Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

'Take one guitar wonderkid and one international burlesque star, throw the two together, and you get a rock-out road show hitting a Canadian city near you! Real life couple, Alistair Christl and Tanya Cheex, have put together a winning combination of tunes and tease. Touring to promote his new CD release, "Unmarked Grave," Alistair is a one-man show in the tradition of Hank Williams and Hasil Adkins. Tanya has just finished a two month stint with the world famous sold-out "Spiegel Show" in Toronto. Don't miss the opportunity to see the two bust out musically and physically! ' When I received this show announcement from Tanya, I knew this had to be good. She's a fierce and fabulous performer with a lovely bit of edge, and always full of good ideas. She and Alistair were good enough to do a quick interview. When I say quick, I mean I emailed the questions and had the answers in half an hour! How did you get interested in burlesque? Tanya: My g...

' A few days later, I catch the Cheesecakes performing at the Pride celebration at Fisherman's Wharf. There are a record 18,000 people there. The sun is scorching. The beer has run out and the drag queens are getting surly. But the troupe manages to keep the crowd in high spirits. Cheers explode when the women tear away velcro-seamed pants and spray sparkles for their finale, the Village People's YMCA. ' City women embracing burlesque style Way to go, Victoria! Yay for more burlesque! I love the idea of them performing in front of 18,000 people. At the end she says you can't teach burlesque, which I don't find to be true; I don't find that teaching people classic moves inhibits their abilities to find their own styles. It just inspires their confidence to give classic burlesque a try. I bet she ends up teaching in spite of herself! My students at the last School of Burlesque showcase, June 2007. I didn't have any pix of the Cheesecakes!