I knew it! This is what the Scottish lassies have been up to during lockdown. Ruffing their feathers, shaking their booties, loosening their corsets, stroking their fishnets and making those tassels twirl. This is as good as amateur burlesque performance gets.
Get those tassels out and start shaking your moneymaker.
I bet you have spent lockdown mainly sulking around the house – like the rest of us. However, these Scottish amateur burlesque stars have been having some serious fun in their living rooms and back gardens.The Saltire Burlesque Academy is a West Lothian burlesque-inspired fitness class that helps local women shed their insecurities as well as excess weight. Established just last year, the academy lets ladies strut their stuff through empowerment, improved fitness and body confidence.
I was sceptical about watching burlesque online, but the electricity, sparkle and frills burst easily through the computer screen. It must feel strange for the performers as well without a live audience to cheer them on. An energetic and catchy rock theme was a good choice to break the ice with songs by Lenny Kravitz, Aerosmith, Queen and Joan Jett, to mention a few. The passion and dedication of each performer oozes from every twirl and shake across the stage – or living room floor.
The key here is ordinary homes with extraordinary women – and one very brave man in silver pants and white tennis socks – performing the roof down. The result is funny, sensual and empowering. It offers a naughty voyeuristic peak into their homes and lives. Seeing trampolines, slides and toys in the background makes the performances even more liberating. It is hilarious to think how these women have stuffed their families out of the way into basements, bathrooms or cleaning closets, so they can let their hair down and turn the living room into a cabaret stage.
Instead of complaining how terrible life in lockdown is, the women from Saltire Burlesque Academy are turning the bad situation into something positive. That sets a great example for us all. So get those tassels out and start shaking your moneymaker. After seeing these performances, you have no excuse.