Live. Laugh. Love. Fashion.: The Rockettes at the Burlesque

Live. Laugh. Love. Fashion.: The Rockettes at the Burlesque" Burlesque Boom is the new Zumba, says Dance Code Inc., studio owner Sarah Torkoly.The sexy fitness class is about having fun and keeping in shape twice a week open to men and women.“I find I have a real good connection with helping people reach out and get out of that shell of being shy and remember they’ve always had that sexy side of them,” she said.Torkoly started a burlesque program in November 2010 and approximately 350 women went through the program. Now, it is on a membership-only basis. Students will host burlesque events, some members only, some on an invite-a-friend basis.“There’s nothing like this in Edmonton,” she said.After opening her studio last year, she lost registrations from her regular dance classes and came up with the idea for a burlesque class to fill the after-work void.“It’s not pole dancing; it’s not stripping,” she explained. “It’s the art of tease. It’s the art of seductiveness and learning the cute, funny moves that can go along with your routine.”Aside from the Burlesque Boom, Torkoly also offers six-week beginner, intermediate and advanced classes once a week. Lessons range from the history of burlesque to peeling the glove. Each participant ends the course with a fun photoshoot with a cute head shot or seductive gift for husbands.
As a dancer, Torkoly has worked on tap, jazz, hip hop and ballet and finds teaching burlesque is a fun break from technical dance forms.“In this class you find your own special way of moving,” she said.
One woman, Torkoly described as a total tom boy, was dragged in by a friend and was reluctant from the start. By the third class she was saying the steps out loud and showing her husband her newly acquired choreography.
Torkoly said everyone holds a stereotype of burlesque being the same as stripping. The advantage burlesque has over a pole dancing workout for example is the wide range of props such as the top hat, the cane, the corset, shoes, feather boas and chairs.“With burlesque, you’re telling a story,” she said. “It’s similar to dancing because no matter what, when you’re on stage doing a burlesque show, even if you had eight girls up on stage, everyone of them has their own personality coming through.”While in New York, Torkoly was given a DVD of a burlesque show and immediately was drawn to the flirtatious and comfortable form of dance.In August she will hold auditions to form one or two burlesque dance troops for Edmonton.Eventually, Torkoly would love to open a small burlesque club where families could come in the day and there would be full performing shows at night.The dance studio is holding a Disney-themed dance camp for kids age five to 12 from July 25 to 29, including scrapbooking and dress-up days. The camp is $199 per child and registration is open until July 24.Burlesque Boom is $180 for 12 classes, and the six-week programs are $170 with photo shoot, $120 without and $150 each for a photo shoot if you sign up with a friend.