The Power of Now in Burlesque
The other night in the throes of two projects, I received a text from a friend’s fiancé asking me what I was doing. WORKING, I text back. He asked if I wanted to do something fun with my friend but I couldn’t tell her what it was, which was a burlesque dance class.
Oh, alright I said. Not too thrilled about leaving my desk.
My friend and I went to the class in the rain, we arrived with high heels in our hand. She still didn’t know what it was all about and I wasn’t quite sure either.
There was a substitute teacher and women who had obviously been in the class given their attitudes and attire. We moped in. The sub said that she was going to work on “walking” and then we began. She taught us how to walk angrily, seductively, sassy, serious and I was not having too much of it. I didn’t know if my friend was enjoying herself or not, but I was feeling put out, like I had just paid $10 for this, and that I wasn’t enthused. I felt the sub was just taking a cop out doing these walk exercises and I just didn’t feel a vibe for the whole occasion.
And then a switch flipped. I was doing the walk and supposed to stare into the eyes of my partner, who was a petite blonde with a smirky smile and as I approached her I thought, why not? Why not give into the moment? And so I did and my arms started swinging more naturally and my head started tilting more artfully and I actually found myself smiling.
And then we got to the end when each one of us had to get on stage by ourselves and do a performance to music the teacher would select individually. NOOOOO, my mind screamed. I will leave here, I won’t do it, I will not dance burlesque in front of these experienced dancers, or my friend who is a dancer, I simply will not do it. And then each one went – one a ballerina with long flowing legs and arms and imaginary gloves that went up to her arm pits, another who had an overarching love of her derriere and shimming it, and then it was counting down and it was me and my friend and I popped up and said I’d go. I didn’t want to follow my friend or anyone there as the last act. And so I asked for R&B – the sub didn’t have it – and so she played some New Orleans style jazz and I decided I was going to dance like a Baby Doll and I took huge strides, and moved my shoulders back and forth and I walked up and down that stage and ended with a shimmy shimmy shake eyes on eyes to my audience.
And I got a resounding applause.
Later, I was speaking to my friend and rehashing the denouement of the evening – the fear and fight to succumbing and indulging. She had made the same transition. We talked about how resistance to what is in the here and now is what causes the most pain, because once we both gave up our resistance, the fear drained away, and we passed a good time.