The grand finale of my evening of debauchery.
And the final dance for this pair of pointe shoes! Subscribe at the level of "Captain" to receive them as a special gift.
Enjoy!
Fondly,
Ernestine
2020-04-18 14:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post16 February 2020
A bar in Neukölln
Every time a cop drove past, I’d watch it like a hawk.
Eyes wide, mind alert, muscles tensed, heartbeat elevated. That prickly feeling, when you feel the release of adrenaline into your bloodstream.
Every time, even if it was an ambulance, even if I wasn’t being Ernestine—especially in Waltham or if I was at home and a cruiser rolled past. God forbid that. I always imagined being frog marched o...
2020-04-17 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I could not stop dancing.
Censorship is so toxic. And I came to Berlin to escape that.
So I kept going...
Enjoy!
Fondly,
Ernestine
2020-04-17 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post17 April 2020
1:34 am
I do believe that I have confused the fuck out of my housemates.
Preamble #1: There is no doubt that these Germans I have had the good fortune to end up in lockdown with are not some of the best humans our species has to offer. Upon my arrival and more-or-less immediately unemployed state, with sex work out of the question during a pandemic, they did not for a moment hesitate to pay for my share of the groceries until I...
2020-04-17 16:02:35 +0000 UTC View Post
After this week's exciting burlesque filming, I have decided that these pointe shoes have become far too floppy and deserve a gracious retirement.
My feet have endorsed this decision.
They have been through so much!
Dancing in the woods of Western Massachusetts, filming numerous Patreon videos for you all, then immigrating to Berlin, and most recently, becoming my BEST FRIENDS as we survive quarantine together, spending hours dancing on an antique pre-war wood floor an...
2020-04-17 15:03:38 +0000 UTC View Post
This is the sequel to "Ernestine's Burlesque Debut," broadcast on Twitch for Gieza's Pokehouse, the April 14th show.
However, due to Twitch's outrageous "protect the children" censorship rules, the debut was extremely chaste, which, of course, one had to make up for.
So! Please enjoy this video, in which I present the still-YouTube-appropriate but satisfyingly Ernestine-y part 2 of this evening delight.
There is a Part 3! And, amazingly, a Part 4! Becaus...
2020-04-16 13:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post17 February 2020
Bed
I think it’s spring in Berlin.
I saw green leaf sprouts on a bush today. Also daisies and crocuses. Everywhere, things are turning green. (Given, there was no ice sheet to melt first, like at home.) It was extremely warm as I took a Sunday afternoon stroll—along with, seemingly, the rest of the city. People here walk slowly. It’s not like New York or any other big city I’ve ever been to. People walk for the sake of walking, to be outsi...
2020-04-15 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Please enjoy this burlesque, made especially for Gieza's Pokehouse on Twitch, premiered on April 14th!!!
Gieza Poke, a legendary queen of the Berlin drag scene, invited me to perform at her weekly Pokehouse at Monster Ronson's Ichiban Karaoke Bar.
However, when it became clear that the pandemic would shut down Berlin's gorgeous live drag scene, Gieza moved her show online with nary a hitch. So I filmed this for her and the Pokehouse crowd. And now I'm sharing it with ...
2020-04-15 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostFebruary 15, 2020
A Bar in Neukölln
Well, I made it: 1 month. There should be something with a candle on it, I feel.
WHEW! It has been a difficult week. I learned that (private) health care here is shockingly shit. Germany is definitely behind on mental health care.
Someone just asked in English for a beer then walked away, and the bartender looked as if they had just asked for “food” (they take beer very seriously here)....
2020-04-14 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
This evening, my Berlin Burlesque debut will be premiering on Twitch at Gieza's Pokehouse!!! Watch at 9pm Berlin time:
www.twitch.tv/giezapoke
However, there had to be three sequels to the original performance, because instead of being onstage at the fabulous Monster Ronson's Karaoke Bar, I was filming from my bedroom at night under heavy censorship, because online platform, yikes, children, oh no, virgin eyeballs.
I discuss these matter...
2020-04-14 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostNote: I am publishing old blog posts every few days, trying to get you caught up, dear reader; however, a blog is a blog, so I'll be posting contemporaneously from time to time as well. Everything is dated to avoid confusion.
Easter
Home
Neukölln
No, you can’t have a bareback appointment, pandemic or not, blue sky or green, upside-down or downside-up, stop asking.
As I attempt to quell the vibrations of my nervous system after yet another idio...
2020-04-12 22:31:38 +0000 UTC View Post1 February 2020
Berlin
At the horrible moment I did it–cramming things frantically into the big suitcase, probably crying and in an utter state of panic, mere hours before getting on the plane–stuffing the rather ridiculously girly, handmade, black-and-white-stripe, lacy, beribboned, 1920s-inspired dress seemed like an act of utter folly.
However, I just made quite the smash at a Weimar-Era party (Germans take themed-party outfits very seriously—there was basically a dres...
2020-04-12 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
I swear Martha Graham came to me last night and taught me a new skill.
If you've been around for awhile, you've heard me butcher this quote of hers over and over and over again; however, once more for added emphasis:
Martha Graham (famous American modern dancer/choreographer) once said:
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it wil...
2020-04-12 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Every day I get to dance is a gift.
Enjoy.
Fondly,
Ernestine
2020-04-11 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostFriday, January 31, 2020
2:13 am
A bed in Kreuzberg, Berlin
Ok well here we go again.
Another night before a move, and I’m like, “Heart, shut up about it. Not sleeping is the end of the world,” and Heart is like, “No, this is a big deal, new bed, unknown factors, will it be safe, how will you get there, will you forget anything…and by the way, here are 20 things to worry about to make this worse. Also, I have...
2020-04-10 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
#14 in my "daily video from my bedroom" series, this one put me in mind of something I was taught when I was a fledgling ballerina.
"If you see someone who looks like they're a professional dancer, watch them. Try to figure out what it is that makes them that way. Then try to copy it."
It was really good advice.
So, there was this one dancer, Leslie. I noticed that what made her look so professional was--goodness, how do I put this in words--every time h...
2020-04-10 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
If you've ever been curious what's inside the head of a young woman as she trains in ballet with the intention of becoming a professional dancer, watch me wrestle with one big ugly demon in particular.
Apologies for the profanity. Actually, sorry not sorry.
A deep dive into my process with this animal called ballet.
Enjoy?
Fondly,
Ernestine
2020-04-10 12:49:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi friends!
Last week, I noticed that while I was up on my pointes improvising, my body kept adding in things I learned in Middle Eastern dance classes. So this week, I did an experiment: Could I do some standard "belly dance" (a lot of us don't like that term for a lot of reasons; read below) vocabulary on flat and the en pointe?
Well, I gave it the old college try.
I think innovation of all kinds is happening all around us, as the traditional stimuli of our daily ...
2020-04-09 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostIt’s my second day in Berlin!
I arrived via hellish 13 hour overnight bus ride (I know, horribly gauche and off-brand, but a girl has to be careful with money until I find a place to live). After 12 hours of sleep during which I did not move at all (virtually unprecedented), I woke up in a new city in a new country with all my faculties intact—in the place I hope will become my new home.
The fi...
2020-04-08 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends!
The view from Berlin! (Sorry, quite long, SO much to tell you!!)
I discuss:
-What's up with me in my head
-What's up in Berlin
-I muse on my extraordinary luck having landed in seemingly one of two countries in the world dealing with the pandemic in a sensible way (South Korea would have been a less ideal fit, I posit)
-If you haven't watched last week's Per Lombardia yet, go do it, because it's one of t...
2020-04-08 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
A little bit of plié, a little bit of dégagé, rond des jambes, and stretching. All my favorites to get me warm for pointe and ballet improvisation.
Enjoy!
Fondly,
Ernestine
2020-04-08 16:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
One night I was ready a New York Times article about Rosalía, the new Latin pop sensation, and about her background in the amazing art of flamenco.
It mentioned one song in particular--"Nos Quedamos Solitos"--and I stopped making dinner and found it and played it and then was in tears.
This piece is my attempt to tell that story, sung so gut-wrenching...
2020-04-07 15:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
In case you can't tell, this was improvisation #4 in a stream-of-consciousness, couldn't-make-myself-stop sort of spree. The album was way too good, the endorphins were causing a euphoric state, and I was in the zone.
Video #13 in the "dancing from my bedroom" series. Collect them all.
A teensy vampire vibe going with that (again, totally intentional) lipstick mishap, but you know, my friends, that I'm going rough, raw, barely edited, and letting you see absolutely everyt...
2020-04-06 20:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Why would you leave a room when it contains just you and your soul, a ladder, and...oh, I lost the second pointe shoe now...
Ugh, the catharsis. It's delectable, friends!
Enjoy.
Fondly,
Ernestine
P.s.
I knew there was lipstick on my face. Absolutely. 1,000%.
2020-04-05 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
I was gutted by this painting.
First of all, you should know that Romanticism is, in aesthetic and philosophy, something I base my life on.
Based on a ballad, it depicts Lénore, a woman who desperately waits for the return of her lover Wilhelm, who is at war. She is transported by a mysterious soldier who, in reality, is nothing more than a skeleton in armor, to the world of the dead.
Havi...
2020-04-05 14:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I lose one pointe shoe and meander up down my ladder, eventually reaching the earth.
Video #11 in the "dancing from my bedroom" series!
Who knew there was so much material in there. I've been through some things lately. :-)
Enjoy!
Fondly,
Ernestine
2020-04-04 19:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I am LIVING, friends, LIVING to improvise in pointe shoes on this ladder. Oh my god. What a feeling.
This is video #10!!! In the "dancing in my bedroom" daily quarantine video.
Enjoy! I certainly did.
Fondly,
Ernestine
P.s. If you're enjoying this videos and you're able, please consider becoming a patron, and support this art in a time of dire necessity. Thank you.
2020-04-03 19:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostSunday, 19 January 2020, 3:36
In bed
Paris, France
So here I am. I’m in Paris, it’s 3:36 am, and I am an insomniac succumbing to the effects of having too much good wine and bread pushed into my body (these are both taboo foods for me in moments of high stress although they constitute the better part of existence, in my opinion).
I have the great good fortune of having a very dear old family friend who lives in Par...
2020-04-03 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi lovely friends!
I hope that this barrage of creative productivity is filling your inboxes in a joyful way!
I'm on a roll. Hot dog.
While I'm dancing like mad, I want to ask you: What do you love about Ballet Burlesque? What keeps you sending your hard-earned moola my way?
My goal, as always, is to increase the quantity of joy and catharsis in the world, and I have a lot of time on my hands to send special, specific treats your way right now.
Some of you I've h...
2020-04-02 22:51:37 +0000 UTC View Post
I didn't break the ladder, but I thought I might.
My first burlesque under quarantine! Coming to you from my daily quarantine video series.
This is #9.
Enjoy!
Fondly,
Ernestine
2020-04-02 19:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post