2013-08-03 RIP Dixie Evans, the Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque

Dixie Evans, The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, press photo.

Dixie Evans, The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, passed away yesterday morning, she was 86.  Dixie was an amazing burlesque performer and performed Marilyn Monroe tribute routines due to her very similar look.  However, even though her career as a headliner was very impressive, what she did in her retirement would inspire generations of performers.

After Jennie Lee's passing, Dixie took over the Goat Farm and created the Miss Exotic World competition which would later become the Burlesque Hall of Fame.  The museum, the legend shows and panels, classes and sense of family that these events have brought to the burlesque community through out the world is because of Dixie.  I have learned more about the history of burlesque by sitting in panels, drinking at bars, and just being around the amazing legends that this weekend draws each year.

Myself, Dixie Evans, Talloolah Love and Siren Santina at BHoF 2008.

Dixie, herself, was a petite woman who was a class act all the way.  She was gracious whenever she met anyone, always willing to pose for a picture.  She wanted to meet everyone and was always encouraging newer performers to express themselves and make their act their own burlesque.  Dixie loved burlesque and the fact that it was evolving into something new, a cross between the classic elements and the influence of modern times.  I encourage everyone to read Jo Weldon Interviews Dixie Evans.  It is an amazing article from how she got into burlesque, becoming the Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque and the evolution of the Museum.

Thanks to Dixie keeping the art alive and available to future generations I will always know exactly where I was when I heard the news, I was at the Syrens of the South 6 year anniversary show.  The show I produce has been running for 6 years, it can now go to kindergarten.  With out Dixie's inspiration and love of burlesque we may never have even known about burlesque.  Burlesque has given me some of my most amazing memories, stories I will definitely be repeating while I'm in the old folks home, and friendships that will last a life time.  It is this amazing part of my existence and I have Dixie Evans to thank for that.

When Dixie suffered her stroke a few months ago the entire burlesque community came together from around the world to create Dixie Evans Week.  Syrens of the South's show is scheduled for August 27th at The Shelter in Atlanta.  We will still be doing that show in her honor because that's what she would have wanted.  There is discussion of having a legend's fund to help the burlesque legends with medical bills and such or it will be donated to the Burlesque Hall of Fame to keep her dream and what she started alive.

On a side not, Marilyn Monroe passed away on August 5, 1962.  Dixie Evans, the Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, passed away on August 3, 2013 during Marilyn Memorial Weekend.  We got an addition 51 years of Dixie.  I know it's just a coincidence, but I prefer to think of it as dedication to her art, she stayed in character until the end because that's what class acts do!  We love you Dixie!

2011-08-09 New York School of Burlesque in Atlanta

One of my greatest joys as a producer is to help bring out of town talent and shows to Atlanta.  The icing on the cake is when we can also schedule some time to teach a class as well, the cherry on top is when the teachers are from the world renowned New York School of Burlesque!  Jo "Boobs" Weldon, who literally wrote the book on burlesque, took the show girl on the road while touring with Jonny Porkpie during his Grab My Junk Tour and we were lucky enough to be able to schedule them some teaching time at Spinarella Pole/Dance/Fitness the day before they performed.

Jo taught Philosophy of the Tease.  She went over the history of the striptease, pointing out that as it's only around 100 years old it's just a baby as far as art forms go.  From how to connect with your audience to going over ways to enhance your strip, she took everyone on a journey to being a better burlesque performer, regardless of skill level.  Even after almost 10 years of burlesque and nearly 20 years of dance I still learned a lot from this class.  At the end of the lecture she showed the class a few basic moves  that everyone got to try out and then we played "Stump the Stripper" as she called it. She answered questions as to how to take off every day items brought by the students.  She discussed side zippers, t-shirts, talked a student through the best way to flirt with a hat before removing it and as a bonus showed her what effect it has on the audience when she does something as simple as taking off her earrings.  Closing out her class was how to take off a corset with both grace and sex appeal.  I don't know if you've ever worn a corset, but the class was afraid to blink least they miss something on how to remove this antiquated piece of lingerie that's become a fetish staple.  If you missed the class Jo recommended her DVD Striptease for Burlesque, as it goes over many of the concepts she went over in class as well as many other articles of clothing she wasn't able to go over in class due to time constraints.

The next class was The Arc of the Tease with Jonny Porkpie.  I was so excited that he was going to teach this class as I missed it when he taught it at Southern Fried Burlesque Fest this past March.  Jonny, having an extensive theater background, tackles burlesque numbers as a director would a full play.  In this class he had all of us come up with an idea for a number regardless of how insane, out there or impossible the idea was.  We all then went through and came up with the arc of the story and how it would be incorporated as being part of a strip tease.  Sadly I don't always work super well under pressure so I ended up using an idea that I had come up with but had not flushed out in any way shape or form.  By the end of the class I had the whole act figured out on my worksheet and a great tool for putting together future numbers as well.  Many in the class have never taken a burlesque class before, let alone ever performed, and watching them come up with some AMAZING ideas that I hope to see in future student showcases.  There's something amazing about watching that light click on that they can do this and that coming up with a burlesque routine isn't nearly as hard as they thought it was going to be.

Over all it was an amazing evening of classes and it once again proved to me that you can never take too many classes.  It doesn't matter how long you've been doing it, there's always a new way of looking at things. Recently I was asked by Talloolah Love for a quote about the importance of taking classes and here's what I sent to her:

"One of the things I love about burlesque is that anyone can do it; but as with anything, the more you practice the better you'll be.  I always recommend taking classes whenever you can because you will always learn something new. There really is no one way to do anything and someone else may have figured out a way that works better for you. I've been performing burlesque for almost 10 years and teaching for almost five; on top of that I have over 20 years of theater and dance training; and yet I still learn something new in every class I take."

-Katherine 'Lashe" Neslund
www.katherinelashe.com
Producer and Teacher

Syrens of the South Productions

www.syrensofthesouth.com
08/01/2011

The Burlesque Handbook by Jo Weldon

The Burlesque Handbook by Jo Weldon was released June 1, 2010, just in time for the 20th Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend in Las Vegas.  However, this book is is a culmination of her years of experience of teaching, studying and her love affair with burlesque.  An earlier version of this book used to be sold as a .pdf from The New York School of Burlesque, of which she is the head mistress, but this has been edited and streamlined to the most comprehensive burlesque beginners guide available.  The Burlesque Handbook is the equivalent of finding the missing link!  For years there has been a gap between a complete lack of knowledge about burlesque and specialized books that go in depth about one particular aspect; be it history, the neo-burlesque revival or costuming, this is the first book that gives you everything you need to know to get started or just have a better comprehension with out having to spend weeks reading fifty individual books.

The book itself is very simple to comprehend with out the feeling of being talked down to and makes you feel like you're having a casual chat over coffee rather then reading a text book.  It goes over a history of burlesque as well as  the author's personal history; basic movements complete with easy to lean routines; pastie making and other costuming; hair and make-up; how to pick a song, stage name and how to create a character; as well as basic business advice to get started!  I think one of my favorite parts of the book is actually the worksheets in the back that help you figure out things like inspiration, name character, music, costume, reveal and even how to critique each other.  If you have no one else to talk to about burlesque the worksheets in the back are a great way to get that second opinion with out the second person.  I really feel that this book makes burlesque accessible to people in areas that may not have classes or local burlesque shows to go see.

I do feel that I should point out my personal history with the author, less I be accused of writing a good review just because she's my friend.  Though honestly, if you know me, you would know that I'm not that kind of person, I have written unflattering reviews about friends before.

Once upon a time, when I very first started doing burlesque regularly, Atlanta legend Torchy Taboo asked me if I wanted to be in a show she was putting together.  Of course I said yes because she'd always been so awesome to me and I was really flattered that she'd asked me.  The show was The Princess and the PBR which was part of Jo Boobs and Torchy Taboo's Travelling Charm School at The Earl in Atlanta.  I knew very little about burlesque but already knew about Jo and her School of Burlesque in New York.  It was such an honor to be in a show with her and Torchy, and then Torchy volunteered me to play the straight man in a skit that Jo had about things she had been asked when she worked at the strip clubs.  It was awesome to be on stage with her and get to be a part of my first burlesque skit.  It was a lot of fun and I was so grateful that I got to be a part of such and amazing show so early in my career.

A few years later I was off to my first Miss Exotic World Weekend (now Burlesque Hall of Fame) and performing in one of the show cases.  I was nervous as hell and Jo let me rub her butt for luck, after that I was pretty much hooked.  Since then she has been an inspiration and a font of knowledge for me.  She proofed the first history of burlesque speech I gave at DragonCon, has always answered every inane question I have ever asked her since I started teaching and never once made me feel bad or stupid for asking.  She has always been a patient and amazing teacher an this book is a beautiful extension of her teaching skills.