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Showing posts from June, 2022

How to Get Started as a Performer in Burlesque

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Above: Jo Weldon performing at The Burlesque Hall of Fame. Photo by Tigz Rice. Many students come to my classes with the intention to perform professionally. Not all who want to perform want to become fulltime performers, but they'd like to get onstage now and then. I work in the field of what I call "Independent Burlesque," where most performers are creating individual acts that then get booked into variety or burlesque shows. People also sometimes hear about a theme for a show and then create an act based on that theme, or start producing a show for which they then create acts. There are as many different approaches as there are people to come up with them. However, for this article, let's focus on what most of my students are asking me about, which is how to get booked as a solo performer in a burlesque show that already exists. I'll also be focusing mostly on how things work in New York. Traveling to work is a separate topic, but I'll have an article

12 Tips on Supporting Friends in Burlesque Competitions

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Above: Miss Poison Ivory winning the Burlesque Hall of Fame pageant, 2016. Photo by Don Spiro. Image via burlesquehall.com. BY JO WELDON NOVEMBER 19, 2014 This article was originally published at https://21stcenturyburlesque.com/12-tips-supporting-friends-burlesque-competitions-jo-weldon/ In the world of burlesque, ballyhoo is part of the fun. Taglines and titles pique the audience’s curiousity and make for vivid introductions by emcees. Pageants and competitions offer opportunities to make things up and then invent value for them. It should always be in a spirit of fun, but of course it can get much more complicated than that. In a spirit of support and compassion for competitors, I’d like to offer the following suggestions for being a good friend to someone who is participating. You know your friends best, and some of these suggestions might not work for everyone, but I hope they help friends of competitors think about the best ways to be supportive. 1. Feel free to pampe