On the 3rd of April over 30 wonderful women will take to the stage to debut brand new acts from solo’s to troupes.

At The Cheek of It! We are so passionate about performing that’s why almost every course except master classes and drop in’s have the opportunity to perform as part of the course.

As someone who first got on the stage at the age of five, I’m a massive advocate of stage time! I’ve had amazing times and terrible times on many stages from the local church hall in Over Norton, to an open air boat in Serbia, seedy clubs in NYC to Cafe De Paris, I’ve performed in front of 1000’s and in front of less than five and sometimes just the cat. I’ve glittered, I’ve glowed, I’ve wowed, I’ve also fallen over, forgotten my whole act and once upon a time my body decided to swallow my thong after an unfortunate health and safety disaster…..that’s right, a ‘hungry hippo’ is not only real, it’s a vocational hazard in burlesque! Inspite of all the mishaps, I’ve dedicated my life to all kinds of performance, teaching performing and talking about performing and I love it.

Well being a professional performer is certainly not for everyone, that would be crazy, some of you have to stay in the audience. Plus getting on the stage can be terrifying and even if you have the desire to get on the stage, to be a professional requires cultivating your natural talent with training and practicing and observing as much as you can, often for years. Making a professional career out of performing is actually for the very few and a paid professional career, even fewer. But can everyone have the experience of performing, can everyone benefit from the buzz, the confidence, the creativity, the magic and above all the transformation of performance…..absolutely YES.

Which is why we not only include the option of performing on our courses, we actively encourage it.

Kalindi Jordon a fabulous femininity coach said, “the feminine loves to be seen”. And it’s so true, yes we have the social conditioning of how we should look, act, move as women which is rarely helpful and mostly oppressive. But underneath that is often a natural desire to be seen, to have our beauty, our sensuality, our brilliance acknowledged and celebrated. I think this goes back to the good old Goddess days when the ritual and ceremony of dance, performance and unveiling of ourselves was not only our culture but a rite of passage.

Of all the types of performance I have trained in or been involved in burlesque is the perfect medium to reveal our feminine essence and celebrate our Goddessgiven awesomeness all at once. Plus actual magic happens when you perform, regardless of whether you are nervous as hell or raring to go.

Well I think magic happens in all performance, performers are like alchemists. But in burlesque you get the opportunity to be unashamedly fabulous, there are no rules, no style or era or inspiration that cannot be explored. And where else in your life do you get the opportunity to bring your fantasies to life and be applauded for it?? And for women this is especially important. We spend so much of our lives, being smaller than we are, either in actual physical size to trying not to be too much for people; too emotional, too sexy, too clever, too interesting, too angry, too strong, too vulnerable, too loving. It’s a thin old line we tread to gain acceptance from our parents, bosses, friend’s, partners and oh yeah the patriarchy…….

At The Cheek of it! we are interested in what inspires you, empowers you and lights you up, we want you to bring the fans, the glitter, do the banana dance, dress up as Doctor Who, fall in love with Joan of Arc, become a Fox or a 1920’s siren, a burly man, Jarvis Cocker, your favourite painting, your Granny, a Disco Queen. From the hilarious, the daring, the gorgeous, the grotesque, the seriously sexy, bring it all. To yourself, to class, to stage and then maybe to the world!!!!

Having worked with so many women over the last 9 years, I can tell you that absolutely anyone can have an amazing stage experience with the right training, support and environment. At The Cheek of It, we create not only courses that increase you confidence, creativity and vavavoom but we also cultivate a wonderful atmosphere for you to sparkle in. From our Cheekette Big sisters to look after you back stage and hug you afterwards to our team of dedicated stylists, photographers, front of house beauties, corset lacers, glitter sprayers to an audience that will be guided into being your best audience ever; appreciative, on your side, all smiling all cheering championing you on and off the stage. To be honest it’s hard not to have a heart expanding, aura glowing time.

Well it starts with curiosity and courage, a desire to follow your bliss, commitment and the willingness to be vulnerable and generous. Curiosity and courage gets you on the journey but vulnerability and generosity allows you to share it with others. Performing a burlesque act designed, created and dreamed up by you is not an ordinary thing to do. Mostly people don’t share their dreams, we don’t allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to show our magic side. Let alone be generous enough to give it away. And the crying shame of that is, you are unique, if you don’t birth your idea’s somewhere, they will never be born. But if you do, not only will you inspire and entertain an audience but you will literally shape shift into another you. There is the you before your graduation and the you afterwards,( both excellent and fabulous might I add). But the post showtime you, knows herself to be a woman who not only experienced full self expression but had the courage to share it too, in whatever form that excites you.

If you’ve never experienced being cheered for in all your glory, well put it on your bucket list. It is life affirming and reach for the stars fantastic. You will notice either during or after your performance that nobody cared about your love handles or cellulite or stretch marks or small boobs or massive boobs. They cared about your spirit, your humour, your story, your hotness, your total’ Give No Fucks, unmessable shinability!! That stuff is inspiring, it’s pure gold, it’s powerful and we’ve all got it. By getting your magic on, publicly, you also change how the audience feels about themselves, courage is contagious, as is glitter, seriously you will never ever get rid of the glitter……….

If you’ve never been to a burlesque show….what have you been doing with yourself? I think Caitlin Moran sums up her experience of burlesque perfectly “Watching good burlesque in action, you can see female sexuality; a performance with a value system of a woman: beautiful lighting, glossy hair, absurd accessories, velvet corsets, Ava Gardener eyeliner, humour and a huge round of applause at the end” Plus on top of that you will get to see the dreams of 30 women come to life, in all their crazy, awe inspiring, spectacular, explosive, ‘you’ll never forget it, joy!! And that has got to be better than an Eastenders’s omnibus on a Sunday evening.

Come to the show, On 3rd April we want to see your smiling face in the audience and maybe next time on the stage!!!!!

You can book your show tickets here:

You can find out about next terms courses here:

Then check out our showgirl in a Day course, happening on April the 2nd with the opportunity to be in the Show the very next day!!!!

And if you need a little more of a warm up before showtime, our weekly drop in classes will give you just the right amount of wiggletastic wonderlust without any need to go near the stage…….

As always, I adore you, thanks for reading and I can’t wait to see you in a class or at a show soon XXX