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Burlesque

Photography

Revealing Photos of Burlesque Stars Nude and in Costume [NSFW]

By Judy Berman on

As any burlesque performer will tell you, the art of striptease is about more than just getting naked. It’s about drama and glamor and imagination. That’s just what Brooklyn-based photographer Van Sarki suggests in his series, Burlesque Compére, which places nude and costumed photos of burlesque stars (many of whom fans of the form are sure to recognize) side by side, juxtaposing the vulnerability of nakedness with the flamboyance of… Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we found out what our burlesque name was. We were glad “goat man” doesn’t really exist. We met our hipster dream date and visited the Hipster Olympics in Berlin. We used Selena Gomez’s 20th birthday to predict her entire career arc. We saw… Read More

Photography

Charming Backstage Photos of Modern Vienna Burlesque

By Marina Galperina on

Alright, we fess up. We have a curiosity for burlesque, from its deep past to today’s enduring traditions. Pile on the lashes, rev up those tassels, and get glittered up to shimmy, ladies! Here’s a recent good-looking set from photographer George Papadopoulos on Behance, shot in Vienna, backstage, just before a burlesque show. It’s glossy, vibrant, very casual, and a little coy. There’s something about the meticulous costuming that gives the most random of changing rooms a certain opulent flair, isn’t there? Sneak backstage with the gallery below.  … Read More

Photography

Delightful Vintage Burlesque and Vaudeville Photos

By Marina Galperina on

Did your aunt spend her youth doing acrobatics mid-air on a ’30s vaudeville stage or flouncing feathers in a 20′s German cabaret? Was your granddad in a circus troupe? Are you in a possession of a rare promotional Moulin Rouge photograph? We’ve been digging through portraits of these glamorous dancers, saucy damsels in tinsel, and troupes of sisters, and we’re a little jealous. So, if your family album is quite a bit more exciting than average, head to the Vintage Vaudeville & Burlesque Images Flickr pool or our comment section and brag. Here are a few highlights. … Read More

Design

Bizarre and Surreal Turn-of-the-Century Burlesque Posters

By Judy Berman on

You may have assumed that burlesque didn’t get weird until the past decade or so, when a new wave of revivalists adopted a postmodern approach to the art form, combining striptease with everything from the oeuvre of Joss Whedon to science. Well, if this selection of posters from the 1890s are any indication, burlesque has always been strange. One of the specimens below, which we discovered via Retronaut, finds a lady dancing on the table with a fairly large lobster. Another particularly sadistic image shows a leotard-clad burlesque performer hanging from her ankles and being dipped in the water as a motley crew of men chuckle at her expense. “The Beautiful Indian Maidens,” meanwhile, is a somewhat horrifying colonialist artifact — and we’re not even going to touch the one about the “latest New York craze, slumming.” If what you see strikes your fancy (or inspires some morbid curiosity), there are a whole lot more where these came from: the Library of Congress. … Read More

Film

The 10 Campiest Film Duos of All Time

By Margaret Eby on

Last Friday, our dreams finally came true: Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah’s Sister Act-meets-Save the Last Dance movie, Joyful Noise, debuted, combining two of our favorite over-the-top personalities in one giant festival of gospel, beat-boxing, and oddly close-fitting choir robes. It’s by far the campiest movie offering of the still young year, and it got us thinking about our favorite movie duos that are, to quote John Waters’ definition of “camp” from The Simpsons, “tragically ludicrous or ludicrously tragic.” Check out our picks for film’s ten most gloriously campy duos after the jump. … Read More

Photography

Saucy Behind-the-Scenes Burlesque Photos

By Alison Nastasi on

Sticky salmon pink counters littered with well-worn pastie tassels and cheap plastic cups. Crumpled dollar bills on a scarred, wood stage. A babe in a Bay Ridge living room complete with grandma furnishings. Nicky Devine’s photos of burlesque dancers opt for a behind the scenes look at the bawdy art form instead of the polished presentation we’re used to seeing shake it in the spotlights. Her images capture the drama of cabaret performance, sharing with viewers what happens before and after the curtain drops. Sometimes it’s electric anticipation, and other times your feet just hurt like hell. Hit the jump for more Devine burlesque. … Read More

Photography

Fascinating Photos of 19th Century Vaudeville and Burlesque Performers

By Caroline Stanley on

Earlier today, our friends over at Coudal Partners tipped us off to an amazing batch of vintage photos from the Charles H. McCaghy Collection of Exotic Dance from Burlesque to Clubs on Flickr, and we’ve been poring over the images ever since. Housed at Ohio State’s Lawrence & Lee Theatre Research Institute, McCaghy’s expansive collection contains a wide variety of materials related to striptease research and memorabilia, spanning from the mid-19th century to the present day — quite the treasure trove, if you’re a fan of burlesque. Whether you’re looking for some over-the-top sartorial inspiration, a little early afternoon titillation, or proof of how standards of beauty are always evolving, we’re pretty sure that you’ll find it thanks to the lovely ladies after the jump. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Facebook can hunt down your face in any photo now, and the company says that you should consider it a privacy enhancement as getting tagged will alert you to “a photo of you on the Internet that you didn’t know about… you can remove the tag, or you… can write the person and say,… Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Caroline Stanley on

Today at Flavorpill, enjoyed Slate’s history of stuttering in the movies, which was inspired by The King’s Speech. We met the 10 weirdest new animals of 2010. We were inspired by RuPaul’s ability to play both Cher and Christina in this Burlesque-inspired holiday card. We learned that the color… Read More