Essential Tease: A Transformative Burlesque Class Series

ESSENTIAL TEASE: A Transformative Burlesque Class Series

Spring 2023 Instructors: Jacqueline Boxx, Ruby Rockafella, and Tempete La Coeur

Are you ready to finally take the leap and see what burlesque is all about? Or, are you a current performer who is thinking about reimagining your relationship to burlesque?

Our team of experienced burlesque instructors will guide you through becoming a burlesque performer inside and out. We will progress through act creation from start to finish while incorporating mindful techniques for both on and off the stage. Essential Tease is the ideal starting point for truly transformative acts! This eight-week in-person workshop series is conducted at Creative Alliance in Baltimore, MD, and concludes with a ticketed, live student showcase!

Registration includes eight weeks of prepared lessons, out-of-class coaching and one-on-one mentorship, complimentary costume add-ons and crafting sessions, access to an online community with your peers, as well as the opportunity to rehearse and perform in a student showcase on the Creative Alliance main stage!

Essential Tease welcomes ALL gender identities, abilities, ages, sexualities, races, religions, AND experience levels. All humans welcome, and all bodies are burlesque bodies!

Important Dates

Class: Sundays | 11AM-2PM | 4/16, 4/23, 4/30, 5/7, 5/21, 5/28, 6/4 (NO CLASS 5/14)

Rehearsal: Thursday | 6/15 | 6-8PM

Showcase: Friday | 6/16 | 8PM

About the Instructors

Jacqueline Boxx has headlined and been featured in burlesque festivals across the world, including Vienna, Adelaide, Montreal, Minneapolis, and New York City. She has performed twice at The Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender in Las Vegas, becoming the first performer to ever compete in a wheelchair for a title at the Tournament of Tease. Jacqueline has also taught burlesque workshops and lectured on panels about mindful movement and adaptive performance across the country. Her decades of experience include training in ballet, swing dance, bellydance, aerial arts, clowning, musical theater, and more.

Ruby Rockafella is an award-winning burlesque performer who has been performing and producing burlesque for nearly a decade. Known as a “master of character and costume” (TheatreBloom), Ruby began teaching in 2015. She is especially focused on helping performers explore their emotional range through facial expression and eye contact. She has always loved the storytelling aspect of burlesque and is fascinated by the transformations that can occur in just a few short moments on stage. While she appreciates the classic nature of burlesque, she also adores weirdness, the grotesque, silliness, and pushing the boundaries of what is considered sexy and stageworthy. The lessons Ruby has learned from burlesque have touched every aspect of her life and fundamentally changed her perceptions about both body and soul. She hopes to share this magic with students for years to come!

Tempete La Coeur Known as the “Temptress in a Teacup”, Tempete La Coeur began brewing as a tiny dancer while growing up in the wetlands of Maryland’s eastern shore. Years later, she quietly stormed her way onto the DC and Baltimore burlesque scene at the beginning of 2015 and has joyfully twirled her way around to stages all over DC, Baltimore, Virginia and beyond! A master of the unexpected, Tempete has been known to surprise audiences with her clever twists on classic and her moving and sometimes hilarious take on neo-burlesque. Batten down the hatches, because this petite powerhouse will make you giggle and think with a wiggle and a wink and you might get a little wet in the process!

About Essential Tease

Essential Tease classes expand the definition of what a burlesque class can be. As seasoned burlesque performers, producers, and instructors, we know that burlesque can empower you to improve your relationship with your body, stretch your artistic boundaries, and tell your personal story. Our teachers are each uniquely experienced in achieving the fusion of mind and body for diverse body types (size, ability, range, skill) and have professional backgrounds in highly varied performance styles. Learn more at www.essentialtease.com.

Ticket Rates

BIPOC Rate $450 This is our rate for those who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and it will always be available! Please select this rate if one or more of these apply to you. Early Bird $650 This is our discounted rate that will be available until March 15, 2023. Save $70 by signing up now! Full Price: $720

(Creative Alliance Members get $10 off all ticket rates)

Note: The Creativity Center is now open! Classes will take place in the new Creativity Center at 3137 Eastern Ave., just across the street from The Patterson. Please check the website prior to your class to confirm location. We are excited to share our new space with you and hear your feedback!

Amidst the ongoing effects of COVID-19, we continue to prioritize the health and well-being of our staff, artists, youth, audiences, and our community. Masks are optional in both The Patterson & Creativity Center.