Pillow Talk: Dream a Little Dream

Have your dreams come true? Have you met the man or woman of your dreams? Strangely, my dreams have come true, only I can't say that I'd realized it before now. So what on earth did I dream of growing up?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thanks for stopping by, darling. Oh, the question of the day, is the American dream dead? Hmm, I don't know. But I often reflect on my showgirl dreams. You see, I longed to be covered in glitter and rhinestones, dancing under cool lights for a very long time. And you might think, hmm, really? That's strange. Now, I started my career as a burlesque performer in New York City in I believe it was 2006. And wouldn't you know? Perhaps it was 2005, one or the other. But wouldn't you know that that was a dream come true for me? So let me back up a little bit. How did I get into Burlask is where we should start? I found myself choosing to sign up for a performance slot at a variety show. It was a group of female producers who had space, and they had said that anyone who wanted to sign up and to perform their talent could do so. Now, at the time, I wasn't thinking of doing like a one-woman show or anything like that. I wanted to dance. Unfortunately, here we are maybe a week before the performance night, and I had been unable to secure a dance partner. I think I had talked one of my guy friends into dancing with me, but for some reason it just fell apart. And so I decided I was not going to give up my spot, but I was going to use an audience member as my dance partner. And so I created a dance routine, and on the night of the show, I chose an audience member at random, and I danced around them. People laughed, people clapped. It was, if I can say, a success. And afterwards, one of the producers came up to me and said, I didn't know you were a burlesque performer. And I said, Oh, is that what I just did? You see, I didn't have an inkling either. Now, mind you, before this I had gone to famous New York City burlesque venues, and I'd seen burlesque shows. I remember watching Joe Boobs on stage at the Bowery Poetry Club. And I'd been pretty bored by burlesque previously, but when I saw her, I thought, she's different. She's fun and she's got talent. Now, mind you, I had seen some of the best burlesque performers in New York City of that time, but I just wasn't really into what they were selling. But Joe, I thought she had just the right amount of comedy in class. Now, prior to all this, I, being a high school senior, found myself in night school because I'd failed my junior year English class. I received a D the first time I'd ever received such a low grade, and the option was to either make it up in night school or repeat a year or something ridiculous. And there was no way I was gonna stay at that school any longer than I needed to, and so off to night school I went, and one of the assignments was to write an essay. I got to choose my own topic, and I chose Josephine Baker. Yes, the Shantous and the Banana Skirts. Oh my goodness. I remember reading about her. Now, to be fair, I had pretty much run out of time when it came to writing this essay, and so I did skim her uh book quite a bit. But I really enjoyed reading about her life, and I wrote the paper. I don't really remember the grade on the essay, but I remember how impressed I was because here was a woman who'd grown up in the racist South, had somehow managed to get herself cast in a stage show, and she decided she was gonna set herself apart by being just a little wilder, a little bit more of a scene stiller, and really shine bright when it came to being on stage with those other girls. Now, this is a risky move because you can find yourself in a production where the producer, the director says, Oh no, we will not have one star of the show. And so, anyway, audiences loved her and off to French you went, and she was able to make a name for herself in Grand Paris. Now, I later learned to find out that she had also done more than just take off her clothes. Josephine trained to be an actress, and she'd also trained to be a singer. She wanted to be taken seriously as an artist. She managed to become mother to about 12 children from different backgrounds. That wasn't from spreading her legs, darling. She adopted. She also worked as a spy and informant for the French government, and she played a major role in getting valuable information during World War II. Josephine, I salute you and you, my dear, inspired me. But even before I learned of Josephine Baker and her amazing feats, I remember being fifteen years old perusing the newspaper. Because back then, darling, if you wanted a job, that's what you did. You didn't go on your smartphone, you didn't click an app, you didn't go in the worldwide world, you opened the newspaper. And I remember looking at the job listings, desperately searching for any job that a 15-year-old girl could do. Because you see, at 15, you had to have special permission from your parents to work. And I wanted to work so I can get the hell out of that house. Now, the one job that seemed to be a little flexible on age, or at least the kind of job where they might not check too closely, was that of a dancer at a strip club. And I envisioned myself being on stage dancing every night, but hopefully I could just dance. I wouldn't have to lap dance or do anything naughty. I could just move side to side, sway and tease and enjoy being me. You know, as I think back on this, I think how bizarre and how naive. And here we are, fast forward. I've taken my clothes off on many stages without hesitating, without thinking it was something degrading or demeaning, but simply embracing creating art. Now I must confess I am older, and I often ask myself, where do I stand artistically with the world of striptease? Am I that naive 15-year-old who just wants to sway and move? Or am I that brazen 20-something year old who's ready to twirl, shimmy, and shake?

unknown 9:50

Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Well, time will tell, because there's still at least one more good bump and grind in this dancer. And so, my friends, I want to know from you. Was there a dream that you held as a youth that later came true, but in hindsight you realized you were a bit naive about this? Let me know. Send me a chat.