Meet Miss Mercury Flame - books by day then burlesque by night

Jaime Woodham is on a mission... to get the women (and some of the men) of Oxford sashaying, shimmying and feeling fabulous.

“Burlesque is a fun, empowering and uplifting art form,” says the 33-year-old who combines her dancing with studying at Oxford’s Ruskin College.

“What I love about burlesque is that it is not prejudiced. It has no size, age, race or gender requirements and is all about celebrating our individuality and beauty through expression.”

Jaime has been performing burlesque as Miss Mercury Flame (flamboyant stage names being a must in the world of glitz, kitsch and glamour) for the past three years and put on showcase nights at London venues before moving to Oxford last year to start her course in writing for performance.

“I started burlesque in 2011 in London. I was bored of my job as a receptionist and wanted to achieve something that I enjoyed,” says Jaime.

She’d also broken up with a long-term boyfriend who “went off with another woman”. “At the time I was devastated – my confidence was down and I had body image issues – but in the end it was the best thing that happened to me.”

Jaime felt she had “wasted” her 20s and the break-up made her take a look at her life and ambitions.

After a 12-week course at The Cheek of It! School of Burlesque in London Jaime started performing.

“When I am my burlesque alter ego Mercury Flame I feel empowered and confident,” says Jaime.

“For me, being Mercury Flame allows me to embrace my body imperfections and just celebrate being a strong, independent person who refuses to conform to the idealism of what one should look like in order to be accepted in society.

“Life is hard enough without having to worry about body image and if we fit in. Burlesque sticks two fingers up at this and says be proud of who you are and don’t be scared to show it off.”

But just performing wasn’t enough for newly-empowered Jaime.

“I kept going to burlesque/cabaret shows and thinking to myself that I could do this... so I did,” she says.

“There was a venue near to where I lived that I had my eye on and one day I plucked up the courage to go inside and sell myself as a burlesque promoter.

“Having no experience in organising events I went in and told a few porky pies. I had the contacts and the belief in myself and was determined to get the gig... and I did!

“The night was a sell out and the bar took over £1,000 in profit. This was the first day of my big dream.”

That dream included quitting her job as a receptionist and after 18 years out of education starting on the course at Ruskin last October.

“I am studying writing for performance at Ruskin college and I hope to become a professional playwright,” says Jaime. “I am lucky enough to have a play that I wrote last term called Spiked turned into a production that will be shown at the Arts festival in May this year and I would like to continue creating and organising events in Oxford and maybe dabble in a bit of acting myself.”

As well as her studies and working in a bar, she is busy planning a night of burlesque at the Jericho Tavern next week

“When I arrived here in Oxford I was surprised that there was no real burlesque scene as it is such a diverse city with all the vintage shops and arts culture, so I saw a gap in the market,” she says.

Tickets for the show are selling well and Jaime also wants to use it to gauge interest in running burlesque classes.

“There is a lot more to burlesque than people realise and I want to show people that it is not just stripping,” says Jaime.

“Burlesque is very theatrical and can often involve story-telling, singing, dancing, comedy, magic and a whole array of wonderful variety acts.

“Although essentially burlesque is the art of striptease it doesn’t always involve the removal of clothing.

“If an artist chooses to reveal at the end of the act, it is usually only for a few seconds and the performer is covered up by tassels or pasties.”

Jaime has performed dozens of times and dad Bob, brother Lee and Nanny Pam have all been along to watch - after an advance visit by mum Liz to reassure them it wasn’t too risque.

“When I first started going to see burlesque I noticed how many women were audience members and this made me realise that burlesque is female friendly as it shows the female form in all shapes and sizes and gives out a positive message about body image and confidence,” says Jaime. “And there’s a lot of humour. If there wasn’t I don’t think as many women would be interested. If it was lovely fan dancing all the time it would be boring.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOP FIVE BASIC BURLESQUE MOVES

There are many styles of burlesque which range from balloon popping, fan dancing, fire eating to hula hooping, trapeze and aerial routines,” says Jaime. “There is even Boyesque [for men] which is growing ever more popular. Burlesque itself means ‘joke, ridicule or mockery’ and is meant to capture laughter and uplift the audience.”

The five basic moves of burlesque are:
1. The Bump – Swing your hip out as if you are shutting a door. Exaggerate the movement... and do it with attitude.
2. Figure-of-eight – Start with your hip out then trace a figure-of-eight with your pelvis. Elvis would be proud.
3. The Swivel – Swivel those hips in a semi-circular motion. This looks particularly impressive from a side view.
4. Boob shimmy – Get your shoulders alternatively moving backwards and forwards and your boobs will wiggle too.
5. Bum shimmy – Keep your knees loose to perfect this move. Probably very good for toning the posterior.

Jaime appears in a showcase music video created with Mystic Matt and Nutsie Nuts. See that and a demonstration of her burlesque moves here