Just Ducky
Seattle, WA
-cue dramatic music-
Dialogue- “The name’s Ducky, Just Ducky”
-sip suggestively on a martini –
END SCENE
Ok, but let’s be real here, everyone calls me Ducky. And if you have met me suggestive is probably not one of the top things you would call me. Quirky? Yes. Silly? Huge yes. Bubbly? Ya. And honestly, that’s fine by me (we will revisit this in a later chapter.) When I try to explain my performances to someone who has never seen me on stage I tell them I am REALLY good at dumb. Like if I am creating a new act & I don’t think at least once “this is so stupid it might be brilliant” I have swerved out of my lane. And I started this zanny journey in the summer of 2015 at the Academy of Burlesque in Seattle, WA. But we have to back up a tiny bit before we get to that point. The previous summer I got engaged, & since I am one of those who had been planning my dream princess wedding since as long as I could remember I was only willing to wait a year to actually tie the knot. With all of my luvvv dreams coming true I wanted to finally re-embrace my artistic dreams in the form of burlesque. With a wedding & all that going on, money was a bit tight so I applied for a scholarship/work-trade to go to the Academy of Burlesque in the spring of 2015. And I didn’t get it. Insert sad music & a major pity party here. So I told them to hold onto my application & I went about my days planning a wedding. And then summer rolled around & they picked me & I would learn from THE Miss Indigo Blue, aka 2011’s Miss Exotic World! And I did the biggest happy dance ever! Then reality hit me smack in the face as I realized if I took it I would be doing this all in two months before our wedding.
“I would perform for the first time less than 30 days before the big day. Cue panic attack as I envisioned my burlesque career over before I ever got to twirl a single tassel”
But! I am lucky enough to have an insanely supportive partner who urged me to chase those rhinestones, knowing full well he was the one who would have to put me back together every time I got overly stressed about the schedule I was creating for myself. So I accepted & I took my first classes & I fell head over rhinestoned heels in love with Burlesque. The first time I took the stage was the first time I had really felt like me in a very long time.
Now you may be wondering what all of this has to do with history. Partly it’s my history. It’s the severely shortened version of how I turned my dull muggle life into one full of sparkles and feathers and joy. But it’s also to explain how I jumped into burlesque at a time in my life that was full to bursting & just kinda kept running with it from there. And that is where we get to the confession of me being a bad baby(ish) burlesquer:
I know next to nothing about burlesque’s history. I can name very few of the legends that have shaped the way burlesque is today.
There, I said it. I am missing out on a huge part of this incredible art form and it’s a damn shame. When I started I simply didn’t have the capacity in my brain for doing that kind of research. For a while after that I was just riding the glitter high. Who cares about what happened before me? Right that moment was my first taste of the sparkly spotlight and I wanted to soak up every damn minute of it. And that is OK. Really, truly, it is ok. If you are new to this, know it’s ok to revel in your newfound show-person self. Capture every memory, roll around in your gloriousness, & drink something bubbly to celebrate you. But then when you have floated back down to earth & survived the dreaded glitter crash, maybe take a moment to find out how we got to the place that enabled you to have that moment. I still haven’t done that. I can make a lot of excuses, and boy have I, but it’s time to knock that shit off.
We are lucky enough to live in a time where a lot of our legends are still with us and we need to cherish & learn from them.
It’s funny that you don’t really realize what you are missing out on until you experience it firsthand. Perfect example: Burlycon 2019, I took Flowing Fabrics Dance Class with Tiffany Carter. Honestly, I had no clue who she was but the thought of getting to see, touch & even wear vintage burlesque costumes made my fashion designer heart go pitter patter so off I went. I got to the class & from the moment it started I was stunned. Hearing just the condensed version of her story was amazing. The costumes were incredible & constructed in ways I had never thought of before. And then this stunning goddess, who had to be somewhere around her 70’s, puts on one of these drool worthy costumes & begins to MOVE.
She swayed, she flowed, she twirled, she got out that classic bump and grind and she BLEW MY DAMN MIND.
I was so in awe of her that after class I immediately went & bought a signed picture of her, this woman I had never even heard of before. It now hangs on my personal legends wall & I see it every day. These are the types of moments & memories that we have access to, that we need to embrace & cherish & learn from. So that is what I am going to do & I hope you might join me, whether you are new to this or have been around for a while.
If you are anything like me you may fight the depression monster & his good friend the demon. They are a large part of what has kept me from starting this knowledge journey for so long. Where do I start? What do I read/watch/listen to? What if I miss something? Continue adding questions until I reach completely overwhelmed & instead go & wrap myself in a blanket so I can be a burrito & not a person. But I’m not going to let them today. Tomorrow might be a different story, but then there is always the day after that to try again.
So here are a few places to about & start with. Poke around, see what grabs your attention & go from there.
There is no wrong way to learn about our sexy sparkly history.
All the loves and sparkles,
XOXO Ducky
Resources:
https://www.burlesquehall.com/category/learn/whos-who-in-burly-q/
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/burlesque
Documentaries
A Wink And A Smile
Getting Naked: A Burlesque Story
Burlesque Undressed
Burlesque: Heart of the Glitter Tribe
League of Exotique Dancers
Full list of BurlyCon Legends of Honor
2008 – Toni Elling
2009 – Marinka
2010 – Dee Milo
2011 – Ellion Ness
2012 – Lottie the Body
2013 – Wild Cherry
2014 – Bic Carrol
2015- Delilah Jones
2016 – Gina Bon Bon
2017 – Dee Milo & Toni Elling
2018 – Brandy Wilde
2019 – Tiffany Carter
2020 – Coby Yee
2022 – Shawna the Black Venus
BurlyCon Legend Memoirs
Marinka– From Havana to Burlesque
Brandy Wilde – Tease: A Memoir
Delilah Jones – My Life Without Regrets: From Occupied Nazi Germany to Las Vegas Stripper