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Meet Cat LaCohie of Vixen DeVille’s Burlesque and Body Confidence in Hollywood

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Cat LaCohie.

Cat, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was performing as Vixen DeVille back in the UK and relocated to LA in 2012. I was asked to teach an intro class for another burlesque company where I had to teach a group dance routine. My background getting into burlesque was not heavily dance-based but more as an actor and theatre creator interested in the creation of character, the exploration of costume, and the solo act creation of a piece of performance art.

Rather than try to teach a mediocre dance routine to a group of students with varying abilities, I decided to create my own “Intro to Burlesque” which started right at the foundation of performing this art form. Before looking at dance technique and teaching specific combinations, I wanted to start with the absolute basics of how comfortable you are just being in front of an audience and inviting them to look at you.

I had personally experienced how performing burlesque had increased my confidence in everyday life and wanted students to walk away from class feeling positive and uplifting, with an increased confidence as they go through their daily life, rather than frustrated and disheartened that they hadn’t nailed a 30 second dance routine that they were more than likely never ever going to perform again.

I created a 90 min introductory workshop in 2014 looking at Confidence in being seen, Character Excavation, and Rapport with the audience which I feel are the absolute fundamentals of performing burlesque – and a solid foundation upon which you can build ANY performance technique, be it a dance style, playing a musical instrument, performing a circus skill, or just walking down the street.

From there I created a whole programme in order to develop your own tailored solo act – some have used it to begin their burlesque career and others have taken it as a form of self-help and therapy.

Over the years I have become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in burlesque, whether as a performance career or as a form of self-exploration and self-expression, and my full ranges of classes include costume creation, make-over photoshoot experience and the ability to learn more specialty performance skills including fire eating, glass walking and more.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It was a struggle to really ‘sell; the idea of what I was selling and to really embrace my different angle on the world of burlesque. I was scared of teaching ‘dance routines’ since I felt like a fraud having never fully trained in dance and my days of tap dancing and ballet ended around the age of 7, but at the same time, a lot of people interested in Burlesque really expect that to be part of the class.

Almost 100% of my students would come out of the intro class amazed at the effect it had had on them but almost none of them had expected what the class was offering – so it was difficult to really pinpoint in my marketing what exactly the class was!

When you’re running a company on your own there’s no-one to pick up the slack or take over when you need a break. Back in London I owned a theatre company for about 3 years but I was running it with two other people so there was always someone there to take over when you had a mental breakdown or when there was too much admin still to get done at 2 am or to convince you to go ahead with an event even though only 2 people had signed up. It takes a lot of willpower to keep going, to keep taking risks, to launch a new product and to not give up completely.

Vixen DeVille’s Burlesque and Body Confidence – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I specialize in helping all people of all ages shapes and sizes create a stage-worthy tailored burlesque act which fully allows them to express themselves in a confident and empowered way.

I love that every act that my students create are totally different from all the others, some comedy, some serious, some extremely risqué, some dance based, some based in a specific skill such as feather fans or chair work and some just like acting out a skit. I allow my students complete free reign in their music choice, costume choice, and concept style – the class is 100% ‘please yourself’ not ‘do as I do’

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success for me is seeing something through to the end to the best of your ability at the time. Launching a product or creating a new act – it may not be exactly as you imagined it but the fact that you got from a nugget of an idea in your head to it actually happening in real time, in whatever form, is something I consider a successful endeavor.

Pricing:

  • Unleash Your Inner Vixen – Intro Class – $35
  • Permission To Play – Solo Act Development $497
  • Permission To Play – Solo Act Development ONLINE COURSE $497
  • Solo Act Development Private Coaching package $947
  • Costume Creation Two Day Workshop $90
  • Alter Ego Makeover Photoshoot $397
  • Fire Eating Group Class $45

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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