Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

Our student showcase is tonight at DROM NYC! Headmistress Jo Weldon is in COVID quarantine, but Gigi Holliday is taking up the mic so the students will be in good hands! Tickets are at https://dromnyc.com/event/new-york-school-of-burlesque-2/ And if you're thinking about performing yourself, you can sign up for the next Act Development series now: http://schoolofburlesque.com/actdevelopment.shtml Below are a few pictures from Katherine Whitehead, who'se been our official NYSB photographer for 2022. Check back for more student photos and quotes! Above: Amanda Poise Above: Stiletto Sinclair. "This whole experience exceeded any of my wildest dreams and expectations and has only strengthened my desire to explore more of this beautiful world that is burlesque! Working with Kathryn was also a dream: she was very easy to communicate with and gave stunning images in a very timely manner. I can't wait to work with the NYSB and Kathryn again in t...

Above: Burlesque Performer Rosie Cheeks as many different characters. Rosie is also an excellent classic showgirl performer! When I'm teaching, I differentiate character and persona in a specific way that relates to the necessity for most burlesque performers to have a consistent stage name. Your stage name is for your persona. This is your general presentation. This presentation may have multiple variations -- you may do classic, comedy, horror, and political burlesque under this persona, but it's all under the same stage name. Your character is someone (or something) that you portray in that persona. For instance, if you do nerdlesque, you might have a Catwoman and a Fitzwilliam Darcy number; those are characters you portray under your stage name, so the producer is booking your persona (your stage name) to portray that character (the name of someone who isn't you). It could also be a character you've invented, like The Angry Milkman or The Passive Aggres...

Did you know that I coached Blair (Leighton Meester) for the Victor Victrola episode of the first season of Gossip Girl in 2007? while I was working with her and the director, we did lots of planning around the costume and the choreography. However, when her dress arrived for the shoot, it had an inset side zipper rather than the back zipper for which we had choreographed, and we had to figure out how to get it to drop to the floor as we wanted it to -- and get that shot! We decided to have her do the choreography without the zipper and break at the point where she would have unzipped, instead spending extra time focusing on the designers shoes that had been provided for the scene. Then, with cameras off, she removed the dress over her head, stepped back into it, and lifted it above her knees to let it drop in silky folds around her feet. The film was edited to make this look fluid. You can see the end result in the video above! Check out what Leightton Meester is up to now -...

Did you know that you can rent or purchase the streaming version of my fan dance workshop video program at any time to study in the privacy of your own home? It's designed to get you started with marabou fans, silk veil fans, and ostrich fans (the big feathered ones all the headliners use)! It's available at https://worlddancenewyork.com/products/silk-and-feathers The world Dance website also hosts my video programs in striptease, burlesque dance, and chair dance, so take a look at all the offerings!

Above: The poster for my 2019 birthday party show at Coney Island USA. Poster design by David L Byrd. I always encourage my students to produce their own burlesque shows! They make new friends in class and build new audiences at student showcases -- their fresh energy is just what burlesque needs to stay exciting and relevant. Here are a few tips to get you started. There are many, many ways to produce burlesque shows, so if you read this and disagree with it, at least it will have given you an idea of what you don't want to do! If you have questions about a particular type of show, please ask in the comments. Also feel free to share your experiences as a producer, performer, or venue if you have different expectations or preferences than I'm describing here. Before you even start producing, visualize and manifest your show. Make a poster for it, even if it's just a sketch on a pad. Make a private online or print vision board with pictures of how you want it to ...

It's Black History Month, and I want to start by acknowledging that Black History is simply history; but we need to pay special attention because so much of mmainstream history has been erased, minimized, or reframed to suit white supremacy. I'll be providing some resources for students who are curious about burlesque history, but have been reading older texts (including mine, I regret to say) that omit significant contributions by Black artists and entertainment businesspeople. First up, I want to celebrate the phenomenal work of Leslie Cunningham, a documentarian and author who produced Brown Skin Showgirls and Jig Show, as well as documentaries on other dazzling topics. From her website: "BROWN SKIN SHOWGIRLS is a black and white photographic collection of the Black and Cuban women who performed burlesque, exotic, rhumba, salsa, calypso, striptease and female impersonation on Leon Claxton's Harlem in Havana Revue. This book is guaranteed to expand your knowl...

Get ready for a fantastic roster of classes coming up in February! All of our instructors are accomplished burlesque artists! This month: Briq House, Gigi Holliday, The Maine Attraction, Miss Poison Ivory, Rosie Cheeks, and Headmistress Jo Weldon. All classes are in-person in NYC unless otherwise noted. All classes are suitable for all levels unless otherwise noted. Please share about these classes! We appreciate your support on social media and in word-of-mouth. Flirting With Burlesque Live Online Are you Burlesque-Curious? Get acquainted with our fancy performing art in this fun and friendly class, featuring simple moves that will get you into the burlesque groove! Essential Burlesque This series features four workshops, each focusing on a different mode of burlesque solo movement with props. Props include your own clothes, plus our chairs, feather fans, boas, gloves, and even tasseled pasties! Burlesque Improv and Choreogr...