The Audience

“Let me ask you, have you put much thought into how the audience is going to react to you?”

“Hopefully they’re gonna like it, Connor” she answers.

“What I mean is that burlesque audiences are expected to encourage the performers. You must have seen that when you went to your friend’s show. They aren’t going to be saving their applause for the end, you’re going to hear them hooting and hollering as you go. They’ll wolf whistle at you when you start to show some skin. It won’t go all the way to catcalling, but people expect to not only enjoy themselves but to enthusiastically express their enjoyment in a safe, consensual way.”

“Yes, I was there and I noticed. The host of the show even ran through the guidelines for the ‘first timers’. I expect that will happen again”

“Good, then when it happens I think you should play into that. Listen close to the audience reaction and start to play with them. The people watching you are going to find you sexy, VERY sexy, so let them see that you have confidence in yourself.”

“That’s still a bit vague.”

“Okay, for example, you drop the shoulder straps of your dress in this slow reveal, right? If the audience is going crazy then you can slow it down even more slowly. Or pretend to put them back on instead. Grow their anticipation. And the first time they’ll really see your ass is when you’re bent over and flip your dress up. That’s definitely going to get a reaction, so why not shake it a bit extra? The more they cheer, the more you shake!”

“I can manage that.”

“I know you can. And I know the audience is going to have a hard time being quiet with you on stage.”

Liz smiles. “Honestly the more I work on this the sexier I feel. It’ll be nice to feel desired.”

{if benefits=true}”Haven’t I done a good enough job of that recently?”{else}“If it helps I could tell you how sexy I think you are.”{endif}

“Keep it in your pants for now. I mean that it will feel nice to be desired by an entire room. To be at the centre of their attention and...” she bites her lip before finishing, “give them exactly what they want.”

You pull the collar of your shirt away from your neck and exaggerate fanning yourself.

“Pace yourself, Liz. You’ve still got a week to go.”