Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

"DIRTY MARTINI AND THE NEW BURLESQUE explores the tantalizing world of the performers who created the new burlesque scene in NYC: Miss Dirty Martini and her friends Julie Atlas Muz, Bambi the Mermaid, Tigger!, World Famous BOB and others. Dirty is a classically trained dancer who struggled since childhood to overcome criticism of her size. Like Bette Midler, she became part of the downtown drag scene where she was finally accepted for her talent, and went on to develop her act in the East Village drag clubs. The movie’s seductiveness comes from its sexy acts as well as its dark exploration of these performers’ struggle to pay their bills, their quest for romance and inability to envision life after the world of burlesque. In addition, many topics are explored such as the relationship between sex work, burlesque and feminism. The new burlesque, which is defined as performance art combined with modern dance and political satire, is exploding in New York as well as other major cit...

I used to do a monthly event (now on an irregular basis) called "Behind the Crimson Curtain" where my students would do readings from the autobiographies of burlesque performers. Among the many burlesque stars who've produced autobiographies--Honey Harlow, Blaze Starr, and Gypsy Rose Lee, to name a few--we included Alan Alda, whose autobiography includes descriptions of his life as a child when his father was a "tit singer" in burlesque shows. These kinds of behind-the-scenes stories are at the heart of a new film, "Behind the Burly-Q," produced by Leslie Zemeckis. I've already got my tickets for the NYC premiere! Leslie was kind enough to take some time from her busy schedule to answer a few questions exclusively for this blog. All images used with permission. Check out the film trailer! Jo Weldon: What do you hope your movie has to offer people who know very little about burlesque? People who know a lot about burlesque? Leslie Zemeckis: ...

"Of all the roles available to pretty, young actresses, one of the most enduring is "stripper with a heart of gold." The latest A-list actress to join the elite club of movie strippers is Jessica Biel in her upcoming film 'Powder Blue.' Biel told Access Hollywood that her preparation for the role gave her new appreciation for the job. Hear hear, we say. We look forward to seeing Jessica Biel's heart of gold, and in the meantime, here are the Top Ten Movie Strippers." Best Movie Strippers As we used to say when I worked in strip joints, if they're taking off their clothes for money, they're strippers! And we love it. A similar article appeared in Entertainment Weekly awhile ago. I love the articles, but they're not so very burlesquey, and they didn't include my personal favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7rseCwM9mU

There was a piece about actors stripping in films on EW.com: Photo Gallery of Stars Who Played Strippers It includes one of the scenes I show in my "Exotic Dance in Contemporary Film" lecture, Diane Lane in Big Town, and a lot of others I considered including but left out in the interest of keeping the lecture focused. Demi Moore in Striptease. Whatever was wrong with this movie, I have to say that both the stage dancing and the table dancing (when Burt Reynolds kept talking to her while she was dancing) were incredibly accurate about what stripping looked like in the clubs where I worked in the 80s and 90s. I toured, so I saw a lot of clubs, and this is very much what I remember: Entertainment Weekly couldn't include them all, obviously. Not pictured in the EW gallery: Christopher Walken in Pennies from Heaven Michael Ontkean in Slap Shot Valerie Perrine in Lenny Lolita Davidovich in Blaze Brigitte Bardot in Mademoiselle Strip Tease Joanne Woodward in The St...

If I could be in two places at once , I'd be going to this! I was just sent this announcement (lots more details and other films to be shown on the site): At the EGYPTIAN THEATRE 6712 Hollywood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90028 Details Friday, February 15 -- 7:30 PM LIVE BURLESQUE + SCREENING LIVE BURLESQUE SHOW (Approx. 45 min.) The Bonnie Delight Burlesque Revue kicks off the evening with sexy old-fashioned fun starring emcee/funnyman Shecky Greenblatt (Scott Whitesell), sultry dancer Miss Lola Lee, crooner Charlie Singer (Hal Cartrett), a cavalcade of other performers, and the star of our show -- the delightful Bonnie, Miss Bonnie Delight! Next on the same bill GYPSY (1962, Warner Bros., 149 min.). Directed by Mervyn Le Roy. Natalie Wood lights up the screen as stripper Gypsy Rose Lee in this splendid Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim/Arthur Laurents musical. The show-stopping Rosalind Russell stars as Wood's domineering stage mother, with Karl Malden as Russell'...

When many neo-burlesquers are asked which is their favorite striptease in a movie (that is, a scripted movie that isn't necessarily about burlesque, as opposed to a collection of clips of burlesque performances), this one is cited the most. And for good reason! I perform a lecture called "Exotic Dance in Contemporary Film." It's mostly about burlesque, of course. I explain how the film clips of burlesque dancers recorded in the 30s-60s are often overdubbed because either they were shot silent or the music rights were too expensive for the video producers to acquire, meaning that we don't get to see how the dancers utilized the music. Plus, they are usually shot with a single camera and we don't get to see how the dancers utilized an audience. We can see their hair, costumes, and a few of their moves, but we can't get a full sense of them. Frankly, watching a burlesque routine on film, though fun, is not remotely a substitute for watching the number as ...