The Richmond Institute of Burlesque

A recent addition to Richmond’s dance community has me (and a bunch of other people) all atwitter.  The Richmond Institute of Burlesque opened its doors and now we all have the opportunity (if not the talent) to dance all sexy with the best of them.

Dolli Holliday

Deepa De Jour

Skye Sinclaire

Richmond Burlesque Goddesses Dolli Holiday, Deepa De Jour, and Skye Sinclaire are the three main instructors, but you can expect other Richmond-based burlesque beauties to make appearances, as well as nationally-known dancers who are traveling through Richmond.

Some of the class offerings and descriptions are as follows:

Burlesque Basics:

All three founding members teach this class, where you’ll learn some basic moves like glove peels, shimmies, and the like, and they’ll give you a crash course in the history of burlesque, how to develop your own burlesque character, and more.  This class is open to women only, since you’ll be trying out your newly-learned moves with boas, gloves, and pasties.  Yeow!

The Art of Chair Dance and Stocking Peels:

Skye Sinclaire takes you through the steps of different chair dances and stocking peels.  Even if you don’t plan on using these techniques in your own public debut, these skills are sure to spice up your life at home.

Songs to Strip By:

Dolli Holiday teaches this wallet-friendly class, where you’ll learn all about picking the perfect song for your burlesque routine.  More than just an overview of good music, she’ll teach you how to use the building blocks of the songs (beats, breaks, etc.) to make your number special.

These classes are just the tip of the iceberg, Folks.  Check out the full course list to find the class for you, and check the calendar for class times and dates.  I was supposed to go to Sunday’s Make-Up and Wig Tricks class.  I’m really bummed I didn’t get to go because Liv actually teaches you (among many other things) how to select, trim, and apply false eyelashes, which is something I have always wanted to know how to do.

The Richmond Institute of Burlesque is located at 6517 Dickens Place.  You don’t have to be a skinny Minnie or a fabulous dancer to take classes there.  Dolli and the girls want you to know that burlesque is designed to make YOU feel good about YOU, and what’s better than that?

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Haunted Richmond – A Handful of Richmond Ghosts, Part 2

Continued, because Richmond has so many cool ghost stories that we just can’t stop.  We told you about the Executive Mansion ghost, and about the ghosts at The Old Stone House, but we left out some of the most famous Richmond ghosts of all.  Not to deprive you, here you go.

The Church Hill Tunnel

In the early 1870′s, the C & O Railway decided to build a tunnel underneath Church Hill.  Makes sense, getting from one end of the Hill to the other, without having to go around, but the tunnel was wrought with troubles from the beginning.  Building the tunnel proved easier said than done.  See, Church Hill was not situated on top of bedrock, like most of the other hills that C & O built tunnels through.  Instead, our hills are filled with blue marl clay.  This made construction a nightmare, and about ten workers died trying to build the tunnel.

The tunnel always had seepage problems, but in 1925 the railroad wanted to utilize it, so they decided to go in and repair and reinforce the tunnel.  On October 2, 1925 the tunnel collapsed on a work train and killed at least two, if not more workers.

When the collapse happened, the men were in total darkness, with debris falling all around them.  They screamed and cried out, but some never found their way out.  The tunnel was sealed in 1926, burying the work train and whatever bodies that went undiscovered.

For years, at the beginning of October, residents and visitors swore they could hear a ghostly train whistle coming from the sealed up tunnel.  Other times, people have heard the cries coming from the men who were trapped, faint and muffled cries of men who died long ago.

Hollywood Cemetery

The Richmond Vampire

One spooky aspect of Hollywood Cemetery is closely tied to the Church Hill Tunnel collapse.  Rescue teams reported coming upon a man who was hunched over one of the tunnel victims.  He was not dressed like a railway worker.  When he stood up, the people said that he had blood around his mouth, and that two fangs protruded from his mouth.  The legend says that the man fled, with people chasing after him.  He reportedly fled all the way to Hollywood Cemetery (that’s a looong way) and disappeared into a tomb marked W.W. Poole.  The door was locked, and the people who chased the bloody-mouthed man couldn’t get the door open.  They asked the cemetery caretaker to open the doors, but he refused.  From this came the legend of the Richmond Vampire.

The legend of the Richmond vampire, of course, is oral history, and three is, of course, a rational, and non-vampire explanation, but that’s no fun, is it?  We’ll save that for a different post.

The Ghost Dog

I’ll report this story as I heard it from an ancient Oregon Hill resident back in 1994.  This woman told me that the cast iron dog stood outside of the drugstore and soda shop on the corner of Laurel and Main.  Other reports said that it stood out front of a store on Broad Street.  Either way, a little neighborhood girl would come to the store and pet the statue and talk to it just as if it were a real dog.

There was a flu epidemic in 1892 and the little girl’s body was interred at Hollywood Cemetery.  The owners of the store where the statue of the dog had stood donated the dog to look over the little girl’s grave.  People have said that the dog emanates a menacing air when someone steps too close to the girl’s grave, and that at night, you can hear the sound of a dog running around the cemetery, panting.

Ellen Glasgow

Ellen Glasgow was a Richmond native, and a novelist who wrote twenty novels and won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1942.  She died in November of 1945, and one of the instructions in her will was that her two beloved dogs who had died several years before be dug up from her back yard and buried with her.  Her wishes were fulfilled, and nighttime visitors to the cemetery swear they can hear small dogs roaming around the cemetery at night.  Are they hearing Ellen Glasgow’s dogs, or the dog that protects the little girl?

Civil War Ghosts

Over 18,000 Civil War veterans are interred at Hollywood Cemetery.  11,000 are unknown soldiers, fallen in the battle of Gettysburg.  Legend has it that during a full moon one can hear moans coming from the pyramid – moans from soldiers who will never find rest because their deaths went unrecorded.  Others will tell you that it’s possible to hear such sounds in broad daylight, and that even in the bright summer sun a chill can run down your spine that will, for that moment, make you believe in ghosts.

Read Part one of Richmond Ghosts

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Haunted Richmond – A Handful of Richmond Ghosts, Part I

Halloween is fast approaching.  Whether you’re going to someone’s house for a party, to a bar, or some to The Canal Club for the Taboo Dead Sexy Halloween Party, hopefully you have something fun planned for this year.  Part of your plans might also include a Haunts of Richmond Tour- something I’ve always wanted to do but have still never done.  So, this post is NOT a review of the Haunts of Richmond Tour people, since I’ve never been (though I totally plan to someday), but it IS a post about some of my favorite Richmond ghost stories.  We live in one haunted-assed town, did you know that?

The Governor’s Mansion Ghost

Now, despite what you think, I’m probably never going to be Governor.  I know, I know.  I’d make a fabulous politician (sarcasm) for our state.  Try to control your disappointment.  Because I’m probably (PROBABLY) never going to be Governor, I will likely never encounter the first ghost on our list.  That’s why it’s first.  Also, because there is no scary, chilling, and compelling back story to the ghost who haunts the Executive Mansion.  Nobody’s figured out who the ghost is.  That’s why I thought I’d start with it, see?  It’s the least satisfying.  But bear with me, because it’s a pretty cool story.

In 2006, USA Today ran an article about the alleged Executive Mansion ghost.  They site a radio show moment when then-Governor Tim Kaine was asked if he’d experienced paranormal experiences at the Executive Mansion and he bluntly answered to the affirmative.  According to the article, he shared the fact that the phone in the family quarters would ring every Thursday at the same time, but then nobody would be there.  That, to me, sounds like a prank caller, not a ghost, but other inhabitants of the mansion have seen more compelling evidence.

For instance, the first lady during the early 70′s – Anne Holton – reported that a portrait would mysteriously move from room to room.  A little creepier.  I like it.  The best stories, however, come from longer ago.  A skeptic would say that a mischievous housekeeper might be to blame, but I’ll believe it was ghostly.  Dial back to the 1890′s when Gov. Philip McKinney actually SAW a ghost of a young lady.  That’s what I’m talking about.  There have been other sightings of the spectral young lady, but nobody has identified her.  Stay tuned, because some blog writer might be taking a trip to the library pretty soon…

The Old Stone House

Home to the Edgar Allen Poe Museum, Poe is probably not one of the ghosts who haunts the Old Stone House.  The house is, after all, the oldest original building in Richmond.  Some books tell me that Poe may have never set foot in the house, though he did live in Richmond for a number of years.  The ghosts that have been spotted in this very old (1740) building and its grounds are varied.

Some people do speculate that Poe’s spirit has visited the house, since the museum contains so many of his personal items.  Whether it is Poe himself or not, a dark shadow has been spotted in the garden.  This shadowy figure has also been photographed.  Is it Poe?  Or some other disturbed figure haunting the grounds?

Since the house is a popular wedding venue, the courtyard garden has been photographed extensively.  Image the surprise of the bride and groom, upon seeing their wedding photos, not being able to recognize children present at their wedding reception.  Many couples have reported a blonde-haired boy and girl between the ages of five and seven appearing in their photos, though nobody on their guest list fit that description, and nobody at the reception remembered seeing them.  It is thought that they are ghosts of the children who inhabited the house when it was first built.

The most entertaining story of an odd occurrence at the Old Stone House happened recently.  The museum’s gift shop received a shipment of Poe bobble-head novelty dolls.  The gift shop worker opened the box to see what was in it, but left it behind the counter with all the dolls still in the box.  She set the alarm and left for the day.  The next day, after disabling the alarm (which had not been disarmed since the previous day), the attendant walked into the gift shop to find that all of the dolls had been removed from their boxes and placed in a line in front of the counter.  The dolls’ individual boxes were packed inside the outside shipping carton.  Neatly.  How creepy, yet fun, is that?

Check out part 2 of Richmond Ghosts!

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