend, a lover, or with yourself.
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Have been holding yourself back from expressing yourself, to a degree that it no longer feels comfortable to be in your skin. It may have been this way for decades.
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Are equal parts “I’m excited & ready to create & perform a burlesque solo,” and “The idea of creating & performing a burlesque solo scares the shit out of me!” Both states are perfect!
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Are finally stepping out to do something for yourself. Typically, you feel you have dedicated your life and energy to making sure everyone else is okay, but you. And you feel guilty or ashamed about choosing what you want truly, and from the heart.
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Are curious to explore powerful experiences to unify mind, body, and soul. This is a form of embodied transformation. Where we use movement, dance, and other modalities to bring forth your radiance.
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Wanting to re-connect to your body and sensuality and feel what it is like to have every cell in your body hum!
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Desire to make peace with your body, at the very least, and celebrate the shit out of it, at best!
This Is Not The Right Course For You If...
• You primarily want to learn traditional burlesque dance moves or techniques.
• You’re mostly looking for fun exercise and want to be sure that you sweat when you practice your act.
• You want someone to directly choreograph a solo for you.
• You wish to get feedback on an existing act (you can schedule an act review session with Kellita for that.)
• You’d like to keep emotions out of your solo creating process.
What is Burlesque?
Traditionally, Burlesque was a term used for little acts, comedies, and dances that made fun of the norm. Part of that included the striptease, where women end their act wearing less clothing than they did at the start.
Burlesque at heart is about poking fun at the norm so you can invite the magic and mystery that lay outside its confines. In BIO, you will create-- and perhaps also perform--your unique expression of Burlesque, which includes music, choreography & costume design.
How does Burlesque from the Inside Out (aka: Showgirl Awakening (SGA) style) differ from other burlesque approaches?
BIO is much more than a performance. BIO is much more than the elaborate dress. It is a rite of passage for the soul. One that develops within the human being, and is radiated through the Showgirl Awakening (SGA) style of burlesque.
The approach is experiential.
It’s 80% practical activities, and 20% theory. NO prior experience in dance is necessary, though experienced dancers are welcome.
The SGA-style of burlesque
is focused on revealing your radiant essence–you stripped down to your radiant essence (pun intended!)–rather than majoring in you mimicking movements of legendary or modern day burlesque stars, you will learn to recognize and play up your natural movements, perhaps simple movements you may not have been aware of as sublime, as breathtakingly captivating.
In SGA, we are keen
to select only the movements and costume pieces that make you come alive, make you feel turned on by the experience you’re having of being you in that moment.
The creation of the solo in BIO
is to create intimacy between you and yourself, and between you and your audience–in just the way you wish to. It’s about creating art, but art on your terms. Art that satisfies you, and the way in which it satisfies you, it can’t help but awe the audience. It’s about creating the most personal, and most universal statement at once–with your body, your song, your costume, the whole of the act.
Your very essence leads the way.
Not sure what your radiant essence feels like or looks like? Not to worry! That’s what you uncover throughout the process of creating your act via the Burlesque from the Inside Out method. Follow each step to guide you to know how it find it, relish it and craft with it!
In traditional burlesque,
it’s typical to begin with pleasing the audience in mind & the performer may or may not enjoy or even remember what happens during their 3-4 minute solo. They just know they got through it!
In Burlesque from the Inside Out,
you begin with pleasing yourself in mind, incorporating craft subject to your pleasure, and you end up delighting yourself *and* your audience more than you thought possible.
In traditional burlesque,
it’s typical to primarily showcase a special physical talent (like doing the splits or hula hooping), or bringing the Funny in a big way (going straight for laughs), or focusing on seducing your audience as your primary goal.
In Burlesque from the Inside Out,
any of the above fine elements can be spice in your creation, but the main focus is always intimacy with yourself, and intimacy with your audience on your terms. Again, it’s art on your terms.
In traditional burlesque,
it’s about creating and performing an alter ego, stepping into someone else, a fantasy, and then leaving it there on stage.
In Burlesque from the Inside Out,
we consciously step more and more into ourselves in our acts, and discover and showcase different elements of the pure us that have been dying for air and space and attention. And we take them with us when leave the stage, as extended options on our life’s menu of expression.
Your Facilitator – Kellita Maloof
Kellita Maloof is an international Artist, Dancer, Director, Teacher, Coach and Mentor. For over 20 years, she has performed, designed, and curated shows all over the world: from San Francisco to New Orleans, Hollywood to Montreal, and Paris to Tokyo.
Her achievements include: founding award-winning troupe Hot Pink Feathers, Queen of Carnaval San Francisco 2008, 5 x finalist the Burlesque Hall of Fame, and 1st place in Original World Fusion Dance & Choreography in San Francisco’s Grand Carnaval Festival.
Kellita also integrates into her work, over a decade of practice in transformative modalities, including EFT, Marin-style NLP, Systemic Constellations, Four-Fold way to name a few.
Her mission is to support women in unifying body, mind, heart, spirit & soul, and in expressing the power and beauty that is innate to each and every one.
What's Included?
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Guidance in setting the stage
for you to enjoy the process and to experience what you would like to throughout the creation process.
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Learning the foundational movements
and the power and the ‘medicine’ each one unleashes.
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Guidance in choosing music
that you both love and that will support you best in creating a satisfying and easy to choreograph act.
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Guidance in choosing costume
choose and source elements within your budget that support your chosen theme. And guidance on how to add bling to your costume, and when to hire out for costuming help.
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13 hours of live group coaching support
via videoconference with your showgirl sisters, guided by Showgirl Shaman Kellita; ample time for individual attention.
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One live private 1:1 via Zoom with Kellita
receive Kellita's direct guidance on your choreography, costume and concept, supporting you to maximally experience the 3 R's of Reveling, Revealing + Receiving.
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"Kellita-in-your-Pocket" 1:1 coaching
for 9-10 weeks receive support + coaching directly from Kellita, including attention to all aspects of your act creation: from costuming and choreography to emotional and spiritual.
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Participation in Online Burlesque Showcase
truth is, each time you let us see you in class is a performance in it's own right, you also have the opportunity to be seen by other showgirl sister alumni of this process in a showcase!
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Video Viewing Party + Integration
witnessing each other witness ourselves perform is one of the highest joys of this process! Discerning how to take this experience out into more of your life is the cherry on top.
Our practice is performance.
Many people have a spiritual practice. They meditate every morning. And they do it alone.
But with Burlesque, the practice is, by its very nature, dyadic, it's a performance.
If you view each time you practice your acts as a performance, it will take the weight & pressure off of your first “official” performance. Why? Because you’ve already been performing it.
When you rehearse, you aren’t preparing for the performance. Each practice IS a performance. Practice in this case is not something you are doing to get ready for the ‘real thing.’ Practice IS doing the the real thing. This is real life right now; we aren’t getting ready for it, this is it. Same thing with preparing for performance. We do it by performing and being witnessed. If there is no audience, there is no performance. So, how do you get ready to be witnessed by a crowd? Let yourself be witnessed by someone.
That said, if letting someone else see you is too confronting and makes you too uncomfortable, you can do it in the increments that make most sense to YOUR body. I realize that being seen can bring up a lot and could ignite our own self judgment. We’re all in different places and dealing with different amounts of shame and trauma.
Why Sign Up Now?
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Limited to 8 participants:
The number of participants is 8, so that everyone can receive individual attention all along the way.
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No travel expenses:
No need to travel to San Francisco! And no need to book accomodations, either.
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Tuition cut in half this round:
This online program is a $3339 value, but for this round is priced at $1500. In 2021, the tuition is expected to increase.
P.S.
Creating a burlesque act is not the only goal of this course.
Every single step you take in the process has the possibility of you discovering more of what delights you in being you, and frankly can lead you to fall in love with yourself, incrementally and genuinely.
This course is an authenticity dojo.