Burlesque dancer to teach ‘sexy’

Burlesque dancer, self-proclaimed exhibitionist and “derriere beyond compare” Lola Van Ella is coming to give IU students a crash course in being sexy, flirty and confident – all through the art of burlesque dancing.

From 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Van Ella will be teaching two burlesque workshops at the McCalla School of Fine Arts, 525 E. Ninth St.

The first workshop, “Burlesque Bump n’ Grind for Beginners,” costs $30 and the second, which requires completion of the first, is called “Tease Technique and Performance Polish” costs $50.

“The first workshop is more of a 101 overview of burlesque history,” Van Ella said. “A lot of burlesque warm-ups, shimmies, bumps and grinds, easy ice breaks, boa work, chair glove peels. It’s an overview of feeling sexy.”

The second workshop is more focused and will include a polished dance routine, Van Ella said. The workshops will be a no-pressure atmosphere where women of all different dance levels are welcome to attend.

Van Ella will also be performing an uncensored burlesque performance at 9 p.m. Saturday at Rachael’s Cafe with acts Acoustic TLQ!, Jamasaurus Rox and Roller Polers for a $3 cover.

All proceeds go to Verbal Terrorism Productions for future events.

Van Ella was on campus in October for “Sexploration at IU” and performed a “Crimson Cabaret & Burlesque Revue” held by Verbal Terrorism Productions.

Verbal Terrorism Productions is trying to bring different art forms that have never had a presence in Bloomington before, founder of Verbal Terrorism Productions and IU graduate Jada Barbry said.

Barbry said Van Ella is one of the “brilliant up-and-comers in her field” and has a “burlesque persona of a good girl gone bad.”

Van Ella has done a majority of her performances in St. Louis but has been all around the globe. She recently performed at the London Burlesque Festival, and she has taught a workshop in Nuremberg, Germany.

Van Ella has taught workshops at Washington University in St. Louis and is eager to teach at IU. She said she enjoys teaching 18- to 22-year-olds because they “just want to let go and are coming into their own sexuality.”

She has been performing burlesque professionally for five years now and “it has snowballed into my life,” she said.

Always having been interested in musicals, theater and cabaret, she was in a sense performing burlesque in some of her cabaret performances but “didn’t even know it was burlesque” because it was not widespread in St. Louis.

Van Ella received her tagline “the Derriere Beyond Compare” from a St. Louis critic in 2006 who gave her a rave review for her first burlesque performance that she produced.

Lola Van Ella, her stage name, came from one of her signature songs, “Whatever Lola Wants.” The last part of her name, Van Ella, came from her German heritage, her fascination with Ella Fitzgerland and the way “Van Ella” sounds like vanilla.

“I love vanilla and I love the irony,” Van Ella said. “I’m definitely not a vanilla girl even though I love the flavor.”

When asked how she would describe burlesque, she said, “It is sexy, but cheeky. It is usually, but not always, a striptease. It is theatrical and often funny.”

She said that burlesque is in a sense “female drag,” complete with sparkles, rhinestones and costumes.

But in some sense, burlesque performers are more natural because they do not try to alter themselves by getting breast augmentation or going to the tanning salon. 

A lot, but not all, of the burlesque performers pay tribute to the retro culture by trying to emulate the ’50s pinup culture, the 1920s or the 1940s, Van Ella said.

Burlesque is called a striptease because “most of the time you end up in pasties and
g-strings,” Van Ella said.

“Some days I feel fat like most women,” she said. “But most women are not getting as naked as me.”

Van Ella has received little to no backlash from the outside community and her family is completely supportive of her.

“My mom came to the first burlesque performance I produced and she hooted and hollered louder than anyone,” Van Ella said.

With a career as burlesque, Van Ella calls herself a feminist.

“This is the ultimate form of expression,” she said. “I feel empowered and I know I’m completely happy. I am 100 percent positive that I have no guilt about it. That is feminism.”