Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

The longer I've performed, the more serious I've gotten about dedicating a pair of shoes to a costume and not wearing them with anything else, no matter how strong the temptation. Once you cannibalize a costume for another costume, you begin the descent into costume hell--"Is the whole costume in the bag?" is not a question you want to be asking in a dressing room right before a show, or even on the subway on the way to the venue. I dedicated a pair of very special shoes to my Sherry Britton tribute, even though they wrong for the era--I knew Sherry would approve. Above: A costume fitting at Garo's . When I very first started dancing in strip joints (1981? it's all so fuzzy) I saw some of the dancers wearing amazing wood and metal heeled mules. I loved them but the heels weren't high enough for me. I was, in my late teens, excruciatingly self-conscious about being only five feet tall; plus, I drank a lot, which meant I could wear excruciatingly high heel...

Well, if this isn't cute, I don't know what is. The DVD features a dozen burlesque performers (Angie Pontani, Anita Cookie, Bunny Love, Chicava Honeyscotch, Gal Friday, Harvest Moon, Julie Atlas Muz, Little Brooklyn, The Maine Attraction, Ms. Tickle, and Peekaboo Pointe, with Kit Cat as the card girl) dancing in front of a Yule Log to Christmas and Hanukka music played by Fisherman's Burlesque. It's pretty frickin cute. There is also a CD of the music without the dancers, which is a nice bonus for those who just want the music (weirdos). It's a fantastic DVD to play in the background at a holiday party, of course, but it's also a great way to steal a few moves for would-be holiday stripteasers. The performers are stellar, and they leave no feather unturned--there are glamourous numbers, sexy numbers, humourous numbers, and numbers that are all three. But of course my favorite part is the behind the scenes extra segment. Performers are asked where they go...