Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

There is an article about burlesque in the New York Times today: 'Burlesque, that fabled if slightly soiled fantasy realm whose heraldic totem was the twirling pasty and whose undisputed queen was Gypsy Rose Lee, has returned to New York, dripping with rhinestones and trailing clouds of glitter. Under the rubric neo-burlesque, a Depression-era genre whose hallmarks were smut with attitude, bargain-barn glamour, rock-bottom ticket prices and a proudly stuck-out tongue is reasserting itself, flourishing in unexpected corners around the city.' The Almost Naked City This one, also from the Times, circa 2003: 'It is not surprising that there is an old-time burlesque revival in New York. Like tiki bars and the jitterbug, the striptease had to come back sometime. What is impressive, though, is that it has come back with such a vengeance. Suddenly, women in very scanty clothing are everywhere, or at least on every bijou stage in every hipster neighborhood, introduced by languid ...

Above: A picture from Millie's Myspace. If you've spent any time backstage with me, you know I love a girl with corset lines! 'The Australian-born 22-year-old grew up in Glasgow struggling with hearing problems. It affected her speech and ability to understand people, but boy can she dance.... ' Being a burlesque performer is all about the music and moving with its beat and rhythm, which is a huge challenge for someone with a degenerative hearing loss. ' "As long as it's loud enough, I'm fine," said Millie. "I memorise my music as much as I can, but there have been times I've missed my cues because it was too low. It will get worse with age so I'm going to keep performing as long as I can." ' Rave reviews for the burlesque babe with rare hearing condition

See for yourself! They'd have fun with Satan's Angel's Fire Tassels. This article was sent to me by Little Brooklyn.

'Katherine Fries, who graduated from the New York Film Academy, said she'd been looking for a story that touched her heart. "Then I read my mother's book," she said. ' Her documentary was based on mother's burlesque book. Click above to buy Lillian's Book!

One of the interesting side effects of burlesque getting better and better known is that there are more and more people who know the word "burlesque" but don't know what it means. While I find some of the snarkier arguments about what burlesque really is and isn't insanely tedious and self-serving, there's no doubt in my mind that it isn't the same as pole dancing--that is, pole dancing qua pole dancing. The distinction is most important if someone wants to hire pole dancers and they think that burlesque is pole dancing and they hire burlesque dancers. Let's say they spend all this money installing poles for the dancers, and the dancers show up with a bunch of showgirl costumes and not one of them can get up the pole or whirl around it. In such a case, the distinction isn't a moral or a class issue, but an issue of fact: in order to work regularly as a burlesque dancer, you need skills, imagination, and costumes, but you don't need upper body str...

'Dame CuchiFrita, Lady Luscious, Miss AuroraBoobRealis and others pour a little chocolate on top of your burlesque sundae.' Burlesque in Color Get More BGB and find out about their next show on February 2.

I love this article! It's not actually about Immodesty, but she plays a part in this woman's charming story. 'A 'PAINFULLY' shy postwoman dressed up as a burlesque artist to raise money for needy children....Through the intensive training of her two mentors, Immodesty and dancer Wayne Sleep, shy Sharon was steadily transformed into a burlesque dancer.' Postie's risque role for charity Immodesty Blaize. Photo by Mike Albov.

I love that this article came out just a week after Dixie was talking about the Palace in her interview! 'From Irma the Body to Blaze Starr, the photos display the women's charms....Every woman in the exhibit exhibited herself at the Palace. There is Tura Satana, star of Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! And Lili St. Cyr — anyone who can sing along with The Rocky Horror Picture Show would recognize this star of several Irving Klaw fetish films. And legendary stripper Ann Corio, regarded as a premier princess of the pasties.' Eastman House gives us a peep at burlesque photos from famed Buffalo theater

'And let's not overlook "painter" Amber Ray stripped down to a pair of nipple tassels swirled into cans of paint and then sprinkled, smeared, and shimmied across a canvas; or the St. Louis duo, Gravity Plays Favorites, two scantily clad acrobats, known for their athletic twists and turns and unearthly contortions on spinning poles. ' Amber Ray at the New York Burlesque Festival. Photo by Jo Weldon. Gravity Plays Favorites at the New York Burlesque Festival. Photo by Jo Weldon. I'm the article too. I'm in the news twice in one day! How unlike me! Stripped Down and Rebuilt

I've been too busy to keep up with the promise of anything remotely like "Daily" Burlesque, but I am still in the process of editing more amazing interviews...just verrrrry sloooowly. One of the things I did while working like crazy was to be interviewed myself: ' "A lot of burlesque is about being an inappropriate female," either in appearance or in lifestyle, said Weldon. ' Burlesque revival: more nerdy than sexy? There are a couple of sentences I have to wonder about--for instance, I'm not exactly a school teacher in the sense that reading that description without info might lead the reader to believe, I'm a burlesque teacher. And it's more than a bit annoying to have your life's work, which you can see right here in my blog, attributed to someone else, even when that person is also quite worthy of being considered a researcher. But it's a fun article!

"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

The East Village and the Lower East Side in Manhattan form the primary seat of burlesque in New York. Tompkins Square Park originally hosted Wigstock , where neo-burlesque legends such as World Famous BOB and Dirty Martini performed, and recently hosted burlesque events at the Howl Festival . Clubs frequently featuring burlesque include the Slipper Room , with the city's longest-running burlesque show, Rififi, which features weekly shows Starshine Burlesque and Sweet And Nasty , Kitty Nights at Bar on A, frequent burlesque and performance art events at Mo Pitkins and The Bowery Poetry Club , and the adult vaudeville of The Box . My School of Burlesque operates at 440 Lafayette at the edge of Greenwich Village , across the street from Joe's Pub , where burlesque shows often take place. (For info about other burlesque shows in New York City, see Ed Barnas' New York Burlesque Calendar .) However... "A planned burlesque nightclub reportedly financed by musicians...

I'm way behind on everything, but I couldn't resist posting this because, wouldn't you know it, I just happen to have a picture of Ms. Honeybush in her hot dog queen outfit! 'When I apply the make-up, eyelashes, and wig, I really embrace the glamorous side of me. I feel quite at home on the stage and actually relish in the attention. In real life, I own a hot dog stand in East Nashville’s Five Points area called I Dream of Weenie. I wear denim and tank tops and grill weenies. Often times my makeup runs, and in the recent heat, I feel quite un-glamorous. But I’m so happy being a business owner who sells weenies! Every day is a sausage party!' Queens backstage at The Earl. Monique Honeybush and the Bend Sinister bring burlesque to Barking Legs

'The amazing clothes are an added attraction, the chance for performers and patrons to wear spectacular outfits from the heydays of Moulin Rouge chic and Las Vegas glam: giant headdresses, gloves, stockings, corsets and feather boas.' Imogen Kelly at the New York Burlesque Festival. Kiss my Sass

'When bellydance teacher Lisa Collins called a few venues in the city for a burlesque dance workshop for her students and the general public, given by a guest teacher, one establishment told her straight out on the telephone that they “didn’t facilitate stripping”.' The Art of Burlesque I facilitate stripping, happily.

Big Mamma D. Photo by Angus Lamond. 'With less than three hours until the curtain goes up, Big Mamma has a lot on her mind; so much in fact, that she's forgotten her music and has had to send someone home to fetch it. It's a minor snafu, which the chanteuse takes in stride, but there's a lot riding on tonight's performance. In addition to attending to all the last-minute details of the show for which she functions as producer, director, press agent, seamstress and wardrobe mistress, Big Mamma has planned a very special finale in which she will wed long-time beau and fellow cast member, emcee Johnny Anonymous (David Pendragon) in a real-life, onstage ceremony. "I got so fed up with, 'We'll do it later.' And it was me putting it off. It finally hit me that I'd never have time to plan a wedding when I was planning a show, so it only made sense to do it as part of the show," she says.' Kitsch 'N' Confidential

This article is a couple of months old, but Torchy just now told me about it, and I have to share it. Torchy and I went to school together--we were in the same film classes in college, and we also worked together at the Cheetah . I'll spare you the photos of us in the 80s! ' She's armed with a host of other facial expressions that play perfectly into the campy element of burlesque. One is pure elation — somewhere between cheerleader enthusiasm and porn star orgasmic — and it accompanies some of the simplest moves, like a sharp thrust of the hip. Sheer joy plays out in her Cupid's-bow lips as Torchy slowly plucks each finger of an elbow-length glove, then drags the satin garment off her arm and slaps it in the air to the beat of "New Orleans," which Elvis crooned for the black-and-white movie King Creole. Another look is conspiratorial, like when Torchy glances over a shoulder, her back to the crowd, as she slips down a shirtsleeve. ' Torchy's on Fi...

More Burlesque in the hometown of Burlesque Legend Dee Milo ! ' Since their inception last year, response to the Slippery Kittens has been phenomenal, including a November fund-raiser at Club Suede. Most interesting has been the audience it has drawn to their shows. “Over half our audience has been women coming to our shows,”Mona Moore says, “and the response to our shows has been extremely positive.” ' From the Salt Lake City Weekly . Photo Courtesy Slippery Kittens .

Click here for the video . I love it when she says, "I can't make myself a six foot tall supermodel frolicking on the beach in a bikini. But I can make myself into this!" Well, I couldn't make myself into Dita Von Teese , and not just because my style isn't the same. [moment of cheerful envy] But I do find her inspiring, and I'm always thrilled to see her in the news! Dita frolicking onstage at Tease-O-Rama , 2002. I found this news piece through Luke Littel's post in the Miss Exotic World Yahoo Group ADDED: Another great Dita interview , submitted by Laura Herbert.

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