New Burlesque Times - Venus Rising

One of the UK’s most extraordinary burlesque stars, with lavish props, dynamic shows and sumptuous choreography that has gained her International recognition, Venus Noir opens up her shell to New Burlesque Times.<img style="WIDTH: 160px; HEIGHT: 215px" height="215" src="https://websitebuilder.1and1.co.uk/xml/wfxdirect/res;jsessionid=8C56E82142B83D9C18FE61DED17EAAD2.TC111b?name=amanda009.jpg&type=image" width="160" border="0" wfxtype="resource" wfxsrc="amanda009.jpg" /> Photograph by Cyril AnandGilly Woo a fashion designer from Bristol called me out of the blue, because she had heard that I was a dancer and asked me if I would be interested in choreographing a show for her. By the end of the conversation she had changed her mind and asked me if I would perform a burlesque dance in a made to measure corset. I worked on the show for a month and the performance went down really well. Lots of the models came up to me afterwards and asked me if I could show them how to do it. It was then that I realised how much women appreciated the art form. I've always enjoyed different forms of dancing, and a few years ago used to work abroad as a cabaret dancer, this was really before burlesque had made its comeback. I gave all of this up when I had a baby and I was really suffering from post natal blues when Gilly Woo made that call. I had put on a bit of weight and had spent a whole year getting up countless times in the night to see to the baby, and it was burlesque that helped me shake off the cobwebs and get fit again. The best thing about burlesque is that it is non discriminitive when it comes to size, I am 5'11'' and a very curvaceous size 14, but I am proud of my curves. After seeing Dirty Martini perform, I realised that you can be a size twenty and still be sexy, she's got it. A burlesque show is about glamour, movement, personality and confidence and that lady has it all in abundance! I spend nearly all of my spare time thinking about shows, how to get my hands on new props and making new costumes. My husband is very artistic and has helped with costumes and props, he is very supportive. My family are the most important thing in my life, I am dedicated to them, but there is still plenty of time left for burlesque. My obsession with dancing started when I was young, disco dancing was my main hobby whilst at school. It was very energetic and kept me fit. Later on I did African dance classes, and did lots of freestyle creative dance for festivals, clubs, fashion shows and eventually working as a dancer and model for the fetish clothes designer Liz Lewitt. She was an avant garde rubber designer, who was way ahead of her time and I had some great work with her. I think the funniest job I ever did was a billboard campaign for bowel cancer, where they made my bottom cleavage look like a boob cleavage and cleverly tricked people....... it was to make men more aware of their own bottoms! I have put together around 4 workshops which went extremely well. As I mentioned, I managed to shake off post natal blues with burlesque and I believe that burlesque workshops can be therapeutic. The class gives you a chance to get in touch with your inner tiger, and to tune into your sensual side. My workshops are full of practical information to get you started, and by the end of the day one should be able to at least go away and perform for that special person in their life. I mostly find that the women who have attended, have a good old laugh and lose nearly all of their inhibitions. I still get nervous just before I go on stage, this is a good thing because it gives me a rush of adrenalin which makes me perform a little bit better. Getting nervous means that you care about what you are about to do and you want it to go well. Of course sometimes if you work yourself up into a state the nerves can be damaging, I've only felt like this once at the LBF newcomers contest. As soon as I was on stage I started getting cheers from the audience, so I got into it and shrugged off my nerves, a true burlesque crowd are very sweet and give you lots of encouragement. When I've finished my show I feel relaxed, yet high and full of adrenelin, this is the feeling that I love the most and I'm completely addicted to it! The best thing about performing burlesque, is being able to be creative, sensual and a bit of a tease without taking myself too seriously. I have been told that I am inspiring to women and this is a huge compliment; when women see me perform they realise that you do not have to be a size 0 to be sexy. Unfortunately there is a lot of politics behind the scenes and although all you want to do is perform, you can unknowingly get caught up in it. This is down to SOME of the people running things, who are trying to protect what they have. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be to get into, I take comfort in the fact that Dita Von Teese was turned down hundreds of times at the beginning of her career, because people didn't get her. It's also difficult being out of London, you have to work twice as hard to get noticed because you are not able to network regularly. But burlesque is not just in London it's worldwide and there are many opportunities to work all over the world. I have recently performed in Brussels, and have some interest from clubs in Norway. Of course theres nothing like being able to perform locally and the Wild West Burlesque puts on a regular fabulous show, proving that not all the talent lies in London. I have started my own club in Bristol called The Candy Carousel Club, this is something I have always wanted to do, and I'm looking forward to putting on some great shows there. <img style="WIDTH: 227px; HEIGHT: 356px" height="356" src="https://websitebuilder.1and1.co.uk/xml/wfxdirect/res;jsessionid=8C56E82142B83D9C18FE61DED17EAAD2.TC111b?name=venus+on+horse+copy.jpg&type=image" width="227" border="0" wfxtype="resource" wfxsrc="venus on horse copy.jpg" /> Photograph by Nathan HicksMy highlights of the year so far are: Dancing on a huge stage at the Prescription rooms in Stroud for The Hub Cabaret, the people in Stroud are sooo friendly and enthusiastic, and performing my mermaid show for the Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion night at Wild West Burlesque, where | dangled upside down over the side of my seahorse, exhilarating! I think I will always dance in one way or another, I would like to think that I've got quite a few years of burlesque left in me yet. I won't say how old I am, but lets just say that I'm the same age as Dita Von Teese and I doubt that she's ready to hang up her stockings and take up flower arranging! Lots of Love Venus Noir xx