“When you do the shimmy,” explains Lola Van Ella, St. Louis burlesque dancer and owner of Van Ella Studios, “think of it as you have two elevator buttons right in front of your shoulders and you’re trying to push it.” She begins to move her thin shoulders back and forth, causing her upper body to, well, shimmy in the best “ba-da-da-da-dum” sense of the word.
I stare into the full-length mirror, my eyebrows raised in skepticism as I start trying to push those elevator buttons with my shoulders.
I’m in one of Lola Van Ella’s Burlesque Basics courses over at her studio on Cherokee. There are nine other women there, all propelling their shoulders back and forth, laughing at themselves and in surprise as they look into the mirror and realize they don’t look half bad.
When I first heard about the burlesque class I scoffed, feeling it was just another way to encourage women to do something that is demeaning and exploitative.
But taking one of Lola’s classes is pure fun. As Rachel Meinert, another student in the class put it, “It makes you feel more like a woman.”
After practicing the shimmy we did a series of stretches to loosen up. Then came the strut, a simple walk that Lola encouraged us to sass up with attitude and arm movements. And you do start to feel surprisingly sassy. Lola constantly exclaiming, “Cute ladies! Very cute!” doesn’t hurt either.
By the time we broke out the boas half way into the class, I was a convert.
Lola makes sure that her students don’t think burlesque is synonymous with stripping by talking about its history. It’s actually a form of comedic theatre that includes sensuality, flirtation and some skin, but it isn’t all about the bump and grind.
“I think history is really important,” explains Lola. “Because it’s important to know what the point of all of it is. What makes us different from taking a sexy fit class is it’s not just about the moves. It’s about the history behind those moves and where they came from.”
As I whirl a red sateen glove over my head cowgirl style, I’m not really thinking about the history of the moves but I do think mine are unintentionally comedic. But I don’t feel self-conscious. In part because the other women don’t look any different from me: A rather charming combination of awkward and alluring.
Maybe it’s that sheer awkwardness and the sense that everyone is in the same boat, or maybe it is Lola’s joyous personality but a camaraderie blossoms in just an hour and what seemed like a strange dance to learn becomes perfectly normal. Maybe it’s because we’re learning the basics and there’s no nudity, in fact, the class barely flirts with PG-13 moves.
“I would take my mother to this class,” claims a student and everyone I talk to says that she would recommend the class to just about anyone.
“I think it will probably break anyone out of their shell,” explains Stephaine Holzer. “Anyone who is a little frightened of their sexuality.” That certainly seems the case because rather than celebrate titillation, Lola Van Ella’s dance class celebrates the female body and all the fun you can have moving it.
Lola Van Ella’s dance classes start up again on May 23rd. Check her website for more details. You can also join in on tons of workshops taught by renowned burlesque performers during the Show-Me Burlesque Festival May 12–14. All classes and workshops will be held on Saturday, May 14.
