Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8nSyxbTuek Jennie on Java's Bachelor Pad

I'm a terrible blogger lately, I know. I've been facebooking, if you like, and twittering, but not blogging. I'm sure I'll return, as I'm hoarding some delicious interviews, but for now, if you want to find me on facebook or twitter, search for Jo Weldon. Last week I performed a burlesque number at the first-ever US Pole Dancing Championship , as a guest not as a competitor--I love pole dancing, but I have no skill. Because it was a crowd unfamiliar with burlesque, I used music I thought would strike a familiar note, including a version of Hubcaps and Taillights, as heard in this clip at about 4.30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20AABW0I0LA This movie came out the year before I was born, and when I saw it as a child struck me in so many ways. I wasn't sufficiently amused by the line "Do you think she's talented?" until much later, when I was stripping for a living, during a particular era in strip joints between burlesque and pole dancing.

I have been extremely lucky to work with some of the best musicians in burlesque. I've been performing, or at least dancing, to live music all my life, including one glorious night with Spinal Tap, but most of the time I was just dancing along to the music. In burlesque with live music, there's real collaboration. The dancers rehearse their numbers with the bands, and the musicians watch the dancers to see if they need to give them a drum hit when a glove drops to the floor, if the music needs to be sped up or slowed down, or if they need to repeat a form until the dancer is ready to finish her number. In New York we have live music at the Slipper Room every Wednesday night with amazing musicians including Brian Fisherman, with whom I've been performing for over 10 years, Le Scandal has featured The New York City Blues Devils and the Le Scandal Orchestra, Big Apple Burlesque features a live band every week, Brian Newman produces a burlesque show with his trio at Duane Park...