Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

On August 15, I produced the first New York School of Burlesque student showcase in over 18 months. The students spent five weeks developing their own routines with guidance from me and from each other. They chose their own themes, assembled their own costumes, and developed their own choreography. Many of them had been waiting for years to do their first performance! We also featured Trinity Starlight as our headlining alumna, a former student who's now an accomplished producer. Here are some photos from Katherine Whitehead Photography , who was hired by the students to do photos and video of the show.  Kaya Toast Alexandra Peach Miss Miette Sassie LeFay PuppyGirl Anastasia Agent DD7 Trinity Starlight Tatas Fornow Tann Talizing Constance Snow Headmistress Jo See video clips from my IG Live Our next 2021 Student Showcase is November 7 at DROM! Featuring an all-new group of students creating solo numbers together. Details to come at New York School of Burlesque

  Above: Removing my corset at The Burlesque Hall of Fame. Photo by Mike Albov My number one choreography tip for burlesque is that your costume IS your choreography. That's right! That's because the costume removal will include logistical decisions, will affect your movement ability and choices, and make your performance unique. It's possible to start a number from any point, whether from an idea, a piece of music, or a costume, and you may start out with everything but the costume and still begin developing the number. You may get the costume last! And yet you will, with some exceptions (there are exceptions to EVERY guideline, of course!), have to adjust any choreography you made without the costume to the ways you move with the costume. It's also possible to adjust the costume, but sometimes not as much as one hopes. Get to know your costume well -- where it's easy, where it's challenging, where you have opportunities for play. Make sure the audience can see...

 Since I published The Burlesque Handbook in June 2010, I’ve gotten a lot of response to it from both beginners and pros, and the most frequent comment I’ve had from experienced performers has been, “Thank you for the chapter on etiquette!” And most of them add, “Especially the part about taking pictures!”   In the guidelines for the chapter, I wrote:   1. Ask before you take pictures, and be genuinely willing to not take them. People who don’t mind being photographed doing all kinds of wild things onstage may not want to be photographed checking the crotch of their underwear for clitty litter. Or they may wish to be photographed only by professionals. This is not necessarily uptight of them. There are a lot of issues around photography and burlesque. And for god’s sake, if you post a photo online and someone asks you to take a picture down, do it!  (This photo of me by Allen Lee has been stolen repeatedly, and Allen has had to fight for his rights as a ph...