I took this photo while on the Sex Workers Art Show Tour. We stopped for gas, somewhere in Texas, at a place that had a fried chicken counter in the front and a long-closed strip joint in the rear. This carpet looks pretty much like most of the carpet in most of the strip joints where I worked in the 1980s.
You think it's not scary??? Check this out: a terrified onlooker fires upon the underboob of Bambi the Mermaid at the very dangerous Slipper Room show, Sealboy and the Blondes:
This is Layne Fargo - you may remember me as the graduate student who's been bugging the kind people on this list for the past year or so with questions for her burlesque-related thesis. Well, my thesis is finally completed, and the finished document (which features quotes from several community members whom I was lucky enough to interview) is available online at this address:
I completed several other burlesque-themed projects during my final year of graduate study at Ohio State which might be of interest, too. One is a finding aid for the Charles H. McCaghy Collection of Exotic Dance From Burlesque to Clubs (housed at Ohio State's Lawrence & Lee Theatre Research Institute) giving a detailed, searchable listing of the contents of that collection. That can be found in the OhioLink finding aid repository here:
If anyone has questions about any of these projects, I'm more than happy to answer them. A big thank you to everyone on this list for all the help you've given me over the course of my graduate studies. I had a wonderful time researching burlesque and getting a small glimpse into your fantastic world!
Click the immage above to read about Cyd Charisse at lovegoddess.com.
If anybody ever set a standard for the way a glamourous dancer should walk across the stage, it was Cyd Charisse.
I first became really conscious of Cyd Charisse when I was in high school because my best friend's mother, Carol Richards, did Cyd's vocals in Brigadoon, and then my best friend performed in our school's production of Brigadoon. I remember my friend (who had her mother's singing ability and regularly blew me away with her talent and her genius) moving like a hurricane in a dance scene, and thinking, "Oh, that's so for me!" The dancing I felt I could get near; the singing, most definitely not (as those who saw me play and sing Black Dog at Houses of the Unholy can attest). There was no youtube then, and I really had to bust my buns to get my eyes on more of Cyd's performances, but when I did, this is what I saw:
Cyd Charisse was not a burlesque dancer, but the characters she portrayed in her numbers had such a fierceness, such an attitude of independence and personal power, and such strong tones of vixen and femme fatale, that it is inevitable she would be an influence on burlesque performers. Perhaps burlesque performers had an influence on her; I'm not an expert on her career and wouldn't know. I often think that if all it took were fancy costumes and character dancing to interest burlesque aficianados, we would not need the striptease part of burlesque--we could just refer to MGM musicals and never take off a thing. But for that sense of being undomesticated that draws so many of us to identify so intensely with the striptease artist rather than other with equally glamourous women who don't engage the aspects of burlesque (self-generated ideas, transcending formal training [or the lack thereof] to create one's own style, and a bit of outrageousness), clothing removal aside, that make it unique, there is no dancer outside of burlesque--or inside, obviously--quite like Queen Charisse. She was elegant, seductive, and beautiful, but also challenging.
Sadly, Carol Richards passed away last year, and Cyd Charisse just this month. Due to producing a student showcase and preparing for the Mermaid Parade this past week I'm a bit late with my tribute to Cyd's influence on the dancing style of many burlesquers as well as on the rest of the dance universe, but I was moved by her life and her death.
Above: Me at the Mermaid Parade this past weekend, bringing in the New York School of Burlesque School of Fish.
The Mermaid Parade is not strictly a burlesque event, but it's definitely an event cherished by the New York burlesque community. Like Wigstock, it's been a meeting ground for performance artists, drag queens, and people who just love dress-up ( or undress-up) since the 1980s, and, like Wigstock, has fostered a sense of community based on the joy of costuming and playfulness. When I moved to New York permanently in the 90s after years of traveling back and forth between NY and Atlanta, I immediately became devoted to these annual events. It's almost like a family reunion for me!
Above: Mermaid Parade, 2006. Tigger, Erochica Bamboo, Laura Herbert, Taylor Mac, Me, Dirty Martini, Francesca.
The Burlesque Revival Association in the 2002 Mermaid Parade.
Bambi the Mermaid and Bunny Love at Ruby's after the 2002 Mermaid Parade.
The Mermaid Parade is produced by Coney Island USA, an NFP which aims to "defend the honor of American popular art forms through innovative exhibitions and performances." For more information about this amazing arts organization, click the banner!
This is a New-York Based Blog About Burlesque with Interviews, Photo Posts, Peeks into Performers' Closets and More. If you'd like to contribute or suggest a post, feel free to contact me at rocknycity@aol.com. I'd be thrilled to add content from other writers and other cities and countries.
I'm Jo Weldon, AKA Jo Boobs, Headmistress of the award-winning New York School of Burlesque and Webmistress of the unique site gstringsforever.com, which this blog is temporarily replacing. See below for a link to the old site, which includes links to lots of amazing strip joint strippers as well as lots of amazing burlesque performers. I am also a volunteer worker for Coney Island USA, which presents the Burlesque at the Beach series every year in Brooklyn, NY, and for the Burlesque Hall of Fame, which presents the Exotic World Weekend Striptease Reunion and Miss Exotic World Pageant every year in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2007 I toured with the Sex Workers Art Show, performing in 33 cities in 35 days. I work my butt off! Oh wait, it's still there...and it's getting bigger!
More of me
This is a blog with an agenda--to bring the colorful, playful, twisted, and glamorous world of burlesque to as many people as possible. I'm fortunate enough to have access to a great deal of the world of neo-burlesque and I love it and I want you to love it too, so I'm sharing that access with you.
Originally this blog was intended to post, if not quite daily, at least every other day. The amount of work involved in unexpected business opportunities has made this impossible for now, but there is still much more material to come.
There will be new content as frequently as possible here, with everything from feature-length articles to quickie photo posts. You'll read interviews with burlesque legends, get to peek into performers' closets, and learn more about your favorite burlesque producers, photographers, writers, and musicians. You'll get reviews of books and movies pertaining to burlesque. You'll get photos and descriptions of burlesque memorabilia and collectibles. You'll get backstage photo essays.
If that's not enough, let me know what else you'd like to see here! I'm easy to reach at rocknycity@aol.com.
Note--I'm learning my way around the Blogger editor and the look of this blog may change.
Looking for Gstrings Forever? My Old, Ideally Soon to Be New, Site
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