Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

'Along with her identity as an Asian-America, Cho has struggled with her identity as a woman, particularly her personal struggles with eating disorders. As a young woman growing up in her family, Cho was susceptible to sexist messages that told her she had to be “small, petite, and skinny” to be beautiful. As a result, Cho developed a devastating eating disorder, and went through dramatic periods of anorexia and bulimia. After being told to lose weight while working on her television show All-American Girl, Cho starved herself for several weeks, eventually becoming hospitalized for kidney failure. 'A breakthrough for Cho came when she saw burlesque being performed for the first time. “I was so amazed when I saw the performance. There were women with all different body types, ages, races, and you could tell they were so happy and comfortable with their bodies,” she said. “I was crying when I saw it, it really cured me.” For Cho, who performed burlesque on her tour “The Sensu...

Margaret plays so many roles in the Sensuous Woman it's hard to keep track! Here are just a few.

Diana Yanez Ryan Heffington Selene Luna Ian Harvie There are some more in Margaret's blog: http://www.margaretcho.com/blog/

"I also think it's really timely the way that women's bodies are politicized. It's really about seeing people's different bodies and enjoying that and getting away from this weird ideal that is reinforced in movies, TV and advertising," Cho said. To do that, Cho has cast many women and men protégé performers of differing shapes and sizes to "change and recreate the ideal of what is attractive." Burlesque is the New Funinism

Burlesque performers are my superheroes. The legends with their wild pasts and graceful moves, the newbies gathering their nerves to fling themselves onto a stage for the first time, the performers of my generation who have been christened neo-burlesque, all my heroes. When I see them get onstage I'm starstruck by their beauty and abandon and skill. When I first learned that Margaret Cho was MCing the Miss Exotic World Pageant in 2006, it made perfect sense. She has every quality I want in a hero: nerve, honesty, gender inquisitiveness, sexiness, talent, and a brilliant sense of humor. That she has achieved fame and success just goes to show that the world in general is going my way. Gorgeous Margaret in burlesque regalia. Photo by Austin Young. When I met her backstage she had the qualities that always, for me, cement hero status: she was gracious, friendly, and warm. I couldn't have been more starstruck. I was even more grateful and stricken when, not long after ME...

'"I love the boys, the girls, all the movers and the shakers who come to our show," said former burlesque phenomenon Dixie Evans, 80.' http://www.sbsun.com/ci_6325132 'Dixie plays a big role in keeping burlesque alive, Rio said, with a museum that allowed current dancers to learn from the original movers and shakers. Dixie's Exotic World, Home of the Movers and Shakers' Burlesque Museum and Striptease Hall of Fame in Helendale came about from her friend's collection of burlesque memorabilia. Jennie Lee ran the Sassy Lassy nightclub until she was diagnosed with breast cancer and moved to an abandoned goat farm in Helendale. Dixie and her friend held a reunion there every year for their friends in the burlesque business. "We didn't quite know what to do about the reunion when Jennie Lee died" in 1990, Dixie said. "But one thing was certain, she wanted to keep burlesque alive." So Dixie kept it going. That year marked the fir...