Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

I recently got into a discussion about pornography on another website, unfortunately, and while I just don't have time I used to have to get into those debates, I did do a little research to see if I could find any of my old porn debate articles to which to refer. I got distracted from my search by another writer's article on striptease: "I have argued that the female nude as she is represented in high art, is only rendered legitimate due to her framed nature. I have echoed the sentiments of Bourdieu and claimed that there is no objective basis on which to condemn objects of art or artistic expressions, which involve sensuous appeal. Part of my defence of striptease has been recognition of the activity as a legitimate form of artistic expression. Moreover, I have suggested that if a Marxist account of art is allowed, there are grounds for defending the notion that the art of striptease is good art on the basis that it might assist in the development and realisation of fe...

True Confessions of a Pick-Up Artist! Beginning burlesque performer Fleur de Lis talks about what it takes to help burlesque performers keep track of their unmentionables. What does a pickup artist/stage kitten do? It's pretty simple. You basically show up looking cute and help out the producer, emcee, and dancers. You introduce yourself to each dancer and find out if they have any special needs for their act such as props that need to be set or special pieces to look for. After they come off the stage you pick up all of their costume elements from the stage. You may have some time to interact with the emcee but mostly you just want to make sure that the dancers don't have anything to worry about except what they do on stage. It's not a difficult job but an important one and if you do it right they will call you back. How did you come to be a pickup artist? I came to NYC a year ago this week from New Orleans. I had lost a whole lot in the storm and spent a yea...