Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

Hello Burlesquers! Whether you're creating your first number or your 50th, sometimes coming up with an idea you love is the hardest part of all. Often this comes from overthinking, so the exercise in this post can be helpful in reminding you that burlesque is supposed to be fun. After all, burlesque is, above all things, optional -- you don't have to do it at all! However, the beauty of it is that you get to come up with everything on your own: concept, music choice, costume assembly, and choreography. This is a fully independent art form you get to do solely for your own satisfaction. So if you're going to do it, it should be fun. For this exercise, take a notebook and write down the following: 1) Concept or theme 2) Music 3) Outermost layer of costume 4) Innermost layer of costume For instance: 1) Spring 2) Spring by Vivaldi 3) An earth colored robe with really long sleeves and flowered gloves that will start poking out 4) Flower pasties and a squirting...

Burlesque festivals are more popular than ever in 2024, and many times students ask me if it's too soon for them to go to a festival if they're new performers. It's never too soon! Festivals are a great way to discover performers, producers, and venues, and to meet new people. They are a concentrated networking opportunity that includes amazing shows and often with unique classes by headliners and locals. They’re usually expensive to travel to, but with this list you might be able to find some within driving distance, so you can get your first few festival experiences without a major investment. Remember to be yourself so you attract people who share your interests, instead of trying to impress people who intimidate you (and remember, sometimes getting intimidated by a person is something you do to yourself, not something they do to you – you are worthy of respect and having your art respected, at all times! Nobody is important enough to pander to or be insulted by). ...

The New York School of Burlesque is so excited and honored to have Alek Paliński as a guest author this month! With his 7 years of experience in burlesque, Alek has performed all over the world and contributed to the creation of many burlesque acts. He's worked with iconic burlesque performers, such as Dita Von Teese, Dirty Martini and Zelia Rose, to name a few. Enjoy Alek's comprehensive guide to filming your burlesque act for performance submissions. We get so many questions about this topic and this guide is just what performers need to put their best work forward when submitting for an audition or applying for a festival or gig. The world of burlesque continues to flourish, bringing more interest and a fresh wave of enthusiasm towards the art form. A new generation of performers combined with the post-pandemic reality in live entertainment makes it harder for the up-and-coming artists to book work. In-person auditions are increasingly rare. Video submissions have b...

Hello Burlesquers! I've been inspired to update my Burlesque Festival List, which includes dozens of festivals in the US and around the world, as well as links to social media accounts that keep their own lists so you'll always get the latest information. Check out my burlesque festival list now! Looking for tips on making your best impression when applying to burlesque festivals or other shows? Follow the instructions on the application and BE PREPARED! Photo: BurlyCon 2013 , by Don Spiro

Above: Jo Weldon performing at The Burlesque Hall of Fame. Photo by Tigz Rice. Many students come to my classes with the intention to perform professionally. Not all who want to perform want to become fulltime performers, but they'd like to get onstage now and then. I work in the field of what I call "Independent Burlesque," where most performers are creating individual acts that then get booked into variety or burlesque shows. People also sometimes hear about a theme for a show and then create an act based on that theme, or start producing a show for which they then create acts. There are as many different approaches as there are people to come up with them. However, for this article, let's focus on what most of my students are asking me about, which is how to get booked as a solo performer in a burlesque show that already exists. I'll also be focusing mostly on how things work in New York. Traveling to work is a separate topic, but I'll have an article...

Above: Miss Poison Ivory winning the Burlesque Hall of Fame pageant, 2016. Photo by Don Spiro. Image via burlesquehall.com. BY JO WELDON NOVEMBER 19, 2014 This article was originally published at https://21stcenturyburlesque.com/12-tips-supporting-friends-burlesque-competitions-jo-weldon/ In the world of burlesque, ballyhoo is part of the fun. Taglines and titles pique the audience’s curiousity and make for vivid introductions by emcees. Pageants and competitions offer opportunities to make things up and then invent value for them. It should always be in a spirit of fun, but of course it can get much more complicated than that. In a spirit of support and compassion for competitors, I’d like to offer the following suggestions for being a good friend to someone who is participating. You know your friends best, and some of these suggestions might not work for everyone, but I hope they help friends of competitors think about the best ways to be supportive. 1. Feel free to pampe...