Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

If you want to learn the most basic twirl, here's where to begin! How to Twirl a Nipple Tassel (on wayback) You can do it! How to Twirl a Nipple Tassel 1. Purchase (or make, if you’re crafty) the right pasties. Flat pasties and pasties with lightweight or stiff or improperly attached tassels won’t twirl. You need conical pasties and nice silky swinging tassels. At first you may feel like a cross between a Fembot and the blow-up doll in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, but when you see what these sparkly puppies do for your profile, you’ll be one of us. 2. Use the right adhesive. Pasties have been known to fly off and away, and you can put an eye out with those things. The fastest and easiest adhesive is double-sided garment tape (or toupee tape, same thing), which you put on the pastie on the edge of the inside; then peel off the tape’s backing and press the pastie onto the desired location. Shake all over to see if it’s firmly attached, and then you’re ready for the main event...

A couple of weeks ago L Magazine approached me wanting someone to write a few tips on how to twirl tassels, and wanted to make a video to go with it. I immediately suggested teaching boys, and since no one on the magazine staff was ready for the learning experience, I recruited two of my dear and daring friends. They literally jumped at the opportunity. Read the entire article There are many other ways to twirl tassels, including many without bouncing! There's an entire chapter on tassel-twirling and how to make pasties in The Burlesque Handbook .

The 20 Year Anniversary of the movie "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" was just celebrated in Los Angeles with host Peaches Christ, who also hosted at Tease-O-Rama last year. Here's the infamous tassel-twirling sequence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTiGanOhKaQ Recommended by Lola Pistola of Alaska Brrr-lesque. When I was coaching Leighton Meester I showed her several film clips, and this was the only one she found totally useless. Since she wasn't going to twirl tassels or do 80s rap or dress like a vampiress, that made sense. But it's one of my faves. Check out Elvira's entire Las Vegas number, recreated by impersonator Cassandra Fever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Y9Q_HyIFw I wonder if Cassandra Fever will be appearing on The Search for the Next Elvira, Fox Network's upcoming reality show? Posted by Jo Weldon, Headmistress of The New York School of Burlesque , for burlesquedaily.blogspot.com .

I saw this when I was a kid and even though I was pretty repelled by Dustin Hoffman's character (I never liked him at any point in the movie) and felt sorry for both the mother and the daughter in the film, I have to admit the stripper left more of an impression on me than anything else about The Graduate. I am a very single-minded girl. Brought to my attention in the Burlesque Atlanta Blog .