Step-Pose-Ium will be back in 2026, because in 2025 we are producing the Burleskiwi International Festival of Aotearoa! Occurring May 8-11 in Papaoeia, Palmerston North.
We are beyond ecstatic to announce that Step-Pose-Ium 2024 will be at Te Whaea: National Dance and Drama Centre in Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington!
Saturday 31 August 9am to Sunday 1 September 5pm.
Register here! Link to the Registration form
The good Burly Folk of Wellington will no doubt open their homes, couches, floors and spare rooms to our out of town fam.
More details on the Facebook Page.
Workshops below!
Belly Dance Fundamentals with Pip E-Lysaah
Belly dance movement is based on fluidity and muscle control, this workshop will look at belly rolls, hip locks, undulations and shimmies
About Pip E-Lysaah
Pip E-Lysaah is a Belly Dance veteran and International performer. Her name means “to entice with dance” and she has been doing that for over 20. years. She started her career performing in cabaret shows and working as a restaurant dancer, before leaning into teaching.
Her Dance Troupe has been running for over 10 years and features everyone who attends who classes, from newbies to experienced dancers.
She is a master teacher who simplifies complex movements to make it achievable for all body types and ages.
Breaking the 4th Wall with Jo /JoJo Bellini
A workshop on stage craft and audience engagement within performance that creates and maintains a safe space for both audience and performer.
About Jo / JoJo Bellini
JoJo Bellini is a multi-award winning international cabaret performer who produces and performs at shows throughout Aotearoa.
Breathing with Heather / Breathless La Belle
Mindful Relaxation and breathing exercises for performers. Learn how to use breathing to get yourself centred, focussed and ready to go on stage. Just a chill vibe and yoga type breathing. It’s a chance to relax between all of the movement classes.
About Heather / Breathless La Belle
Heather is not only a performer with 30 years experience as a singer and stage performer, she bring 16 Years as a massage therapist and healer, and unofficial counsellor to this popular workshop.
Bumping to the Beat – Musicality with Sophie /Velma Cherry
A hand flourish, a glove peel, or a perfectly-timed booty pop – it all hits harder on that perfect beat in the music! Come learn some tips and tricks for building musicality into your routines to create ‘wow’ moments.
About Sophie /Velma Cherry
Velma is a burlesque gremlin and pole dance instructor from Te-Whanganui-a-Tara, who is a lover of all things sparkly, sexy, and silly. She loves to take an absurd idea and present it with polish and style. Velma was Miss Burlesque Aotearoa 22’23 and one third of Bling It On 2023 championship trio, Throuple Trouble. She can’t wait to have you in her workshop!
By Your Command – ask me anything with Pip E-Lysaah
Pip has been on the scene performing for over 25 years, this is your chance to ask anything.
She will show you anything you ask, or take you through stories and share her experiences.
She is one of the few to successfully fuse belly dance and burlesque and has been called a Legend for her charismatic performances and languid movements. Or maybe you just want to hear about the time she fell during a performance? or sent in the wrong music? or was voted worst in class for glove peel? how does she create her pieces? what is her method?
You can ask anything
About Pip E-Lysaah
Pip E-Lysaah is a Belly Dance veteran and International performer. Her name means “to entice with dance” and she has been doing that for over 20 years. She started her career performing in cabaret shows and working as a restaurant dancer, before leaning into teaching.
Chair Tricks & Choreo with Rachel / Billie Jean
A burlesque classic – Express! Let’s get our groove on to this banger. We will learn some cute chair tricks and transitions to sass our way through this choreography. Beginner friendly, this dance is suitable for all levels! Plus progressions for those who want to get upside down 😉
About Rachel / Billie Jean
Billie Jean is a superstar from the Boombfunk Variety Performers in Napier! An award winning pole dancer, aerialist, burlesque and draglesque diva – this self-proclaimed showgirl has got several tricks up her sleeve. She has dedication her life into performance art, wellbeing and fitness as a studio owner, and her biggest achievement is seeing her students discover their inner strength. She also performs as Dirty Diana and Johnny Raven.
Dynamic intros! With Maryanne / Constance Craving
Come work with Maryanne to write kickass intros for your acts. We focus on how to really capture your uniqueness in your stage intros, giving the audience a real taste of what there is to come.
About Maryanne / Constance Craving
Maryanne brings 50 years of stage experience and 30 years of Emceeing to this workshop, starting well before she fell down the sparkly tunnel of burlesque in 2014. Since then she has Emceed in every city in New Zealand, and around the world. Winner of several Favourite Emcee awards, she is committed to audiences and performers having the best possible experience of each other.
Fecking it up with Carol / Jean Italia
How to make numerous blunders in rehearsal and on stage and do it with style . Learn how to convince others you are fabulous whilst dying inside, and how to use emotional regulation.
About Carol
Carol has been performing for a number of years as part of the Red Queens. By day she works in mental health but over her interesting life, has had many adventures. She has decades of experience of fecking it up and not knowing how she made it through, and she’d love to share that wisdom with others.
Fifty ways to peel your glove-er! with Sonia / Midnight Mistress
Has your glove removal became predictable. “Walk on stage. Pose. Pose. Pose. Shimmy. Shimmy. Twirl. Pose. Tease. Bite your finger. Display your hand and arm. Bite and slowly tease that first glove off. Ta dah…” have fun mastering how to pull, bite and fling your gloves off. It’s not just about your peel, your Pre-peel and Post-peel are so important also. Come have some fun with Midnight Mistress. Gloves provided but can bring your own.
About Sonia / Midnight Mistress
Midnight Mistress has been gracing New Zealand stages since 2015. She’s been a teacher at Glamilton Burlesque Academy since 2018 and until recently, head mistress since 2020. A regular producer in Hamilton, her greatest achievement is producing Like A Fine Wine Burlesque Competition for performers over 40.
Free Your Mind with Courtney L’Amour & Debbie Twinkle
We have Boot Scooted Your Boogie now we are going to Free Your Mind. Come along and learn some simple movement based choreography to En Vogue’s hit Free your mind. Let’s see if Courtney and Debbie can remember the whole thing!
About Courtney L’Amour & Debbie Twinkle
Meet Courtney & Debbie. With a combined 50+ years in the adult entertainment industry they will not only teach you something but entertain you while they do so. Both are producers of long running burlesque shows in Wellington, Courtney is also head mistress of Studio L’Amour while Debbie is owner of LadyTramp Designs Ltd.
How to bedazzle your costume without wanting to kill someone with Ellen / Fanny McBangers
We all know one of the great things about burlesque is the excuse to have costumes that sparkle like disco balls- but we don’t all have thousands of dollars or mad artistic skills to bring our ideas to life. In this workshop, Fanny McBangers will share her best tips and tricks for creating stageworthy bling without a lot of money or a lot of headaches. We’ll cover sewing options, glueing options, techniques for creating a design, and a range of different sparkle methods including, yes, rhinestones.
About Ellen / Fanny McBangers
Former Mx Burlesque Aotearoa, co-producer of the Cabaret Coven, mostly make my own costumes (I have 20 years of crafting experience under my belt), hopelessly devoted to shiny things.
How to floor! Floorwork basics for all babes with a beautiful Body with Lisa / Isla Banks
This workshop is about getting into the basics. Get up, get down, roll around floorwork realness. We will work toward a classic, simple flow you can break down at any point to use in your own choreography.
Are you a babe who has never got down & dirty on the floor because boobs hurt when you roll over them? Have you just purchased your 1st pair of heels and want to be a bad B not a Bambi? Maybe you’re someone who has knees that hurt when they bend that just wants to hit some fake splits.
In How to Floor we will warm up, become familiar with the heels we have available & the different styles, practise floorwork basics and variations before we create a solid, simple, sexy flow.
All bodies encouraged, heels required, knee pads/ protectors/ legwarmers and a top to cover your shoulders recommended.
About Lisa / Isla Banks
Isla is a teacher at Corps de Burlesque for classique pole dance & strength conditioning, a member of the Whors’deurves dance troupe, actor, performer, maker & co-producer of Living Room Burlesque.
Isla has taught pole dance/ fitness and classique pole for 4 years, has performed at New Follies with the Australian Burlesque Festival, is scheduled to perform at Sexy Saturdays for the Saskatoon International Burlesque Festival and was recently crowned as the Great DIY BURLESKIWI 2024 1st place winner.
Leg work and floorwork with Katie in the Storm
This workshop is for people who would like to learn the magical ways of legs! Leg twirls, fan like movements, from standing up to lying on the floor and transitions across the floor leading with the legs.
A hip, core and sometimes shoulder workout for all levels of fitness with regressions and progressions provided. There will be some kneeling options, so knee pads will be helpful for floorwork if you have any. Otherwise socks and long pants for sliding.
About Katie in the Storm
Katie is a teacher of pole dance and of a wide range of circus and aerial arts for the past 13 years. She has performed on stages around the country and often emcees for pole dance and variety shows.
She’s looking forward to jamming with everyone on different skills and hopes somebody will take away something new from her too.
Movement in the Mundane with Caitlin / Fay Belle
Movement in the Mundane is a workshop dedicated to finding inspiration in our everyday lives and transforming them into grooviest moves. This session aims to challenge our preconceived notions of dance and spark creativity. Suitable to all levels and abilities.
About Caitlin/ Fay Belle
Fay Belle is an award-winning multi-disciplinary dancer who teaches at Corps de Burlesque – School of Seduction in Papaioea/Palmerston North. Her passion for dancing has led her across New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. She believes anyone can dance and enjoys working with students to discover their unique style and rhythm.
Punching Up with Aimée Borlase
What makes our artistic voice our own? And how can we use our unique perspective to generate new ideas?
In this workshop, we will think about and discuss different areas of social privilege and how this intersects with our personal identities, hobbies, interests, and passions to create our unique viewpoints. We then use this discussion to create a profile for ourselves that we can apply to our stage persona and use to generate ideas, write our intros and bios, and influence how we see ourselves as performers and people. These are great exercises for those wanting to find their “Why” and unlock their creative potential – whether you want your act to make punchy social commentary, or just be something you know you’ll enjoy. Be ready and willing to learn from each other and to share a bit about what makes you tick.
About Aimée
Aimée is a neurosparkly, queer, musical comedian, emcee, and producer who “daylights” as an executive assistant. She has been performing on stage and screen for almost 20 years, has assisted in the management of an international theatre tour, and has passed on her performance knowledge in workshops, classes, and one-on-one lessons to all ages (from as young as 4 up to 70+). Aimée is one half of Nothing Linear, who produce A Very Gay Cabaret annually in Whakatū, and smaller shows in Ōtautahi. Aimée wrote her Master’s Thesis on gendered labour experiences in the NZ television industry and is passionate about toppling the patriarchy wherever possible.
Tips for Tricks, flexibility for the aged with Pip E-Lysaah
A whole workshop on how to improve your mobility and flexibility for those fun tricks.
About Pip E-Lysaah
Pip is known for her fluid, gooey movements, long and elegant lines and use of contemporary music to entice you into her dance.
She won Like a Fine Wine Burlesque with a burlesque piece inspired by her cat, and her infamous Winnie the Pooh is often requested by producers.
She is a master teacher who simplifies complex movements to make it achievable for all body types and ages.
Walking & Teasing – How to Diva with Lauren / Trillian
In this class we will begin our journey into the art of classic style tease. The tease begins that first moment you step on stage and connect with your audience, long before the clothes begin to come off. Trillian is going to give you the tools to bring out your inner burlesque diva and whip your audience into a frenzy! No props, no gimmicks, just you. We will cover posture and lines of the body, posing, walking in heels, improvisation and stage presence. Wear comfortable, form fitting clothing and your favourite pair of heels
About Lauren / Trillian
Trillian is a lifelong dancer, instigator of shenanigans, awesomeness coach and professional show off. A burlesque performer for 11 years, co-founder of Corps de Burlesque ~ School of Seduction and co-creator of Corps de Burlesque Syllabus. Most recently awarded Mx Classic and 1st runner up Mx Burlesque Aotearoa.
