Previously, I had the opportunity to sit down with Jamie Doktor, aka Mistress J Kiss, and get down to brass tacks about how she came to open the Buffalo Burlesque Studio. In order to dig a little deeper into this world, the Qween City Babez and I decided to take a group class with her and get a little taste how to put on a strip tease.
It’s safe to say — we had a fabulous time. A variety of workshops and classes are offered, from Burlesquercise, “The Art of the Tease,” Vintage Hair Styling Workshop, and Pinup Makeup Workshop. We decided to give Chair Dancing a try.
Jamie starts the class with a warmup, and peppers in pep talks and words of wisdom throughout the class. We learned how to move with grace, style, and intention, and how to grab the attention of the audience. We also learned pretty quickly that chair dancing can be a pretty intense core workout if you want it to be. It was an astoundingly positive experience for everyone involved. Qween City’s Afura Fareed said, “Everything about Jamie exudes ‘Goddess on Earth!’ I love the way she uses her classroom as a platform to share her poetic wisdom about feminine empowerment and magic!” This sentiment that was echoed wholeheartedly by Shannon Dawn.
Jamie was kind enough to give us a quick list of tips and tricks in order to put on a striptease of your own. Without further ado:
- “Get the perfect song—once you got that song, girl, that’s it. You know when to start bouncing them butt cheeks.”
For a list of Jamie’s playlist of grooves to strip to, check out this Spotify playlist!
- Is. More. Focus on the gloves — stroke ‘em, touch ‘em. Slowly tug and pull on it and connect with the audience. Focus on the little things and they will, too. They’ll enjoy the antici……pation.
- Move slowwwwwly. If you move too fast they’re gonna miss it. If you move slowly, it gives the eye a chance to pay attention and follow along.
- Exaggerate everything. When you stick your butt out, put your knees into it. Put movement into it.
- Give ‘em good face!!!!!!!!! When you touch your body, show how good it feels in your face. Show them how happy you are, blow a kiss — everything should be pure joy and excitement in your eyes and your face.
- Have fun with it. If you’re not having fun, nobody else will.
Now get to strippin’!
Kisses,
Smashera
To see the full photo set of QC’s day at the Buffalo Burlesque Studio, surf over to SCENE for all of the sexy-ish hilariousness.