Learning burlesque: Mainstreaming the art of the tease
By Sandra Larriva and Mathilde Piard

After hearing that she might have breast cancer, Cyndi Freeman started taking burlesque classes. Her doctor told her she might want to consider a double mastectomy and removal of her ovaries.

“My reaction to that was to decide ‘I’m doing burlesque… We're going to celebrate this body while I have it,’” she said.

As it turned out, she did not have cancer, but instead a benign cyst. But the episode left her with a new livelihood.

Freeman, who uses the stage name Cherry Pitz, is one of a growing number of women who have entered the world of burlesque. Participants say that burlesque welcomes all body types and helps women improve their body images and feel sexy.  While burlesque as a performance art has been on the rise for several years, the increasing demand for classes is a much more recent development.

“Burlesque is being taught everywhere from academia to dance classes, from bachelorette parties to corporate-sponsored events,” said Dr. Lynn Sally, a burlesque historian and professor at New York University.

Burlesque, which dates to the 19th century, is usually associated with comedy, dance, music, and stripping. In the words of Sally, old and new, is “a parody of culture.”  The neo-burlesque movement, she says, “began as an alternative live performance genre that addresses issues of sexuality, politics, and gender by utilizing the sensibilities of camp, humor, and glamour.”

Dulce de Leche, 35, works in communications for a financial services company by day and as a stage assistant for a burlesque show by night. She took classes with Victoria Libertore at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange.

Della Dare, 37, is a student at the School of Burlesque one of New York’s most popular, and works in publishing. In burlesque she finds an environment that accepts her as a “plus size woman.” Her first performance will take place at the Slipper Room, New York’s oldest burlesque venue, in a few weeks. 

Despite burlesque’s rising popularity, both women feel that their jobs could be jeopardized if their employers knew they perform burlesque and would therefore prefer to go by their stage names.

Jo Weldon, founder of the School of Burlesque, said she was overwhelmed by the growing demand for classes. She will be adding two new courses this month. Her “classic moves” class, in which students learn skills such as glove peeling and tassel twirling, are usually booked several weeks in advance.

Pinup model Dita Von Teese, who is often credited for playing a role in the revival of burlesque, talks about putting “the 'tease' back into striptease.” And many burlesque classes do incorporate the art of the tease.

Weldon offers a “gorgeous moves” class every Sunday afternoon, where she focuses on hip and shoulder movements and sexy walks, and also occasionally invites guest burlesque performers to teach fan-dancing, chair-dancing, boa play, lap dance and striptease.

Angie Pontani, for example, teaches go-go dancing and Dirty Martini, who has an MFA in Dance, teaches stage presence. Both women are well-known burlesque performers.