Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

Above: Me stripping out of a red stocking at the Toronto Burlesque Festival. I am incredibly passionate about striptease and the opportunties it provides and the demands it puts upon a performer. I believe that it is a sensational and radical way to think about communicating to viewers that can inform the stripteaser's self-presentation onstage and off. I think the combination of mischief and glamour with the earthiness of sensuality is a step forward in the evolution of self-realization and the acceptance of shamelessly individualized (as opposed to state-regulated) sexuality. I could (and at some point will) got on for hundreds of pages about this. I'm so serious about this kind of fun! One of my favorite classes to teach is Striptease Expertise. Below is the content of the handout I share in the class, a set of tips that serve as reminders for the theories and techniques we explore as a group. It is not the full content of the class, just bullet points of key concepts. St...

When The Burlesque Handbook was first published, I did a series of burlesque tips articles for various beauty and lifestyle magazines. It was a lovely challenge to try to make what I know about performing useful to people who may not be going onstage. MSN did a gallery of photos with ten tips. Check it out! From the article: Build Tension Weldon says: "Burlesque performers know that just standing still and breathing can build anticipation in the audience once they've established that they're prepared to entertain them. Be willing to be still for a few moments and let your partner drink you in." You can read the rest of it on MSN.com!

As if body language wasn't enough, Gypsy Rose Lee and Sally Rand were both delightful speakers, clever and quick and shameless. It's sometimes hard to explain why a particular stripteaser or fan dancer is so enchanting when what they actually do is not unique. For me, a huge part of the beauty and importance of a number is not a skill set--perfect dance timing is more important for the chorus than the lead, and virtuousity can become monotonous to watch. But personality is the singular force that drives a great entertainer, and it's vividly portrayed in both of these clips. Enjoy! Gypsy Rose Lee Sally Rand

I can't believe I hadn't seen this book until recently! A friend posted it on my FB page and I immediately hunted it down, found it at Powell's Books, and snapped it up. Published by Simon and Schuster on their Parallax imprint in 1967, this neat little book breezes through basic principles of striptease in about 50 pages. (Though 80 pages long, the last 30 pages are devoted to beauty.) It's a great way for beginners to grasp that striptease is process of intention and presentation worthy of mastery. It's adorable, and it reminded me that a lot of the principles of striptease I teach are actually universal. The more I teach, the more I find that I describe steps and principles the way I do not because I'm inventive, but because I'm observant, and that other burlesque instructors observe and teach some of the same things. It's very reassuring! For instance, I often point out to my students that the Stripteaser, as a category of performe...

I'm doing a Top Five Friday today! These are the top five stocking peels on my mind this week. I'm including one of my own so that my self interest is really blatant and that my self-serving ways will provoke you to include your own in the comments! Inga Ingenue at Viva Las Vegas, coming to a slinky soft tragic end: Midnite Martini does a toe-tally devastating peel: April O'Peel makes the bench her bitch: Dita Von Teese gets naughty on national television: Me, getting down: My striptease video includes tips on how to make the stockings cling to your toes and how to slide them off without catching them in your knee joint, among other things: You can buy this DVD here . You can read about how to buy stockings in my article, Stalking the Stocking . Julie Atlas Muz, in a routine sadly missing from youtube, does a number in which she comes out dressed as a cop, strips to lingerie, pulls her stockings from her toes directly onto ...

To me, a tease is not fully realized without an eventual reveal. I have to do it all the time, to do demonstrations for morning shows and in bookstores, to show techniques and the flavor of a burlesque striptease, without getting kicked out; but that's not in a SHOW. But I don't think it's much of a tribute to the history of ladies who really did strip to refuse to go as far as they did. To me, striptease is the element that was left behind when mid-twentieth-century burlesque circuits shut down. Their variety performers had the option to move into radio, film, television, etc., while strippers were left behind or quarantined into the sex industry. And pasties and g-strings, after all, are some of the most unique elements of burlesque costuming, so it's a shame to not employ them and then end up wearing something that could be worn in any old venue. And for me personally, the idea of casting myself as "ladylike," or as anything other than a stripper, is repugn...

"Iceland's parliament has voted to ban striptease shows, making it an offence for any business to profit from the nudity of its employees." Iceland gives stripping the cold shoulder "Kolbrun Halldorsdottir, a former lawmaker who was the first to propose the legislation, told broadcaster RUV on Wednesday that "it is not acceptable that women, or people in general, are a product to be sold." " Me in the Sex Workers' Art Show at Mo Pitkins, demonstrating my tip jar shoes. Photo by Gerry Visco. I hate it when people say stripping or any other kind of sex work is "selling your body." When I was touring with the Sex Workers' Art Show , I did a call and response piece in which I brought up an audience member to read off of cards things customers in strip joints said to me, and I would fire off my stock response. For instance: Customer: Don't you feel bad about selling your body? Me: I don't sell it. I take it home very night. ...

A Pictorial History of Striptease: 100 Years of Undressing to Music By Richard Wortley, 1976 Click images to view larger. I am a huge fan of striptease--not just burlesque striptease as it developed on the burlesque circuit in the mid-twentieth century, but all striptease, stripping, and exotic dance. It's my favorite, favorite thing. In the title of this book, Richard Wortly defines striptease as "Undressing to Music," and while he certainly shows what that can look like, he also shows a parade of other public representations of creatively unclothed women. While this isn't the strongest resource for burlesque research, it's a very entertaining look at women undressing, or simply appearing undressed, in glamourous and playful ways. I love this book and have given it to other students of burlesque (I consider myself a student as well as a teacher) who have already seen books more familiar to burlesque aficianados. It's a fun addition to a stripteas...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRHFIVJtqpc I love the shoe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPZwNZGKDkM Sent to me by Lady Monster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m76uV2rK8KY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwNEnh9uaM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjqkddFrY8Q Jill St John stripping out of a tiger outfit in The Oscar , 1966. Above: Another image posted in an effort to get you to visit Cool Cinema Trash .

Ann-Margret doing some fierce boa work in The Swinger . Above: Image from coolcinematrash.com.

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...