Recently in Choreography Category

I am super excited to be a part of a new show, Sweetie Maude--a lesbian reimagination/ pastiche of Sweeney Todd.  I am going to be choreographing & coordinating movement the show, with rehearsals starting in July and the show running Sept 26-Oct 31. With the team of Sabrina, Margaret, and myself--it is going to be something special.

To help raise funds to support the show, we are having an Indiegogo campaign! Check it out, please!

Here is the current roster of professional projects I am working on and in what capacity and when:

1) Video for Marriage is a Joke (choreography, directing)--current
2) Wedding dance for a couple (choreography)--current
3) Saturday afternoon variety stage show (producing, directing)--current
4) Cable access and web show (producing, performing)--current
5) Drunk Monkeys! Live shows, public appearances, and web series (producing, performing)--current
6) Musical parody, stage show (choreography)--pre-production, summer rehearsals, fall show
7) Music video (producing/co-directing)--pre-proproduction
8) Prime time variety show (performing, developing a character)--pre-production
9) Burlesque show remount (choreography)--pre-production, summer rehearsals, fall/winter show

Today, a friend of mine asked me what it is that I like so much about working in the burlesque world, and it got me to thinking.

When Burlesque is done properly*:

*It celebrates the beauty of women**, no matter your shape, size, color, or age.
*It comes from a place of empowerment of the performer. The woman is in control.
*It is not built around the male gaze.
*It isn't about one person's opinion of what is attractive.
*It can be funny, playful, serious, scary, sexy, shocking, fluffy, messy, dirty, dancey, not-dancey. It can be anything. There is no wrong in burlesque/ neo-burlesque.
*It is beautiful, glittery, sparkly.
*It challenges you to think about theatrics, and how clothes are put on and taken off.
*It encourages the performer to love herself. It courages the viewer to love herself.
*It creates illusion.
*It celebrates the burlesque of old, while pushing the envelope of burlesque of the future.
*There is a place for all personalities, characters, genres.
*So much can be said with a wink and a smile.
*It creates an unspoken conversation between the performer and the audience. It is interactive.

Other things I love about it:
*I love working with the women who perform it.
*I love making people look good.
*I love meeting new people.
*I love the movement of burlesque, both the sensual side and the bump-and-grind.
*I like challenging myself.
*I love doing group numbers, and I love working on solos.
*I am good at it.
*I am passionate about it.

I am proud of my contributions to the Chicago Burlesque scene. I look forward for more adventures ahead.

*And by "properly" I mean, my opinion of properly.
**I know men perform burlesque dance also, but up to now I have only worked with women.

My brother is a super sleuth at finding these mentions... I really do feel like a million bucks right now!

From The Gaming Gang:

As things get worse and worse (or better and better, depending upon your viewpoint), the show builds to a hot dancing zombie climax as the heroes finally reach the CDC....I was particularly impressed by the choreography of Erica Reid. It wasn't a huge stage but they utilized it very well and the dancing was entertaining and flawless. You can tell that the ladies put a lot of work into their performances.

Three years ago, I choreographed a number for a short-run Halloween Burlesque show called Peek-a-boo, a Ooky Spooky Halloween Revue. The number was a black-light number conceptualized by Chris O. Biddle, and it was not only a blast to work on, but it was a huge hit. The concept is that the dancers coat themselves in black-light paint throughout the number, therefore you see their bodies more and more as they paint themselves and each other. It is set to Nick Cave's iconic Red Right Hand.

That show was the precursor for the Kiss Kiss Cabaret, of which I was the Dance Director of from Sept 2010 to November 2011. We resurrected Red Right Hand last year, and it has already run twice this year! It's currently running in the Kiss Kiss Halloween Peek-a-boo Revue now through October 26th at 11pm at the Greenhouse Theatre.  I am so happy that it has an ongoing performance life and is such a crowd pleaser. I hear that the dancers love doing it, too, so I am happy to have done a good job in that regard.

It's also really exciting to have more than one venue/ show performing my choreography at the same time!

Here are some recent photos from the number! Some pics are NSFW, you can't really see anything scandalous. (darn!) Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Robert Potter of REP3 Photos

It's been an amazing week. The show opened to sold our houses, and is continuing to sell amazingly. Not only that, we are getting great reviews! I am so proud of myself and of the whole team and cast. This was was a blast to work on, and it was so exciting to watch the audience respond so well to it on opening night. I love the cast and crew, and everyone is really doing an amazing job.

I am going to list links and key parts of some reviews that are floating around out there, focusing on the choreography. For the full review, click the link!

Chicago Reader (I posted this yesterday, but am so happy, that I will again):

Gorilla Tango burlesques are always smart and playful, but this edition shows a developing sophistication. The dancers are more confident, Erica Reid's choreography is more resourceful (starting with an awfully sexy reverse strip and culminating in a full-out production number), and, um, standout performances are getting more common.

Rock 'n Roll Ghost:

To defeat the burlesque zombies, the survivors decide to disguise themselves as the undead.  This infiltration leads to a dance number I should have not been surprised by, but was, and delightfully so (I won't ruin it for you).

The Examiner:

Eventually just about everyone gets infected and the show turns into a huge ensemble dance routine. First, they stripped to AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" and then an absolutely awesome Michael Jackson, "Thriller" bit complete with the iconic zombie dance from the original music video.

Chicago Now:

Choreography was amazing, and as Count and I were actually seated next to the choreographer, we knew who to thank ;). Anyway, the girls never missed a beat and the dance number at the end was a complete surprise.

Zombie Blog:

Well-choreographed and cleverly plotted, the story will be familiar to fans of the graphic novel and AMC series, but just as enjoyable to somebody coming to it cold....I was genuinely impressed with how the writers of the show found ways to take memorable scenes from the show and transform them into burlesque dances.  Who would imagine Rick's awakening in his hospital bed, removing his IV tubes, and putting on his sheriff's uniform as an occasion for a sexy striptease?  Well, the creators of this show did, and thank goodness they did, because it's sexy and fun and works really well.

Chicago Burlesque:

I won't tell you what happened to the poor Horse, but let me tell you, it was quite sexy!...Unfortunately, [the CDC official's] not as safe as he thought, and someone's hand gets eaten throughout the course of a very nicely choreographed invasion dance number!...The finale group number is an absolutely perfect culmination of everything Zombie, Sparkles and Horror. Let's just say, a very famous glove is involved.

Also, Paper Dragon Ink. We're also in print in the Red Eye today (below)! Plus, the Time Out Blurb last week. SO EXCITING!!! Get your tickets while you can--they won't last long!!

I will be doing a "review round-up" soon, but I had to go ahead and post this one!

Boobs of the Dead is Reader Recommended!  Not only that, but I got a GREAT mention! I feel like a million bucks! (bold and italics by me)

 

 Boobs of the Dead: A Walking Dead Burlesque When I told my wife (and yes, I told my wife) that I was going to see a zombie-themed strip show called Boobs of the Dead, she made a face and laid out a picture for me of gray, rotting dugs without so much as a hint of perk. Well, that's not how it turned out. This parody of the Walking Dead franchise features eight remarkably healthy-looking infectees. In fact, as a lab-coated scientist points out, the zombifying process actually makes them sexier, magically clothing them in bustiers and fishnet stockings. Even a bearded old codger gets transformed. Gorilla Tango burlesques are always smart and playful, but this edition shows a developing sophistication. The dancers are more confident, Erica Reid's choreography is more resourceful (starting with an awfully sexy reverse strip and culminating in a full-out production number), and, um, standout performances are getting more common. Paly Flames, in particular, does some honest-to-god show-stealing here. --Tony Adler Through 10/27: Fri 9 PM, Sat midnight, also Wed 10/31, 9 PM, Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee, 773-598-4549, gorillatango.com, $20.

 

YEAH!

 

The show opens tonight! We are sold out! I am so excited!!

This time in Time Out Chicago!

And look, I am quoted, yet again!

Boobs of the Dead: A Walking Dead Burlesque
If you've been following Gorilla Tango Burlesque's latest G-string of action, fantasy and horror parodies (A Nude Hope: A Star Wars Burlesque, Holy Bouncing Boobies!: A Batman Burlesque), you knew it was only a matter of time before it dressed up AMC's herd of zombies in pasties and sent them satirically in search of naked flesh to chew on. Says show choreographer Erica Reid, "Zombies typically are pretty gross and scary, but in our show, the more infected they become, the sexier they get. Our zombies hypnotize their prey with twirling tassel pasties, and we use boas instead of chains to keep them in captivity." Opens Fri 5 at Gorilla Tango Theatre, gorillatango.com.

 

Full article here! So exciting!

Top pick on Thrillist!