Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

Click the immage above to read about Cyd Charisse at lovegoddess.com. If anybody ever set a standard for the way a glamourous dancer should walk across the stage, it was Cyd Charisse. I first became really conscious of Cyd Charisse when I was in high school because my best friend's mother, Carol Richards, did Cyd's vocals in Brigadoon, and then my best friend performed in our school's production of Brigadoon. I remember my friend (who had her mother's singing ability and regularly blew me away with her talent and her genius) moving like a hurricane in a dance scene, and thinking, "Oh, that's so for me!" The dancing I felt I could get near; the singing, most definitely not (as those who saw me play and sing Black Dog at Houses of the Unholy can attest). There was no youtube then, and I really had to bust my buns to get my eyes on more of Cyd's performances, but when I did, this is what I saw: Cyd Charisse was not a burlesque dancer, but the c...

While there is no doubt that the first half of the 20th century was the golden age of striptease burlesque, and that's the era I have the deepest appreciation for, I have a sneaky little passion for the late 1960s. It could be because that's about the time I was old enough to perceive glamour and aspire to it. I had an amazing Barbie doll--a Stacie, actually--that looked like Marilyn Monroe with quite the bouff. One of the movies that influenced my taste in glamourous women was the 1967 version of Casino Royale , for instance. Natalie Wood with what I consider a small but significant bouff: Ann-Margret, always a worthy idol, in "The Swinger": One of my all-time favorites (sadly, not embeddable, but not to be missed, and yes I've ordered a boa like that and a wig like that, I'm such a drag queen): The Silencers For more on the style my next number will be tributing, visit this amazing site: Beauty and the Bouffant A little style from flickr.com; ...