Hey Kittens (Twittens if you follow me on Twitter!)

It's been a long time!  Miss Lingue has been through the ringer.  I had a little bout with THE CANCER AGHHHHHHHHH!  Things are getting better day by day and I look forward to getting a clean bill of health in the next few months!  

Stay tuned as I start to update my calendar again.  I have been away from you for far too long and am already booked for a couple of things in the summer months.

Add Comment
 
Deeply Touched! 12/02/2011
 
Well Kittens you know I love you all and will do anything for any one of you!  Well, let me just say that I am deeply touched when i get to do something for someone without that being the intention!   

The things we do in our personal lives and on stage affect people in many ways.  We may not realize it, and it may certainly not be our intention.  Something as simple as choosing a lipstick shade in the local drug store that someone has recognized you at or even a comment on someone's facebook status.  These things can all affect someone's life.  If you are in the public eye, you will probably affect someones life at sometime in your career, no matter how big or small and whether you know it or not. As performers we never know when someone will be watching us and when we may affect someone through our actions and/or words. We hope to inspire people through our performances but it is an added plus when we can do it, positively, elsewhere.

Yesterday morning I woke up to a very touching and inspiring email from a fellow burlesque artist.  This was the FIRST email I have ever received stating that I had inspired them not only through my performance but through my actions of just being me.  WOW!  I can only say that reality hit and I was so proud to provide a spark in someone's life and make them feel better about themselves.  What a treat for me.  This is the stuff that we strive for as an artist.  (Or, I should say, we SHOULD strive for) To affect someone in a positive way leaving them feeling better about themselves is the ultimate in my book.  I thank her for the email and for the opportunity to help.  I also thank her for the  inspiration to keep doing what i do.  Sometimes I think "why bother to do this and be someone that a lot of people don't  ad won't understand?"  Well this is why!

With regards to her email, let me just say this.  You are who you are as a person.  You are what you want to be as a performer.  Do your absolute best at both and give them both the attention they deserve.  As my dear friend Ruby Redmayne always tells me - "you only get out of it what you put into it."

Fondly... Fonda
Add Comment
 
 
I was interviewed by Anya Martin of ATLRetro last night and the results of our interview will be live on Monday, November 28 at www.atlretro.com !  It has details from my upcoming European tour as well as my performances in December!  Hope you will all check it out!

Fondly... Fonda
Add Comment
 
 
OK Kittens I have received date confirmations for my European tour!  I am still waiting for definite dates in London and to see if I am accepted into the Milan Burlesque Award in Milan.  I have been confirmed at the Micca Club in Rome Italy for two nights and in Miss Anthropy's Burlesque show in Paris, France.  I am so excited!  That being said, they each want SIX numbers so Fonda is going to be pulling some old numbers out of the closet and creating some new ones!  Very exciting but alot of hard work!

Thanks to all of you for your love and support!  You have all helped make this possible through your belief in me and what i do!

Much Love and Admiration
Add Comment
 
 
OK Kittens! As promised, you will always hear exciting and wonderful news about me here first! 

In late March Fonda will embark on her very first European tour!  I have wanted to do this for some time and I am finally in a position to make this happen.  As many of you know it is my dream to make Fonda a full time career and this is another step on that path.  It is very hard to make a living as an artist in the United States so I have chosen to explore the possibilities of Europe. Specifically London, Paris and Milan.  I know this because i was a professional ballet dancer for over twenty years.  It is also no secret that Europeans treat their artists quite well and pay them what they are worth.   

I will be taking "Cry Me A River" and two new numbers - "Moon Indigo" and "Lili", a tribute number to Lili St. Cyr.

I have worked hard and have booked this tour on my own and am very proud of the high caliber responses I have received as to date!  So the tour is on!  Tentative travel dates are the last two weeks in March.  I have also applied to the Milan Burlesque Award in Italy which, if I am accepted, will end the trip on March 30 and 31!. Most places are still compiling their schedules yet for next year.  As these dates and times are confirmed, I will post them on my calendar. 

I want to thank all of you for being so supportive of my career.  I love to perform for you and I appreciate all you have done for me by feeding and accepting my passsion... To be on that stage entertaining you!

Add Comment
 
 
Last night I had the pleasure of performing in the AWA Cabaret here in Atlanta.  For those of you who don't know what AWA is, it is the Anime Weekend Atlanta.  AWA is basically the Dragon*Con of Anime.  This was a very young audience, the average age I would say being about 25, and I was blown away by the enthusiasm and acceptance of what we did!  The audience members rushed the stage after the show to get autographs, merchandise and anything they could from us. 

I have to say that lately I have been disenchanted by our audiences and in the quality of alot of the performances I have seen.  But my hope has been renewed!  We, as performers and teachers, need to reach out to these young audience members.  This is the perfect time to bring the Art of Burlesque into the mainstream again.  Expose them to our performances and teach them our knowledge.  We will once again have the audience we deserve.  

Add Comment
 
 
OK Burly - Qers!  I write this entry on the heels of my "The Art of Getting There" class being cancelled this Sunday so please be forwarned that there might be a little "sting" to it's tone and content!

We call ourselves Burlesque Dancers don't we?  Well there are two words in that statement and the second one is DANCER.  If one is to call themself a DANCER then one should at least have had some sort of dance training or be currently involved in some sort of dance or movement activity.   

As Burlesque Dancers we owe it to ourselves and our audience to keep ourselves in practice as DANCERS.  THAT IS WHAT WE ARE!  As a professional dancer for over twenty years I know the importance of continuing your dance education (for some even starting one)  and keep your well-oiled machine running smoothly.  Taking technique classes, burlesque classes, yoga, pilates, zumba... anything that keeps your body supple and in shape is IMPERATIVE to every dancers career. IT KEEPS YOU FRESH!  Let me be clear :  "in shape" does not mean body size or weight.  It means keeping your body ready to be able to do the things necessary to continue performing.  Our regimen should be tailored to our lifestyle and to the type of act we are working on. For instance, if you are doing a fan dance you might want to take some extra fan dance classes or do some extra arm work at the gym as to strengthen those muscles you use for the fan dance. 

Many of us don't concentrate at all on movement when it is THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF YOUR ACT!  Flashy props and flashy costumes are great but, when it comes right down to it, the audience is looking at you and how you move with those props and in those costumes.  From some of the performance I have seen, many of us do not put much, if any, emphasis on movement at all.   We have a miriad of opportunities here in Atlanta to study with great teachers, both of Burlesque and other dance forms.  I don't know if it is cost or schedule that keeps people from attending these classes.  If either one of these is your reason, please contact me and I will make sure you are able to attend any one of my classes.   If the reason is that you simply don't want to do it, then you aren't fulfilling your obligation to yourself as a dancer,  to the Burlesque Community and most importantly to your audience.  I don't mean to be harsh but Burlesque is an ART FORM that deserves the respect and obedience that any other art form deserves.  If you are a ballerina you go class then to rehearsal.  You take lessons then rehearsal if you are a singer or an actor.  Why should Burlesque be any different?   It will not only make ourselves look better, but it will make the whole Burlesque community look better .  I certainly would like, when any of us go out of town to perform, for that audience to say "That's an Atlanta performer, i can tell!"  Don't you!

Let's take some pride in our craft!  There are many of us here to help in many ways. Everyone can offer some sort of help, or at least support to someone.  We are rare birds and  we need to stick together.  But we also need to protect each other and our craft.

Loving you all!

Fondly... Fonda



8 Comments
 
 
Well Kittens I have made a very important but probably unpopular decision.  I have decided not to go see the movie "Burelesque."  I have heard reviews from many of you out there and read many blogs about the movie and have decided at this time that my money would be best spent on enhancing my career rather than supporting something that so blatantly is not what it was supposed to be.  My feeling is that if we support it, we give a reason for making more of the same.  So that being said, I may watch it when it comes to TV... which will probably be sometime next week!

Love you all!
Add Comment
 
 
Well Kittens I did it.  I entered my first competition and won King of Burlesque in The Great Southern Exposure Burlesque Competition!  Many thanks to Mamma D and Mamma D's House of Burlesque for having me!  She is quite a Diva herself with a set of pipes that will blow you ten feet back.  I was honored to be among the first set of winners!  Here is the complete set of winners:

QUEEN of Southern Exposure - Lo-Lo Flamingo Denver, CO
PRINCESS of Southern Exposure - Madame Mae I Vancouver, BC Canada
KING of Southern Exposure - Fonda Lingue Atlanta, GA
PRINCE of Southern Exposure - Stache
Most Glamorous Southern Exposure - Stormy Knight Atlanta, GA
Most Classic Southern Exposure - Madame Mae I Vancouver, BC Canada
Best Duet Southern Exposure - Brouhaha Review Greensboro, NC
Best Group Southern Exposure - The Village Washer Wenches Carolina Renaissance Festival
Most Humorous Southern Exposure - The Village Washer Wenches Carolina Renaissance Festival
Edgiest Southern Exposure - Sassy Frass Knoxville, TN White Lightnin Burlesque
Best Variety Southern Exposure - Jayna Lee Concord,NC
Mammas Choice Southern Exposure - Black Mariah Dallas ,TX

Everyone was great to work with and I feel honored to be in the same company as these performers from all over the world!

Add Comment
 
 
Saturday Night we had a great time at Mon Cherie's Club Fetish at Atlanta's infamous Heretic!  Such a great line up of performers and yes, your Girl,  was once again the Headliner as she performed "Everybody's Girl!"  My girl Talloolah Love Performed with Lefty LeBlue from Charlotte!  It was a star studded evening!  If you have not been to one of Mon Cherie's events you certainly need to go.  She does Mon Cherie's Rockabilly Lounge once a month and now Club Fetish!  You simply must attend!  You can find her on facebook!
Add Comment