I’m always getting asked for advice from people about burlesque, how I do my hair, pick my music, make my costumes etc. and from working for the World Burlesque Games 2012 I have encountered even more people who are new to burlesque asking for questions about styling, applying to festivals and promo shots. I’ve already posted a blog about my burlesque Do’s and Don’ts but I thought it might also be helpful to post random titbits of advice as and when I think of them. I will tag all of these posts as “Betty’s Burlesque Tips and Teasers” so they’re easy for people to find. Content will range from hair and make up advice to advice about travel, choosing your name, and a whole host of other stuff that is in my opinion, essential in the world of a burlesquer! I hope you like this guys! Here goes!

Betty’s Burlesque Tips and Teasers #1 - Promo pics

I’ve spent the last few days helping to compile the performer profiles for the World Burlesque Games 2012 website which involves choosing an image for each performer to go alongside the performer bio on their profile. Having looked at well over 200 performer promo pics over the last few days and over 500 in the last month I now realize just how important it is for performers to have good promotional material. The thing about promo is that you want it to be as good as it can be, you want people to see it and think, wow, I wanna see that girl perform! Burlesque artists are constantly being asked for promo images to be used in websites and posters of events they are involved in and as a performer it is essential that these images are a true representation of you. Your promo material is like your packaging, it’s what people first look at before they pay the money to actually come and see you. If the packaging on a product looks cheap and shabby how likely are you to buy the product or get excited about it? Exactly the same principle applies when it comes to spending money on a show.

Your promo pic is also usually the first thing a show promoter sees of you whether it be via facebook, your website or on your bio/cv. As a performer you want to be working as much as possible on as wide a variation of events as possible so it is essential that promoters get a good first impression of you. You could be the most amazing performer but if your promo pics aren’t up to scratch you could miss out on some great gigs. Show promoters are busy people and if they take a quick glance at your image and are unimpressed by it, it is unlikely that they will go on to take the time to look at your website or video clips.

Your promo material should be taken by a professional photographer and should be a posed shot as opposed to a performance shot. (Performance pics at times can make good promo shots too but they are so hit or miss, its worth having some great posed shots too.) It should feature you in full make up and costume and should be a true likeness of you. Images of you with your back turned or lying on the ground or on a sofa upside down etc. might make excellent images but they won’t truly promote you and your brand if you can’t clearly see that its you. Its worth mentioning that some promoters are unwilling to put pastie shots on posters in case it offends anyone so make sure you have some clothed promo shots available.

Many burlesque artists also do pin up or alternative modelling and if this is a route you would like to take its a great way of getting good promo shots for free. If you are not involved in modelling it might also be worth getting in touch with some photographers and seeing if they would like to shoot with you anyway, especially if you are already a well known performer. Many photographers love having burlesque images as part of their portfolio and so might be willing to shoot you at no cost in exchange for use of the images. An agreement of this type is referred to as TFP or TFCD which stands for Trade For Pictures or Trade for CD which would be a disk of images. To find photographers have a look on Model Mayhem or facebook for photographers in your area or look at other performers promo pics that you admire and see who shot them. 

If for some reason you are unable to come to an agreement with a photographer it is worth while paying for some good quality images, especially if you are new to the scene. The investment in good promo pics is as important in my opinion as good costumes and music choices. Photographers can often offer you great packages and can be much more reasonable than you would expect. A great promo image can last throughout your entire career so its worth spending a bit of money to ensure that they are as good as they can be. Look for a photographer who has worked with burlesque artists before as they are more likey to have a better idea of what works. Some great photographers I can recommend are Tigz Rice and Terry Mendoza at Retro Photostudio. I’ve worked with both of these photographers on several occasions and can highly recommend them. They each have a very different style and individual style which lends itself to burlesque very well. Both have worked with numerous burlesque artists and are very well respected in the industry. On top of that they are both lovely people and great fun to shoot with and be around which really helps when it comes to having your photo taken, especially if you are nervous or unsure of yourself. 

Its worth pointing out that this advice also applies to other types performers such as arial artists or cabaret performers as well as comperes and boylesque artists too! Having great promo material is an asset to performers of all kinds.

I hope this has been helpful to some of you, feel free to drop me a question in my ask box for more info on this subject or any other burlesque related things! I’m thinking of following up this blog with some examples from my own portfolio of what makes a good promo image and why, if you would be interested in seeing this, please let me know!  Happy Thursday everyone!