Luxembourg’s burlesque school a safe space to build body confidence

If you want to feel more body confident and sexy, you could join the safe space of the Burlesque community in Luxembourg, says seasoned performer and teacher Sadie Sly.

She and her colleague, dance teacher Lulu Madeleine, set up a burlesque school some five years ago. Today, it has more than seventy students, and runs classes three nights a week in English, Luxembourgish and French, at the Verdanza studio.

Teacher Miss Shimmy S’More describes burlesque as a style of dance that involves striptease, with different props and costumes to tell a story. “It can be funny and sexy, but there are huge variations in style,” she said.

Burlesque originated in the Victorian era, beginning first as comedy shows for the lower classes, where performers parodied the rich, but it evolved over time to include dance and striptease.

“Usually there is one person on stage. They dance whilst using props and removing clothing,” explained S’More, adding that in Luxembourg performers cover their nipples and genitals which is usual for the art form, as most venues where burlesque is performed around the world, don’t have the required license that allows nudity.

Burlesque, cabaret, ‘boylesque’ and burly belly dance

Sly explained that in America, laws varied from state to state, so professional performers “got clever with their costumes to show as much skin as possible without being arrested for indecency.”

Sadie Sly and Lulu Madeleine decided to run a couple of weekend workshops in 2019 to gauge interest in Luxembourg, and quickly opened a school when they started getting requests for regular classes.

Lessons now span Cabaret, which is a group performance that usually does not involve striptease, and ‘Boylesque’, the male version of burlesque.

S’More runs a fusion class incorporating burlesque with belly dance, aptly called Burly Belly Dance.

“Anyone can join, and there is a wide range of ages and professional backgrounds,” she said.

The burlesque school runs three closed performances a year for family and friends of students and members, but stages public performances several times a year.

Public shows involve multiple performers, including the school’s teachers, local performers and special guest performers from all over the world.

A supportive and fun community

“As a community we support each other. Our students want to use their bodies but also have a bit of fun,” said Sly.

Many burlesque students join “when they go through big life events such as divorces, break-ups, traumas or issues with their bodies. People mostly come because they just want to feel good,” she said. “Celebrating your body is a very positive process.”

Sly highlighted that “burlesque is a much more open minded world to the media norm of what we see on social media or on stage. It’s a very accepting community and we have different body shapes, but nothing is taboo. You come in the body you are in. It’s about your performance, your soul, and the character you create to tell a story on the stage.”

Most choreographies tell a story, and teachers will pick music and design a story or character around it. She gives the example of the song ‘Mad about the boy’ and a character who is overwhelmed with love and intense emotions that drive their seductive dance moves.

Body confidence

Sly admitted she was a shy teenager that never danced. “I was curvy and my mum used to call me an elephant. She pushed me into other creative fields but I rebelled at 18 years.”

To make money to travel, she worked for a few months in the adult entertainment industry, and fell in love with dancing. On arrival in the UK, she trained to become a teacher in striptease, Can Can, pole dancing and burlesque.

S’More felt she couldn’t continue with ballet when her body shape changed, so she switched to belly dancing. She joined one of the first workshops at the newly-formed burlesque school as a student, and has now developed her skills as a professional performer and teacher.

“It gave me confidence in myself after my divorce, and was a really welcoming and supportive community,” she said.

Join a class or watch a performance

You can find out more about the regular burlesque, cabaret, boylesque and burly belly dance classes run by the non-profit school here.

The next public shows are at Mama Shelter on 25 April, at Le Croque Bedaine on 3 May, and at Letz Boys on 29 June. check the agenda for public performances in Luxemburg here.