[:Risky Business:]

A history lesson for you folks today but first -- I send my deepest apologies for the disappointing flow of content. I've been in a bit of a rut inside and out and just trying to live and breathe and be. But now, now my fingers feel nimble and frisky they tappa tappa on this here keyboard to bring to YOU [whomever you may be] a history lesson.

The art of BURLESQUE landed upon America's lap in the late 1860's by a troupe called Lydia Thompson and her British Blondes. The British troupe spoofed traditional theatrical productions and did a lot of exciting things like gender role reversal portrayal and prancing around in skimpy lil' costumes.

Since then, it has taken on the characteristics of vaudeville, comedy, cabaret and striptease to evolve into the wackyness it is today.

The mid 1990s birthed the burlesque revival! Led by bad mama jamas Ami Goodheart [NY] and Michelle Carr [LA], troupes across the country began incorporating burlesque aesthetics into their performances.

TODAY -- we've got folks like the Indigo, Yard Dogs Road Show and Tease-o-Rama mixing things up with their curation of complex/dynamic performing environments/vibrations. Moreover, they focus on the comedy, the tease and the aesthetic as opposed to the strip...so to speak.

Well...all this to say -

LISTEN MOFOS...BURLESQUE DANCERS/GO-GO DANCERS AREN'T SEX WORKERS!!!!
[well, maybe some are - but that's only because their parents have wronged them...]
It's an art. Don't get it twisted.

anyway, there are artists out there who are constantly trying to tweak and grow this American folk art -- and know what? -- they're being bombarded with ultimatums and sexy propositions. A few dumb ones accept to get the gig and it spreads like wildfire.

It is YOUR social responsibility as an artist to set the standards within your industry. You can't ask for change unless you start changing your responses...even if it means being poor and without gigs...
Skanks.

<*sigh* the plight of the artist...>