Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8nSyxbTuek Jennie on Java's Bachelor Pad

I'm a terrible blogger lately, I know. I've been facebooking, if you like, and twittering, but not blogging. I'm sure I'll return, as I'm hoarding some delicious interviews, but for now, if you want to find me on facebook or twitter, search for Jo Weldon. Last week I performed a burlesque number at the first-ever US Pole Dancing Championship , as a guest not as a competitor--I love pole dancing, but I have no skill. Because it was a crowd unfamiliar with burlesque, I used music I thought would strike a familiar note, including a version of Hubcaps and Taillights, as heard in this clip at about 4.30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20AABW0I0LA This movie came out the year before I was born, and when I saw it as a child struck me in so many ways. I wasn't sufficiently amused by the line "Do you think she's talented?" until much later, when I was stripping for a living, during a particular era in strip joints between burlesque and pole dancing.

I have been extremely lucky to work with some of the best musicians in burlesque. I've been performing, or at least dancing, to live music all my life, including one glorious night with Spinal Tap, but most of the time I was just dancing along to the music. In burlesque with live music, there's real collaboration. The dancers rehearse their numbers with the bands, and the musicians watch the dancers to see if they need to give them a drum hit when a glove drops to the floor, if the music needs to be sped up or slowed down, or if they need to repeat a form until the dancer is ready to finish her number. In New York we have live music at the Slipper Room every Wednesday night with amazing musicians including Brian Fisherman, with whom I've been performing for over 10 years, Le Scandal has featured The New York City Blues Devils and the Le Scandal Orchestra, Big Apple Burlesque features a live band every week, Brian Newman produces a burlesque show with his trio at Duane Park...

Above: Michelle Baldwin at the New York Burlesque Festival. Photo by me. "For the first time since the 1930's a theatre is being built specifically to house burlesque, headed up by Reyna Von Vett of last fall's acclaimed Leadville or Bust-- a playful romp through 1880's burlesque (Reyna played Tanya for 2 years in the Las Vegas company of Mamma Mia!) and Michelle Baldwin, a.k.a. Vivienne VaVoom, the Mother of Neo-Burlesque in Denver and creator of one of the first neo-burlesque troupes in the U.S., Burlesque As It Was. Converting the space recently known as the Black Box Cabaret in the Denver Civic Theatre ( 721 Santa Fe Dr. , Denver ), Von Vett and Baldwin aim to bring burlesque back while playing homage to the great tradition of burlesque that began in the late 1800's and all but disappeared in the 1960's." Burlesque Theatre Opens 3/13 At The Denver Civic Theater Michelle Baldwin is the author of Burlesque and the New Bump N Grind," which is the ...

Click here to purchase. I love love the company I worked with, World Dance New York. I also love that they are primarily a bellydance company, because there's some historical synchronicity: the company that released Ann Corio's "How to Strip for Your Husband" was also produced bellydance music, and at one point released Ann's album as part of a set with a bellydance how-to album. The music on "How to Strip..." was mostly by Sonny Lester and is a large portion of the music on the ubiquitous "Striptease Classics." The music on my DVD is by Ronnie Magri . I'll be posting my interview with him shortly. Ronnie is AMAZING!

Check out Lili’s Burlesque Revue (one of my fave faves) on the Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern." We can’t be sure how many of our little vignettes made it into the show, but we hope you’ll get to see Nadine Dubois, Sweetpea, Ophelia Flame, and Gina Louise. We had a great time shooting it, and the show itself is always… well, bizarre! Episode: "SEXY FOOD" Tuesday, Feb 10 & Saturday, Feb 14 9pm Central Travel Channel

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