LEGENDS OF BURLESQUE

Over the last century, vaudeville’s naughtier cousin, burlesque, has become a truly American art form, full of irreverence and dynamism. Though considered a sultry and bawdy form of entertainment, by the 1950s it was practically mainstream, especially in New Orleans with its main entertainment strip lined with nightclubs featuring both national and local dancers. Through memoirs and interviews, Historic New Orleans Collection curator Nina Bozak remembers some of these dancers in their own words from memoirs and interviews and through images of their signature acts. Hear about Blaze Starr’s first time on stage as a stripper, the lesson Kalantan learned from Lili St. Cyr, and the connection between Rita Alexander and New Orleans legendary drummer Smokey Johnson. See a photographic series of Stormy Lawrence’s signature number and watch Sally Rand’s famous Bubble Dance. And be titillated by a special performance by one of New Orleans’s current burlesque legends, Bella Blue!
This event is sponsored by The Ethel and Herman L. Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies.