DANCE CLASS USED to mean tutus or tap shoes. These days, local options have expanded to include the art of the tease. The Circle City School of Burlesque was the idea of Indianapolis-based burlesque artists Desiree De Carlo, Twirlisha Devine, Patsy Blue Ribbon, and Frenchy La Rouge. The concept blossomed in 2023 when fitness studio Nexxus Movement invited Rocket Doll Revue member Desiree De Carlo to teach a burlesque workshop after a few students saw a show and wanted to learn.
“Other major cities with thriving burlesque scenes had established schools. So why not us?” recalls De Carlo, who became Circle City’s co-director.
After Nexxus was sold, classes moved to their current Broad Ripple home at She Shop Fitness, and the school officially launched last September.
For student (and Indianapolis Monthly advertising art director) Christiana “Crystal Claire” Bertsch, the classes became a way to rebuild her confidence after a breakup. “I started with a basic ‘learn a little routine’ dance class,” she recalls. Bertsch was immediately hooked. “It was more than a fitness class,” she says. “This means something. My dance has meaning behind it.”
The curriculum goes far beyond choreography, De Carlo says. Classes cover the history of the art, storytelling, character development, costume design, and the practical side of producing an act.
Burlesque rose to popularity in the United States in the late 19th century, blending striptease with vaudeville-style entertainment, sometimes as satire. “It started as political,” says Bertsch. “A middle finger to the bourgeoisie and the upper class. It was all to make fun of the aristocracy.” The art form experienced a resurgence in the 1990s.
Bertsch says classes provide the positive environment she craved. “When you’re backstage getting ready, they have the rule of ‘no negative self-talk’ because it has a ripple effect,” she says. “It’s unabashed self-positivity, even if you’re nervous.”
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