The BHoF Finishing School, powered by BurlyCon, presents:
My Life Interviews with Burlesque’s Living Legends and BHoF Titleholder Classes!
Interviews and Classes:
Held during the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend in Las Vegas with a focus on lifestyle, skills, and history.
My Life Interviews and Legends’ Classes:
Saturday, June 3, 2023, from *10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
A cheeky chance to learn tips and tricks from folks who made a career out of performing, and an incredible opportunity to learn about the history of burlesque from one of our most finite resources; Living Legends.
BHoF Titleholder Classes:
Friday, June 2, 2023, from *10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
A momentous moment to learn sensational skills from illuminating icons of today’s burlesque industry.
If you have ever been part of a burlesque production, you know how hard it is to find time to eat on show day. As you soak up exemplary expertise, a portion of your BHoF Titleholder Class entry fee pays for backstage tech food for our Legends and staff during the Titans of Tease tech rehearsal. How awesome is that?
*Local Las Vegas time (PDT)
TITLEHOLDER CLASSES
FRIDAY, June 2, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Where: JACKSON SQUARE ROOM at the ORLEANS HOTEL
Rise and Grind with Matt Finish, Best Boylesque 2015
Friday, June 2, 2023
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Room: Jackson Square
Class Price: $35 per person or pay in-person at class; bundle pricing = $95 for single day (three classes) or $180 for all six events!
Shake up your morning with Matt Finish “The Golden Boy of Burlesque” with a combination of cardio, stretch, and strength exercises. This class is perfect for all *abilities combining easy to pick up combos (think Zumba) with restorative stretches and built in breaks. Attendees should wear comfortable workout clothes, sneakers, bring a water bottle and a towel for you dewy dancers.
*There will be a portion of class which takes place laying on the floor. If you need any accommodation, please email Matt at xomattfinish@gmail.com by Friday, May 26, 2023, and he will be more than happy to provide alternative exercises.
Matt Finish started dancing at the age of 4, continuing on to earn a B.A. in Dance from the University of California, Irvine, and a M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Arizona. He was also a member of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, touring internationally for years and honing his comedic chops. ‘The Golden Boy of Burlesque’ has been performing since 2012 based in Tucson, AZ. He got his start as a student in Fanny’s Fox Den, taught the art of striptease by Fanny Galore. Shortly after, he joined the cast of Black Cherry Burlesque at The Surly Wench Pub. In 2013, Matt joined Fanny Galore, Ida Tapper, and Scarlotta Sparkle in forming Don’t Blink Burlesque. Over 150 shows later, Matt is the producer of DBB, The Strippy Awards, Downtown Burlesk: Strip Local, The AZ BurlyPicks Regional, and The Arizona Burlesque Festival. Matt has performed in shows and festivals all over the world, racking up titles and honors along the way including ‘Best Boylesque’ (known as ‘Mr. Exotic World’) at the 2015 Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender and landing on the Burlesque Top 50 from 21st Century Burlesque Magazine six times!
CHOICES! Creative Costuming & How to Leave Them Gagging with Aria Delanoche, Best Debut 2018, Most Classic 2018, and Second Runner Up 2022
Friday, June 2, 2023
11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Room: Jackson Square
Class Price: $35 per person or pay in-person at class; bundle pricing = $95 for single day (three classes) or $180 for all six events!
“Choices! Creative Costuming & How to Leave them Gagging” is a lecture-style workshop designed to help you make more intentional costuming choices & create fierce, gag-worthy burly looks. Presented in the cheeky form of Aria’s Ten Commandments of Costuming, the class covers theoretic approaches to maximizing the effectiveness of a burlesque costume. Students learn about color theory, character refining processes, juxtaposition, and more while guided by an example-rich PowerPoint presentation.
Every choice we make in the creation process, from vision to design to performance, is an opportunity to express our character, emphasize our movement, and present jaw-dropping dazzle. Learn how to guide yourself to smart choices and make your costumes werk for you! Please bring a notebook and pen so you may scribble these secrets. There is no movement, so wear what you please. You can also come prepared with questions about your individual costuming conundrums for the Q&A after class.
Aria Delanoche is an award-winning & well-traveled performer known for her innovative and extravagant costuming. She also carries years of professional fashion styling under her belt. In 2018 she was awarded “Best Debut” and “Most Classic” at the Burlesque Hall of Fame, took the title of Queen of the Striptease in 2020, and is the current reigning Duchess of Burlesque.
A Class with the QUEEN, Miss Indigo Blue, Miss Exotic World 2011!
Friday, June 2, 2023
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Room: Jackson Square
Class Price: $35 per person or pay in-person at class; bundle pricing = $95 for single day (three classes) or $180 for all six events!
LIVING LEGEND INTERVIEWS
SATURDAY, June 3, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Where: JACKSON SQUARE ROOM at the ORLEANS HOTEL
Hula/Tahitian style dancing with Living Legend, Kaʻena
Saturday, June 3, 2023
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Room: Jackson Square
Class Price: $35 per person or pay in-person at class/interview; bundle pricing = $95 for single day (three classes/interviews) or $180 for all six events!
Learn the art of a hula/Tahitian style dance with the beautiful Ka’ena! Attendees should bring water and wear clothes they can move in.
Ka’ena began her burlesque career in Hawaii in the 1950s, quickly becoming an international marquee performer, working throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Japan. She captured audiences with her performances and dances of the traditional past and stimulated them with those of the present. An exciting highlight of her performances was her dangerous knife and fire dance, a feat performed by few. However, Ka’ena’s performance skills exceed burlesque alone. She also maintains her practice as a traditional Polynesian performer to this day! Impossible to duplicate, the captivating Ka’ena!
Georgette Dante, Living Legend Interview
Saturday, June 3, 2023
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Room: Jackson Square
Class Price: $35 per person or pay in-person at class/interview; bundle pricing = $95 for single day (three classes/interviews) or $180 for all six events!
Interviewer: Blanche DeBris
Georgette Dante is a Show Business Legend. She started performing in the carnival at age 3 with her mother, Delilah Dante & her father who owned a carnival in the 1950s. Georgette was born and raised in the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. She is a 6th generation show business entertainer on her mother’s side and a 5th generation on her father’s side. But life was not all glamour growing up in the carnival; living in trucks, long work hours night and day with no breaks or rest days, hard labor installing the shows, and no time for school. She had to adapt and learn all kinds of novelty acts including biting the heads off of live chickens and wrestling in a pit with snakes which she caught herself in the wild. In 1968 she starred in the Film “The Monster and the Stripper” where she is featured performing some of the most unique and authentic burlesque moves including master tassel twirling.
Dee Milo, Living Legend Interview
Saturday, June 3, 2023
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Room: Jackson Square
Class Price: $35 per person or pay in-person at class/interview; bundle pricing = $95 for single day (three classes/interviews) or $180 for all six events!
Interviewer: Miss Brawling Beauty
While tending bar at San Francisco’s Barbary Coast in the late ’40s, Dee Milo noticed that they were hiring dancers. When she said that she would like to apply, the management told her no. Instead, the fiercely independent Dee moved to New Orleans where she began dancing on Bourbon Street, and learned to dance and dress as a burlesque dancer. She returned to San Francisco and was hired as a headliner in the early ’50s, beginning more than a decade of traveling throughout the U.S. and Mexico and Japan. Dee knew how to tantalize and keep an audience eating from the palm of her hand, her signature act “Sentimental Journey” teasing for more than ten minutes of come-hither stares, and sweet smiles. She shared top billings with legends like Jennie Lee. Her career ended in 1964 when Dee returned to Utah. Though her mother had enjoyed the benefits of the large paychecks Dee sent home, her mother never approved of her stripping. Dee chose to listen to her mother and repent her sins, and at her mother’s prompting burned all of her costumes and memorabilia. It wasn’t until her own daughter was ten that she found one of Dee’s gowns while playing in the attic. This red dress was the lone survivor of the bonfire. Dee Milo performed in that costume at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in 2012, raising goosebumps amidst the audience.