Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

The Burlesque Handbook has been out since June, and people have been very kind in their reception of it. Interestingly, one of the chapters the more experienced performers have told me they appreciate has been Chapter 10, "Backstage Etiquette: How to Win Naked Friends and Influence Nude People." In this chapter I discuss how to get involved in the burlesque community, how to get booked to perform, and how to behave if you want to get booked more than once. The following excerpt is from that chapter. 1. Ask before you take pictures, and be genuinely willing to not take them. People who don’t mind being photographed doing all kinds of wild things onstage may not want to be photographed checking the crotch of their underwear for clitty litter. Or they may wish to be photographed only by professionals. This is not necessarily uptight of them. There are a lot of issues around photography and burlesque. And for god’s sake, if you post a photo online and someone asks you to take ...

At the end of the Festival, all the performers were called onstage for a curtain call. I took my camera with me. Diamondback Annie in the midst of the crowd of performers onstage. The mostly unsuspecting audience. The photographers when my name is called. Me onstage. Photo by Little Brooklyn. NYBF Website

Set List Delirium Tremens Tigger Miss Saturn

Most performers have cameras in their bags, same as anybody else, and they capture some rare moments (hardly any work-safe). I'll be sharing plenty of my backstage shots here, but I want to share a few from other performers as well. If you've got some great backstage shots you can share, let me know! Nasty's Knees at Pinchbottom Burlesque . Photo by Jo Weldon. Nasty Canasta takes a lot of fun pictures backstage. She's a stylish,creative wench who sews, knits, and makes giant cereal boxes. Her photos reflect her constant search for an additional point of view from which to be entertained. I particularly love her "knees" series. I'm kinky that way. But trust me, even if knees aren't your thing, you should check out her flickr page . Jonny Porkpie , Jo Boobs , Amber Ray , Veronika Sweet Creamy Stevens Scarlet Sinclair Harvest Moon Peekaboo Pointe and Anita Cookie Little Brooklyn

These are photos I took backstage at the Heavens in Seattle, right before I left for the Sex Workers' Art Show tour. Pictured: Lily Verlaine at the dressing table, Dirty Martini's dressing table space, Lily wearing pasties molded from the nipples of Paula the Swedish Housewife with Paula in the background, and Indigo doing her makeup. http://www.myspace.com/lilyverlaine http://www.missindigoblue.com/ http://www.swedishhousewife.com/ http://www.missdirtymartini.com/ More backstage photos by Jo Weldon