Theme Ideas

[Official OWECheer]

CP (16) did a burlesque theme dance with parts of her cheer team for a fundraiser last year. They really loved it and you have some options (music, accessories, etc). I´ve been a little bit worried about being age appropriate but fortunenately no one ever raised a hand. They´d happily do it again!

How were you guys able to make it age appropriate? I'm curious b/c I've never heard of a burlesque theme being done.

 

[Coach mom]

I think you could be really creative with a burlesque theme..all burlesque is is emulating others,basically a fantasy world with a bit of sass & sex appeal. Granted,I wouldn't like it for middle school because its a bit too racey for their age & maturity but I think HS JV & varsity could pull it off well..as long as its done tastefully.

 

[Persephone]

@Official OWECheer Our coach did a great job with a little bit sassy and more elegant than sexy.

How were you guys able to make it age appropriate? I'm curious b/c I've never heard of a burlesque theme being done.

Our coach did a great job with a choreo (remember theme dance, no cheer choreo in this case) which was very little sassy (I´d say they acted more confident than sassy if that makes sense) and not much sex appeal. We put the girls in black leggings, black tanktop and added a small hair fascinator in black and burgundy as well as kind of a sash in burgundy to avoid being suggestively. If you watch the movie, you can find a lot of hints there as well as in the songs (i.e. Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend, But I´m A Good Girl, etc.) which can be used if cut appropriately. The movie tries to put strong women in it´s center, which is a good theme for high school aged girls I think. But of course it needs to be handled sensitively.
(I do hope my english is not too bad here to explain?)

 

[klynn64]

All great points & things to consider,thank you! I've never seen any animosity between any of them,even those that don't run in the same circles outside of cheering seem to leave it all off the mats & respect each other no matter their skill level or age. They encourage each other & stick together as a cheer family which is great considering the age differences alone. They don't spend a lot of time together since everyone practices at different times,but tumbling classes are done by skill level so they interact & bond there as well as games,rally's,comps,etc. Basically they spend enough time together to get to know one another,but not so much time that they get annoyed by things like age & maturity differences

When you're talking about a common theme that will work for multiple groups the age difference is the biggest consideration. I wouldn't expect to see animus between teams or athletes. But you are looking at an age difference of around five years between a middle school and a Varsity squad. That five years is significant in terms of maturity and likes/dislikes etc. It would be difficult to find an age appropriate theme that they all feel invested in. Also, teens struggle to be unique unto themselves and have something that sets them apart from others. However you do it, it sounds like the cheerleaders are fortunate to have a coach that cares enough to get input from the likes of us on the Fierce Board.

 

[klynn64]

To play it safe I would avoid any sort of Mafia/gangster theme...

Ha! Ha! Could be problematic. But, it's worked for California All Stars Snipers.

 

[klynn64]

I think you could be really creative with a burlesque theme..all burlesque is is emulating others,basically a fantasy world with a bit of sass & sex appeal. Granted,I wouldn't like it for middle school because its a bit too racey for their age & maturity but I think HS JV & varsity could pull it off well..as long as its done tastefully.

Check out video of California All Stars Level 4.2 (called Club 42) for the 2013-2014 season. Their videos are on YouTube as well as the videos section here on the Fierce Board. They did a Burlesque theme that year and it may help provide ideas.

 

[SLM]

I could be in the minority but having helped to run a burlesque troop in my younger years there is nothing about it that is for children. Yes it is about fantasy, however it is not the type of fantasy for children. While burlesque does have vaudevillian type numbers etc in it, it also most definitely has strip tease. Lot's of strip tease. I would just worry about the connotation. You can do the same "look" in a way and make it more "retro" or "bob Fosse" inspired but I would never use the actual term Burlesque in conjunction with anyone under the age of 18.

 

[MaineStar234]

My guess is that they maybe meant Burlesque as in the movie-musical, rather than burlesque in general. I've seen a good deal of the songs in that movie used in different routines and I think it could be cool if the whole routine was songs from the movie.


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[klynn64]

Another cute theme could be Bollywood. That theme might work for all the squads. Just a little more innocent for the younger squads than the older.

 

[Payton Lewis]

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