My Burlesque Story: Ms Love Leigh
A story too beautiful not to share. To find out more about Ms Love Leigh follow her on instagram at @ms_love_leigh & @ms_glo_mesh xxx
Just a little over a year ago I signed up for Burlesque Essentials at Maison Burlesque and my whole life changed. Not only have I met some amazing women and got to share a stage & spotlight with them, I've also gained some wonderful funny, inspirational and wickedly filthy minded friends. I bloody adore that we can share our insecurities and build each other up like no other group of women I've met before, because we just want to see each other succeed. We have the most awe inspiring and highly professional teachers & performers that we get to learn from and can't thank them enough for all the support & encouragement 💋💋❤❤
I was asked last night how my characters come about - Ms Love Leigh & Ms Glo Mesh - and to be honest I just assumed that everyone has characters in them that they wish they could share or are the basis of their performing act (dance/acting etc). I always and I mean ALWAYS wanted to be an actress, I wanted to be on a stage in a theatre with a massive red velvet curtain opening up to a standing ovation, oh and not always me being the star just the audience loving us. As a kid, I'd be in every play at school, even coming up with short stories, at high school due to moving around the country I kept missing out on drama classes due to lack of attendance or no drama teacher. I had opportunities when I left high school but life, bills and needing a job got in the way. Also taking to heart a comment from a psychologist that wanting to act was maybe too much of a stretch for me - Lesson here kids, don't let one stupid fucking comment from some idiot ruin your drive and ambition EVER!!!
For years I've flittered in and out of drama classes, workshops, choirs and never really committed myself fully, even with positive feedback (see how holding onto a negative can fuck you up) until I stumbled onto Maison Burlesque.
I have finally started coming out of my dormant shell, the absolute thrill of rediscovering my childhood joy of play acting and yes it's Burlesque and yes that's a fancy way of saying stripper. But it's not just that, you build a character and that character tells a story, which the audience won't necessarily understand coz BOOBS! but it's there if you look. Now I'm a very long way off being what I would call a performer, I'm still a raw student who frustrates her mentor & teacher and herself with not letting go and waiting to the last minute to "get it" but I'm on my way and I feel like I've come such a long way in this year.
How does Ms Glo Mesh enter into this - yes I've confused a lot of you here - no she is not a political statement and an up yours to the "Drag" community. She is an over exaggerated product of my little girl desire of what I'd be as a woman. My childhood was surrounded by images on Telly of the Soild Gold dancers, Glomesh top wearing models on Sale of the Century, music from Liza, Dolly, Lindsay Gore and Connie Frances oh & Neil Sedaka (my parents were daggy). My love of musicals, seriously I could break out in song every day...why can't life be like a musical??! That's where Ms Mesh stems from and being able to learn Drag with some of the best in the business is bloody awesome.
What next - well my goal is that the 2 characters become one and hopefully this time next year I'll have a polished act that may lead me onto the stage where if just once, oh just once, I get to have that massive red velvet curtain rise just for me......
wigglewalk, (*)(*), centre stage, bow
- Ms Love Leigh