#24 - Burlesque and Spirituality

This week on The Astro Study Room, Jordan is interviewing Ember all about her journey with burlesque and how it connects to her spiritual journey and, of course, her birth chart. We talk about what burlesque is, what that first class is like, what the community is like, what is feels like to be on stage naked, the vulnerability associated, and dedicating a piece to deity.

We will see you back in the study room on May 12th with a super exciting interview with Tenae Stewart!!

Transcript

Welcome To The Astro Study Room

Ember 0:18

Hey star students, welcome back to the Astro Study Room. I'm Ember Fay, your friendly neighborhood Fire Fairy Witch.

Jordan 0:26

And I'm Jordan, a university librarian by day and a dedicated astrology student by night. And yes, welcome back to the Astro Study Room.

Ember 0:34

Our goal for this podcast is to feel like a group of badass students of all levels gathering to reflect, explore, question, and connect with the cosmos. So no matter where you're at in your spiritual or astrological journey, learning is a forever game. Growth is cyclical, and curiosity is sacred. And we're so happy you're here to wander around the universe with us. So if you'd like, grab your notes, your water, your pens, your highlighters, or just bring yourself in an open mind.

Jordan 1:02

So whether you identify as an astrologer, a witch, a wizard, a mystic, a spiritual seeker, or simply a curious human, you belong here. This is a study room for everyone and for all of it. Every other Tuesday, we will be exploring different astrology and spiritual topics, sometimes teaching, sometimes reflecting, and sometimes just chatting out loud about it all together. If you're into it, we'd love for you to subscribe, leave us a review, and just know you can always come hang out with us in the study room.

Ember 1:25

You can follow us at the Astro Study Room on Instagram and TikTok. And as a reminder, the Astro Study Room is live on YouTube. So if you're more of a visual person, you can check us out there.

Jordan 1:38

And don't forget about our Patreon, which is currently free as we are still figuring out the best ways for us to utilize it. But signing up now will make sure you are the first to get any of our study guides and the fun tools we put out. Along with everything, the link is in the show notes.

Ember 1:50

And Jordan, can you tell people how they can get an incredible astrology reading with you?

Jordan 1:56

I do natal chart and solo return consultations where we can talk about what your soul intends for you for this lifetime. And I also offer cosmic check-ins where we can talk about any current transits going on, or if you want any dedicated time to ask questions about your chart or any certain placement or transits happening.

Ember 2:10

What about you, Ember? I'm on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under EmberFay Magic. You can check out my movement meditations. You can sign up for my newsletter, The Pleasure Pages, or take my free quiz on discovering your sensual shadow archetype. I also do have workbooks available for you to be able to connect with that archetype and dive deeper with your sensual shadows. All available at my website, which is linked in the show notes and on my socials.

Jordan 2:39

And bringing it back to our Patreon, I want to remind you all that we have some donation tiers there as well. If you feel called to support us in that way, we would be honored to have you. We have fun little names for them that we think are so cute and funny and catchy. And this all helps you stay connected and support the magic behind the mic. But as always, no pressure at all since we are just here to make this content as accessible as we can to all of our listeners.

Full Moon Scorpio And Beltane

Ember 3:00

So buckle up, star students. Class is officially out and the study room is in session. Yes, just really quickly, I wanted to bring up that we do have a full moon in Scorpio happening May 1st, which also happens to be Beltane at 6.23 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. And so with this energy, I'm not gonna like go too deep into it right now, but when we're thinking of Scorpio, this like dominant, powerful transformation is happening under what, like I said, around Beltane, which really invites us to celebrate life and pleasure and connection. So this could be a really good time at the full moon to just like get outside. Want me naked? Let's be naked outside, Jordan. Get nakedy outside. All right, in your house where you feel safe. No, I think like just really thinking about that desire and intimacy, right? Scorpio is about going deep. So I think those themes can really bring out a lot of intensity and release when we're celebrating this time of like fertility and vitality. So looking at that intersection between shadow work and pleasure, which oh sometimes I'm talking and I'm like, oh, that might be on my website. You should check out my website. But if you have shadows around pleasure and intimacy, you really could use this time of trying to like let some of that go or alchemizing what you may want to release and and kind of change that and transform that into fueling something that's going to make you feel alive.

unknown 5:05

I don't know.

Ember 5:06

What do you think, Jordan? How's that sound? That sounds kind of nice. I'm like ready. I'm ready for like the warmer weather and May and Yeah, I'm also excited to see because you know, we were talking about Beltain.

Jordan 5:16

Like you and I have talked a bit about do we want to do a Sabbath series? Um, and maybe, maybe that'll be like because we were just talking about before this. Like, what are we gonna do after the Zodiac sign? Which we're not anywhere near done. Uh, but maybe that will be our 2027 series, is what it said. Yeah. Let us know, everyone, what you want to see.

Ember 5:36

I want to see more Disney stories. Remember during the planets, we were doing Disney stories. If you haven't checked out our planet series, you need to go back because Jordan would like connect all of the planets to an archetype. And I was listening to one of our recent episodes because sometimes I do that just to like remind myself what we talked about. I was like, I miss these connections, Jordan. Maybe we should think about it. Maybe we'll like if you're if you're ever feeling called, Jordan, any of the zodiac signs, you just have like the perfect archetype. We should just throw that in there.

What Burlesque Really Is

Jordan 6:07

Yeah. I mean, if one comes to me, I will definitely share it with you all. So for today's episode, Ember, we're gonna be talking about you and your burlesque journey and how that. Well, I guess you're gonna have to explain it, but how that either because you were spiritual before you got into burlesque. So I guess how the two evolved together, how they were separated. So I want to start with like what is your origin story with burlesque? What actually, no, let's talk about what is burlesque. Tell us what burlesque is.

Ember 6:33

Oh, okay. So burlesque is the art of the tease. So burlesque is an art form that could be like satire, it's it could be um sexy, performative, and it's really an opportunity to like get on stage, tease the audience, draw them in, so like break down that fourth wall and connect with your audience and share a message. So burlesque can be funny, it could be sexy, it could be showgirl, like very classic feathers. You're thinking like Vegas vibes. There is like reverse strip where somebody comes out on stage and some Pacies and like puts on a little cute outfit. I don't know that. Yeah, it's really, really fun. Reverse it's reverse strip. You can like look up a YouTube video on it. So great. And and it's really an opportunity to just express ourselves in a way that's fully empowering, fully just fucking powerful, you know? It's like reclaiming that creativity and spark that like many of us, many, so many of us, have had taken away from ourselves, like us in different parts of our lives.

Jordan 7:49

So when you got into burlesque, was it something that you like immediately dove into? Was it something that you like observed for a while? Or was it like you heard of it and you were like, this is my thing now? How did what's your origin story with burlesque?

Burnout Leads To A Studio

Ember 8:01

No, absolutely not. So I had been to one burlesque show accidentally at a Comic-Con. That was my only experience with yeah, it was like a Buffy show. It was so good. They also had like a Scooby-Doo act. Oh, it was so great. Um, but that was my only experience with burlesque, and that was years before I walked into a studio. But essentially, I was at work and it was in 2022, I think was my first, I think it was 2022, was my first uh burlesque class. And essentially, I was feeling very burned out at work. It was like post-COVID or in the middle of COVID, but like we're coming out of COVID, people are getting vaccinated. And I was just tired and burned out, and I was thinking that I need a hobby. I need to figure out something I'm gonna do with myself. And so my first desire was kickboxing. And I was like, I'm gonna find a kickboxing class. And so I started Googling and I got in, and I live in a small town in upstate New York, and it was a sketchy Facebook page for these kickboxing classes at a place called the Corset Factory. And I was like, okay, let's go. And I walked in and I started walking around this really old build, beautiful old building that literally was a corset factory at one point in like the late 1800s, early 1900s. Essentially, there were no kickboxing classes. It was none. No, I think it was there at one point and then just like wasn't there anymore. Like I said, it was a Facebook page, so it was like it just wasn't accurate. But while I was there, I did see flyers for the Beesney's Burlesque Academy. And I was like, this is cool. Okay, and I took one of the flyers and I went home. Had you danced before? No. Okay. No, no, no. I never did. I just kind of saw the flyer. It was all these like sexy little legs and like fishnets, and I was like, huh, this looks kind of fun. And I like searched it, and there was like a chair class and a floor class.

Jordan 10:07

And then I Did you remember when you were looking at it? Like, were you thinking at all about that one burlesque show you had seen, or like not even not even connecting it? No.

Ember 10:16

I didn't really know what burlesque was. I did not do anything at that point and just talked about it with my therapist for six months. I would bring it up occasionally where she would, because she was helping me through all this burnout and she was asking me, she was the one who gave me the idea about starting a hobby. And so finally, literally after six months, she just turned to me and was like, You should just go to one of these classes. And I was like, No, I don't dance, I don't know what I'm doing. And she kind of just looked at me and I was like, Okay, I'll go. And I went to my first, I emailed the instructor and I was like, What do I need to bring? La. And she was super nice. And I went to my first burlesque class, which was a chair class, and I showed up in leggings and a t-shirt. And uh, that was that was my origin story. I started going slowly, and I would pick up more classes and started going to more classes, and I was like, Oh, this is just fun. This is for exercise, but I would never perform. Well, what was that first class like? Oh, it was it was scary. It was scary.

Jordan 11:29

Like, was it well, okay? One, like, yes, scary. I want to know too. And then was it like, was it physically challenging? Like, how hard was it?

Mirrors Body Image And Belonging

Ember 11:35

The coordination was physically challenging. The actual, the actual like what I was doing. It wasn't like I was out of breath or anything like that, which definitely does happen because I think I was focused so much on trying to figure out the moves. I it was, it was like, I don't have, I didn't at the time have good coordination. I didn't really know how to move my body, move the muscles that I needed. So it was very kind of like, I'm figuring out my body. But also, you're doing it in front of a mirror in front of a class. And so I was very much in my head about how do I look? Oh my gosh, I'm looking at my it was great. The environment, everyone was so welcoming, it was so sweet. The first person I made friends with was this beautiful woman named Lona. She was gorgeous, like beautiful red hair. It was hard looking at myself in the mirror and being like, oh my god, I'm gonna move my body in this way. I also showed up and everyone's in these like cute little sexy outfits. You know, some people are in sports bras and little booty shorts, and I'm there and I'm like, oh wow, okay, like this is this is this what I'm gonna be doing. And well, let's talk about that too. How did you feel about your body at the time? Um, I I'm trying to remember honestly, and I don't want to say that I had a horrible relationship with my body. I think I just very much classically was in the mindset of a millennial woman growing up in the millennial America, yeah. Yeah, early 2000s, you know, just thinking that oh, I'm too fat, I'm too curvy. That that was mostly in my brain, is like my body is not the way it could be if I like lost weight and looked, I would look so much better if I lost weight.

Jordan 13:23

And so this environment, did it immediately make you feel comfortable, or was it at least as I guess as comfortable as you could be while working through these things?

Ember 13:33

So, one of the most beautiful things about burlesque is that it truly is for everybody. I have seen everybody type on a stage. I have seen people very, very small, petite women, men. I've seen gorgeous, fat, voluptuous women. There's even there's even like a fat um fat burlesque festival that women who really embody and claim that title, like I am a gorgeous fat woman, can go and perform. And it is oh it's so beautiful the way that anybody who has been trained in burlesque can just like stand up and just captivate an audience no matter what their body looks like. That has been the most empowering thing I have seen. And so being in that space with people that just know how to move their body and make the most beautiful lines and hold your attention. It was like I am beautiful and I can move my body beautifully. Oh, like I can do that. Okay. And the stage presence and just seeing that, no matter what somebody looked like, was so eye-opening because the message is constantly like you need to look a certain way in order to be beautiful, and that is the message that burlesque has just smashed into a million pieces for me. It's like, no, all bodies are truly beautiful, and I have seen and celebrated and clapped and screamed for so many different people, and it made me see my body differently. It's like, oh, as long as I can see the beauty in myself, these other people are gonna see it too. Has it changed the way that you view everyone else? That's such an interesting question.

Jordan 15:34

Like, do you think like of course we all have always said everybody is beautiful. We've always said that. We do still have our own personal preferences, we do still have what we personally find the most beautiful. Has that changed for you what you find beautiful in a person?

Ember 15:51

So I think there's a difference between beauty and attraction. I think I can see somebody and be like, that person is beautiful, but that doesn't mean I'm necessarily like sexually attracted to that person.

Jordan 16:04

And I'm not talking about sexual attraction, but like the type of person that you find beauty in, has that changed? Has that expanded, I guess?

Ember 16:13

I think maybe I don't know. Like may, like I wanna say yes, but I think what I find beautiful has changed in the sense when you ask that question, the first thing that came to mind is that I think it's opened my eyes in noticing people who are not confident or people who may have like pretty significant body struggles, um, and listening to the way my friends talk about themselves and make comments about their body. It's made me more aware and hypersensitive to those things. And I what do you do with that?

Jordan 16:53

What does that feel like? This isn't the right way to say it, but uh, this is the only way I can think of to say it really quick. But like to have ascended to a different way of like how you view yourself and beautiful bodies in general, and to hear your loved ones critiquing themselves, probably in a way that you used to. How does that do you say anything? Are you kind of like everyone's on their own journey? Does it make you feel? I mean, I'm sure it makes me feel sad, but like anything else.

From Class To The Stage

Ember 17:21

I definitely will say something depending on the person. If I know the person really well, sometimes I'll like jokingly point it out. If somebody is like, Oh, I I recently had someone say to me, I hate my voice. And I'm like, You have such a beautiful voice. You literally lead meditations and workshops, and you're saying you don't love your voice, it's gorgeous. And she was just like, Oh no, like you're so sweet, ha ha ha. And I'm like, How do you not see sometimes it blows my mind? I'm like, how do you not see that? And so sometimes I'll go that route. Sometimes I will not say anything. Sometimes I will ask and just be like, oh, why, why do you think that? I think you have to be really careful because a lot some people have truly severe body dysmorphia, and I don't want to be triggering to anybody for sure by bringing it up. So I'll kind of like suss out how somebody's feeling because sometimes it's just a habit. I truly think sometimes just looking in the mirror and finding something to criticize yourself about is a habit that especially women have been taught to do since we were little, because it's like we need to be perfect, we need to make sure our hair be all done up, and that like we have every freaking little piece of hair off our body, and we are looking a certain way, and if not, if we're anything less than perfect, it's like something's wrong with us, and that's really why I wanted to create Ember Fay Magic because I was noticing these things, and you you asked me if it was different how I viewed people, I think it just made this desire to want to help people see that beauty in themselves as well. And so my whole thing with Ember Fei Magic, right, is just like teaching people to learn to love themselves again and whether that's their body or connect with their creativity, listen to their mind, their thoughts, learn to just truly embody the like embody themselves and love themselves came from this journey with burlesque.

Jordan 19:34

So, how did you go from I do this for fun, this is a hobby, this is a workout, but I would never perform this, I would never go on stage to then going on stage. How did how was that? How did you do that?

Ember 19:45

Probably peer pressure, honestly. So my dance school has group performances, and so we were having a really big holiday show. I started, I think I said 2022 earlier. It was 2023, like May of 2023 was when I first started. And my first show was December of 2023, so it wasn't that long. And my dance instructor had group performances, and I had made friends at that point, and they were like, come on, come do a dance, come do one with us, it's not a big deal. And so finally I was just like, you know what? Let's fucking go, let's do it. And so I did my first group performance very quickly. I can actually show you for the YouTubers. I'll just pull up for the YouTubers. Are you in the middle? Aw.

unknown 20:37

Look at you.

Ember 20:38

So I have it. So for those who aren't on YouTube, I'm in like a gold turban with like some big feathers. It was very like classic shogun burlesque. And after that group performance, I had so much fun. I was like, oh, I actually freaking love being on a stage. Look at all these people screaming for me and cheering for me. And I get to like wave my boobs on stage, and people are like, and it was just the energy was nothing like I'd experienced before. And then I signed up for a class called Papa Pasty, which is basically our dance instructor helps new performers create their first act, and so that happened May of 24. That I performed my performed my first solo act. And yeah, I've been dancing ever since. I also do a lot of what's called kittening or stage managing. So I was a stage manager for a really long time in college. I stage, you know, did stage crew in high school. And so a lot of what I do too is just like supporting shows. I'm on stage picking up tips and stripper droppings and just being like my happy go lucky ember self. And it's so much fun. There's like acting, and it's just, oh, it's so good.

Jordan 21:59

So Was spirituality woven in through the beginning for you, or did it come into it later?

Ember 22:05

It definitely came into it later. I realized that when I was dancing, I would have these experiences, these out-of-body, like I'd be dancing, and it would feel like I was kind of like outside my body, and I would start to see these like colors and and auras and things happening. And I was like, this is this is weird. This is like when I meditate. And I realized that when I was dancing, I was connecting to my body in a way that sometimes when I'm meditating and I'm sitting there, I was able to do as well. But the dancing actually brought me into my body. And I started incorporating that into when I would cast a circle, I would dance with the elements. And I would just like, as I walked around the circle, I would dance with fire and like flow with water and air, like picture little fairies around me. And it just started building from there that I this dance really felt like a really significant part of my spiritual practice. Like I was tapping into something that was ancient and older than what I was doing. Especially when I honestly was naked or I was like outside dancing in my backyard or dancing on the stage. Like it just there's something about just being free and powerful that felt very channeled from, I don't know, ancient priestesses. Like I have no idea, but it it's really powerful and beautiful.

Jordan 23:44

So then how has spirituality been incorporated into all of your performances?

Ember 23:50

So this happened without meaning to, honestly. This was actually because of uh Elise Wells, who we've had on our podcast. Jordan and I have talked about her before. Heck yeah. Elise and I were talking about my first performance, and I started working with her around the time I was creating my first act. And when I was explaining to her this concept, so my song was called Let's Have a Satanic Orgy by Twin Temples, Twin Temple. And I was doing this vibe of being this beautiful flower maiden, and I basically was being pulled by the music, the the energy happening, the seductive energy, and ending with like pentagram pasties, pentagram thong, just crazy like energy. Like I am full, which Satan has claimed me. And she just was like, that sounds like the story of Persephone. And it just opened my mind. I was like, oh my god, it does. And I was like, this whole time, I feel like I've been building and creating and replaying this story, right? And I'm like, man, this is for Persephone. And I also highly recommend if you're a creatrix type person, you're creative, you write, you paint. There's a book called Inspiring Creativity Through Magic by Estrella Taylor. It is such a good book. And in there, it talks about building the egregore of a piece. And an egregore is essentially a spiritual body that is created from the energy of what you're doing. So maybe we've talked about our coven, right? So our coven, as we build energy and meet and get to know each other, is gonna build its own egregore and whatever that looks like. So she talks about it creating the egregore of a piece. And so this Persephone imbued act started coming up and it truly became like I would offer Persephone wine when I rehearsed. And I would really before I performed the first time, I kind of did like a little petition to Persephone just asking to connect with her. And so then, you know, fast forward a year later, I had another act. It was um burn it to the ground by Nickelback was the song. And I did I did a very like anan-encoded piece of just I am freaking queen, I've got flames on my head, and then this year I have a big stuffed snake that I'm dancing with, named Mr. Sparkles Hissington. Actually, I think he's Sir Sparkles Hiss. His name is Sir Sparkle Hissington, and my act this time is dedicated to Lou Lilith. Um yeah, so she it's very like my gr my dress is just this green sequence, um, very queen energy, very cunty, which is different for me. Usually I'm just like fun and playful. So it's been a it's been interesting. And so yeah, that's so when I it feels like I'm creating these acts as an offering to deity, essentially.

Jordan 27:02

I'm curious if there's a way that you like you capture or like hold on to the egregore of a dance, because well, I don't know, do you revisit these dances? Like, have you done your Persephone dance much since? Like, how do you how do you revisit it? How do you capture it? Because I was thinking how you mentioned, like, you know, writing or painting, like we can easily go back to those. How do you capture a dance?

Ember 27:24

By performing it again, right? Like sometimes I might be booked and I'll perform that act again. Sometimes it's just listening to the song and doing it without all of the prep, you know, it's just listening, and even like if I'm like, okay, I'm gonna connect. I will say that one of the things that happens when I'm creating an act is you listen to it so so much, and then you're all of a sudden like I hate this song and I cannot listen to it anymore. So then when there's like a break from it and you're like, oh, and you go back to it, you can like bring up those emotions and dance, and maybe instead of like the performative act I do for the audience, right? It's truly just for like me and Persephone.

Jordan 28:01

Yeah.

Ember 28:01

And I do it in front of a mirror.

Jordan 28:04

I did a show to Piece by Piece by Kelly Clarkson, and for like six straight months, I that song was stuck in my head.

Ember 28:11

No, it really does. You know those ear, they call them like the earworms, where like that happens to me. I'll wake up in the middle of the night and I just hear my song, and I'm like, I know.

Jordan 28:21

I'm curious too how you connect all of this back to your chart. I always say that no one no one can know their chart better than you. So how do you personally connect this to your chart? And I'll probably pop it on the screen for everyone to look at.

Ember 28:33

Oh, my chart, so everyone sees it. My fifth house is occupied by Aquarius, which does feel very sort of rebel, out there, weird and innovative. So having some sort of like, I don't know, none of those things. I don't think burlesque is weird and innovative, I guess, but it is different. Like, I do think that it's not a hobby that people tend to think about as even a hobby that is a hobby, and it's it's a little bit more than a hobby, too. It's definitely something that like I make money from it too. And I it's really, I think fifth house creativity and play and fun, and it's something, it's just like a passion of mine that I truly love. I also think it's pretty cool. I I, you know, I know Scorpio is a little bit like different in how we view it, Jordan, but Scorpio modernly, I see it as like transformation and the taboo and being powerful through vulnerability and transformation. And it's interesting that I have Scorpio in my second house, which is like the money and resources. So, like finding this thing that I do make money from. And and you know, I probably spend more on burlesque than I do actually making money from it. Um, but the fact that like exchange of money, right? I get ti I love.

Jordan 29:55

I'm gonna say second house is buying things too for sure.

Ember 29:58

Yeah, so okay, so like buying these like beautiful sensual things that feel good and look amazing, and then people like stick some money in between my butt cheeks, and I'm like, yeah, queen, like let's go, gimme that. It's I don't know, fun and very Scorpio-like.

Jordan 30:18

Looks like your Saturn return was like right before burlesque. And like maybe you could say burlesque was like the end of it, the end of the Saturn return. It's it's interesting because you do have that Saturn at 29 degrees, so um, when Saturn goes a little bit into Pisces, you're technically still kind of finishing your return. But the the climax of it was like early spring 2023.

Ember 30:43

Oh, interesting. I think the Saturn return being sort of the climax happening that early spring was when I was burning out and feeling like, what am I doing with my life?

Jordan 30:54

Oh, and I did think too, because you had mentioned your therapist was like, you should get a hobby, and that's what fifth house rules is hobbies. Yeah. I thought that was interesting too.

Ember 31:02

Yeah, I think it was really the climax of like, I'm gonna do something for me. I've been studying, I've been working my butt off, I'm exhausted, and I just had nothing for me. And Saturn II, I I just thought of this.

Jordan 31:15

Saturn II is as I always say, is the the lessons you learn the hard way and the rewards that come from a lot of hard work. Um, and I guess, I mean, you know, you talked about it being like relatively quick, but also like this wasn't something that you, you know, you performed in May. Like you started, you had to learn from the ground up. You had to start from the beginning, and you're still learning, and you're still going to classes and everything. So it's a it's a sport and an art that you're you have to be dedicated to to grow in, I guess. I mean, you could probably say that for anything, but like this specifically is something that takes a lot of I mean, you're spending money on this, you're spending a lot of time on this and energy. Um, and it's not something that was like it wasn't a hyperfixation that you moved on from. It wasn't like a you did it once for six months, like you are still doing this years later, and that's very Saturn.

Ember 32:04

Hmm. Yeah, and I think this idea of just being able to like tell a story through what I'm doing too, and connecting it. It's very vulnerable. So, you know, you mentioned Saturn 29 degrees and Aquarius in my in my house, and this what I'm doing, this this form of create I think all forms of creativity can be vulnerable, right? But not only am I vulnerable with my physical body that I'm getting on stage and showing an entire audience, I'm also being vulnerable with my mind and showing people this is my art, this is how I view these things, this is how I hear the music. And that has been one of the hardest things, I think, for me. And having Saturn there in that placement, I think makes a lot of sense because if there's anything that I'm down on myself, it's like, no, I know I'm a hottie. Like, I know that. But when I'm like, oh, I don't know if I know how to move this way, I don't know if I'm creative enough to come up with a choreo that people are going to find enticing. And it's really scary. It's so vulnerable. And I definitely find myself getting in my head a lot and restricting myself and my movement because I'm like, oh, I can only move this way. This is the only way I know how to move. I can be fun, silly, ember, and that's it. And that's really fun for this performance that I'm doing at the beginning of May. Actually, when this episode airs, it will be this coming weekend that this episode airs. If you're in the area, come watch on May 2nd. Uh, check out my socials. But it's just really, it's very, it's much more pre I don't want to say precise. It's just more like actually, it's very Mars and Virgo energy, like very intentional movement. Very, like I said, it's it's that spiritual idea of like connecting with Lilith, but it's very, it's much more controlled movement than I'm usually doing. And it's like I have to hit the beats right, or else they're not gonna work. And so it's a challenge and it's scary to do it. And it's like that smaller, precise movements are supposed to feel more erotic and are just more difficult for me. And so this is kind of a scary, vulnerable thing to be doing.

Jordan 34:36

He I have a lot of questions. I think I'm gonna work backwards. Smaller movements are more erotic. What is that? What do you mean? What are we talking about?

Ember 34:48

So it's like um I feel like I'd have to show it. Hold on.

Jordan 34:55

Like I'm thinking like a fan kick. That would be a big move, right? What's a small move?

Ember 34:59

A small move. So the difference is like you're doing a hip movement, right? Okay, so it's like the little okay. So like here's like a big hip movement, uh-huh. But then like you take that and just like Okay. And it's like this like more precise, like And so that's more teasing too, I guess, right?

Jordan 35:17

It can be. Yeah.

Ember 35:21

I don't know if like, I don't know. I said that, and I don't know if like small movements are always more erotic. They're just like they can be slower, they can be, it's like you have to um well that felt more teasing to me because I'm thinking like those small movements are making me be like, show me what else your body can do.

Jordan 35:38

Yes. So that's like that's what's more teasing for sure.

Ember 35:41

And it's you want a balance, right? You want the big and you want like the little or like smaller stuff. Yeah. And it's the tension. Burlesque is very much about the tension that you're building, letting go, building, letting go with the audience. Yeah.

Jordan 35:59

I want to work through, I don't have any immediate thoughts, but I feel like some will come. I want to work through more of this Mars placement because I know that for you this has kind of been like the placement that you have like no understanding of in your charts. And I know that that's something you're kind of working on right now, and you just had a a bit of a monologue about it. So, you know, you're kind of talking about the movement, and movement is Mars. Um, but the movement, like the feeling, the need to perfect it, for it to be right before you can go show it. And I'm thinking about your Mercury 2, which is the the host of your Mars, is in your tenth house, which is the house of being in front of people. It's the house of the stage. How much would you associate the word study with your burlesque journey?

Ember 36:48

I don't know if I associate so I am learning when I'm in class, right? Like it is a lot about learning. I don't know if I would necessarily associate the word study with what I've been doing. Is there a reason you asked that?

Jordan 37:04

Um, it came to me just because like Virgo is the the st the studious student. And I'm thinking about, you know, Mercury is the student, Mercury is the one who studies. And like I know there's so much to study about dance. There's dance history, there's and then just the subsect of burlesque and burlesque history, and I think I'm thinking of the word so you're I I'm thinking the word study too literally.

Ember 37:34

I think what you're asking. Yeah, I think student, as a student, burlesque has taught me so much, so much. Um and I'm constantly learning, whether it's I'm learning new techniques, I'm learning from my fellow dancers, I'm learning about stage presence, connection. I learn when I watch other dancers. And the thing that I'm learning is not just like the technique and the actual like studious things, right? It's also a way to learn about connection. And it's learning about connection through a lens of like connection with self, connection with the audience, connection with other dancers, and that's what I've loved the most about it, I think. Which makes sense with my chart, I guess.

Jordan 38:32

But I also want to know what has been the most difficult part of burlesque to you, for you.

Ember 38:38

There's the I think there's the twofold. The one about the vulnerability I was mentioning earlier is probably the most difficult thing. I think it is getting up there and even in front of my class. So the way we do these solo performances, we do our studio showcases, it's like a series. And so we get up there with our class, like every other week, and show the class what we have so far. And that is actually probably more stressful than actually getting up on stage with my performance because it's like you're showing. Yeah, it's like you're showing an unfinished product and it feels so bad. It feels horrible. And the point is to be critiqued to make your act better. But I words of affirmation is my love language. I've said that 10,000 times, and um, it's hard. It's hard to hear critique of something that you're putting your heart and soul into, even when you know it's gonna make it better. It always makes it better, but to hear it and then it's it's hard. And you know, I actually had a private today with my instructor, and we were just literally changing some things in the moment. We were changing up some things, and then I would run it from the top, but I wasn't getting it. I and I I just I don't know, I started spiraling. I was like, this is I'm horrible, I'm so bad. And she's like, we literally just incorporated this. Do you know how hard it is to talk about something and then just all of a sudden do it right away? And I was like, I'm so bad. And so that's been the hardest thing. Yeah, it is such a vulnerable experience. I love, I can be Nikki anytime, anywhere. That part's easy. It's it's like the the actual, here is my mind. I am putting it all out for you. Yeah, hope you like it. And I think that's actually like one of the empowering things. I mean, there's literally acts that like it doesn't matter. Like, I hope you like it. The audience, it's like, no, you're gonna like this. You're gonna sit down and you're gonna watch me and you're gonna like it. So there's like yeah, so there's that energy too, and you have to kind of like suppress that. I hope you like it so that you can come up with this big boss fucking queen energy if that's what you're doing, and control that audience. But it's hard.

Jordan 41:06

In ColourGuard, we always said, I mean, everyone says this, but we always said fake it till you make it.

Ember 41:10

Yes, yeah, just like pretend that you're confident, pretend that you're confident, and that's when I channel Deity, that's when I channel Persephone or Inana and Lilith, you know, to to be there with me, to be like, I asked you to like spend some time with me in this performance and just really we show up together.

Jordan 41:31

So to close this out, what do you what do you want to leave our listeners with? And and then specifically, what do you want to say to people who are who are curious now about burlesque, who want to get into it, but maybe maybe they just haven't had the push to take the plunge yet, or they're completely just too nervous. What do you want to tell them?

Ember 41:52

I want to say that if you have an inkling that you might be interested in something, or you heard of a class that you're interested in, whether it's a pottery class or a sewing class or a dance class, ballet, whatever, and you have been scared to do it because XYZ, this is this is your sign that just do it. You don't know where life's gonna take you, and you could walk into that class and spend an hour doing the thing and freaking hate it and be like, I never want to come back here, and that's fine. Like, that's fine. You've just nixed out something that you thought you might like, but if you don't try, you will never know. And burlesque has truly this path has absolutely changed my life in so many ways. It gave me more courage to step up and do things that I never thought, like joining driving, driving five hours to go see my coven and connecting with people I met on the internet and starting Ember Faye Magic. I don't think I would have ever done those things if I didn't have like the courage that I got from starting burlesque. And so if you're particularly interested in burlesque or dance, I would highly suggest you look in your area for a show because I do I'm in upstate New York and we have a rockin' burlesque scene. So I guarantee there's something in your area within driving distance that you can go support, support your local arts, hell yeah, because yo, in this time space, like we really, we really need to be doing that. We need to support the the real artists, the people showing up. And when I say the real artists, I mean not like the AI generated things that we see a lot right now. And I'm not shitting on AI, I'm just saying that like there's a lot on the internet that feels fake right now. And when you go and support live art in person, it is it, it's just a totally different feel, vibe. It feeds your soul. And so just go do it. And my but my B's Knees babe's classes do have Zoom options. So if you're interested, I'm gonna just throw that out there. If you're interested, um, you could sign up for classes via Zoom and do it right from the comfort of your home.

Jordan 44:13

That's all you're doing.

Ember 44:35

Thank you so much for letting me just like talk about my burlesque journey and educate others on what it is and like ask so many good questions. You like really made me think about a lot of stuff.

Jordan 44:45

Good. That's my that's my Mars and Gemini.

Ember 44:49

No, it was good. And I please like listeners, if you have questions about burlesque, um, not everyone knows what it is, and this was just, you know, I could I could talk about it forever, and this is only just one episode. So if you have questions, please message us or send an email. You can send a text message um to us at the Astro Study Room. It's linked in the show notes if you want to do that, and I'm happy to talk to anybody about it.

Jordan 45:13

Yeah, and follow her on Instagram, follow Ember on Instagram. Um, because I do love when you're sharing other dancers as well, because I have also enjoyed getting to see all the different body types that are dancing. So everyone follow her there as well.

Ember 45:24

Yes, yes. So I do have I on this podcast, I talk a lot about Ember Faye Magic, my Instagram. I do have another one called Ember Faye Dance. And so you can follow if I I kind of keep it more local since that is really what I'm promoting and whatnot. So local shows is what I mean. So definitely if you're interested, you can follow there too for the more like more dancey show type stuff.

Jordan 45:49

Yeah.

Questions Next Guest And Goodbye

Ember 45:50

Whether you're just beginning your journey with astrology, starting to utilize it as a tool in your craft, or just curious about the universe, we are so happy you were here to join us today.

Jordan 46:01

Yes, and if you have any comments or questions, we love hearing from you and we're loving this process of building a community of astrology students. Every way to connect with us is all linked in the show notes. And we hope you enjoyed this episode, all about burlesque and Ember's journey with such. Uh Ember, what are we doing next time? What's our next episode?

Ember 46:17

I'm so excited. We are bringing in Tanae Stewart, who is the witch of Lupin Hollow, and she will be joining us and talking about her astrology journey. She has a certification program and she uses astrology a lot in her spirituality. So stay tuned because that is going to be an interview you don't want to miss.

Jordan 46:38

We're very looking forward to it. This podcast is my practice of asking big questions, uncovering the hidden truths, and creating an accessible space for others to do the same.

Ember 46:47

And I'm so grateful to be learning alongside Jordan and all of you, sharing our resources and diving into what it means to connect with the cosmos. Thank you so much for being part of this, and we'll see you back in the study room every other Tuesday.