TAKE A COURSE IN
NAUGHTY BURLESQUE
Howling Vic Can Teach You All the Right Moves
From 24/Seven
March 22, 2006
Victoria Libertore was always uncomfortable with her body.
Back in college she was the girl who wore oversized sweaters and would never change in front of her roommates.
Things are a lot different now.
On any given night of the week you may find her in some darkened theater commanding the stage with all the raw power of a goddess, or a queen.
Sometimes she’s a masochist. Sometimes she’s a crone. At all times she is in absolute control.
“I feel like I’m celebrating my body,” the 30-year-old Kensington resident says. “I just want to have fun sharing what I’m doing. I’m not looking for approval.”
“Howling Vic,” as Libertore is known on the thriving neo-burlesque circuit has mastered the art of satire and sex and she wants to teach you how to do it, too.
Starting on April 3 and continuing every Monday night throughout the month, Libertore will conduct a women’s only burlesque workshop from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange.
If it was only about bumping and grinding, there wouldn’t be anything to it, But at Libertore’s workshops students will learn how to create a three to five-minute character-driven performance piece incorporating elements from physical theater.
“The focus of the workshops is not about being pretty or sexy,” Libertore says. “Burlesque incorporates striptease, but it could be any kind of mockery or comic turn.”
One exercise, for example, teaches beginners how to simply stand alone on stage. Another divides the room into different emotional states like “anger,” “happiness” and “fear.” At each interval students must express that particular emotion by moving or holding their bodies in various positions.
“You go to a section and you act it out with your body,” Libertore says. “The purpose is to get your body out of its pedestrian habits.”
The seducer in Balinese Mask, Libertore points out, has nothing at all to do with sex.
“There is no element of neediness,” she explains. “Just having a good time and we have a good time when we’re confident.”
In the heyday of Vaudeville in the 1930’s burlesque was considered a very racy, indeed.
Now, however, Libertore says audiences have grown more sophisticated and burlesque has become something of a high art. It’s a staple at hip venues like the Galapagos Art space here in Brooklyn and the Slipper Room in Manhattan – not to mention those remarkably scandalous presentations down in Coney Island.
“It’s a little more respectable,” Libertore says. “People understand the humor. We’re taking something dignified and playing with that. It is a form of satire.”
Humor, of course, is a huge component of burlesque – then and now.
Much of it comes out of the different characters burlesque artists like Libertore are able to create on stage.
Some of them are archetypical figures like the goddess or the queen. But as “Howling Vic,” Libertore also delves deeply into darker incarnations not generally accepted in society such as the old crone and even the drunk.
“I like to explore the underground,” Libertore admits.
What sort of burlesque character do you have curled up inside you waiting to stretch out on stage?
Libertore will help you find out.
“I’m very excited about working with other women,” she says. “It’s liberating connecting with other women and letting you’re secret naughty thoughts out.”
If you’re a little reticent about taking the plunge…don’t worry. Howling Vic understands.
“A character comes out of a story and performance, as opposed to just going up there and doing striptease,” Libertore says. “What does your character want? Why are you on stage? We work within people’s comfort level.”
That could mean that students spend most of their time just learning how to take off a glove.
“I think a lot of fear does come up,” Libertore says. “There are psychological challenges like, ‘I’m afraid I’m not a nice girl if I do this.’ People do hit walls and have to regroup before they can go forward.”
Libertore started out studying science and technology in college, but her love of the arts ultimately won her over and she ended up earning an MFA in theater.
You can catch “Howling Vic” in action March 25 and 26 at the West End Theater, 263 West 86th Street in Manhattan at 10 p.m. Tickets are available at the door or through SmartTix.com.
“The female body has so much power in our society, we should take ownership of it,” Libertore says.
After doing burlesque for three years Libertore can honestly say that she is no longer afraid of being a “sexual person.”
“I wear clothes that fit better now,” she laughs.
The Brooklyn Arts Exchange is a multifaceted community arts center located at 421 Fifth Avenue at 8th Street.
Burlesque at BAX adult workshops will be held April 3, 10, 17 and 24. Classes run from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Admission is $100 per student. Financial aid is available.
For more information, call 718-832-0018 or visit www.bax.org.
- Joe Maniscalco
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© 2012 Victoria Libertore
