Frankie Tease Blog

Jo Weldon photo by Scott Shuster This article was originally published in  Best of Frankie Tease Magazine Vol.2 , July 2013 My first chance to interview Jo Weldon was long awaited. When she announced a January trip to Vegas 2013, I knew I better pounce. Jo Weldon is busy. With a career spanning almost a couple decades in the art of strip tease and burlesque, Weldon has garnered peer respect, audience respect, and industry respect for what she does. She's been involved in the Burlesque Hall of Fame here in Vegas for many years, which is where I first met her in 2012. I remember thinking how down-to-earth she was, which was a pleasant surprise. Weldon is the first to ever write a book about how to do strip tease and burlesque called "The Burlesque Handbook". It was published in 2010 and covers everything from backstage etiquette, to crafting your own pasties. She was just voted number two on the annual "Top 50" in Burlesque at 21st Ce

Photo Credit: Scott Shuster As I entered the LVBC studio, I saw about 15 female students filling up the seats as New York City's Jo Weldon lectured. The topic they came to learn was two-fold. One: How to Be Prepared for Press, Producers, and Festival Applications was available during the first segment and Two: Striptease Expertise for the latter half which is billed as Weldon's signature class. An amazingly low rate of $30 was asked for the two classes combined, or $20 taken separately. The award-winning founder of the New York School of Burlesque, Weldon has written the first known 'how to' book on Burlesque entitled The Burlesque Handbook [HarperCollins/ItBooks 2010]. Widely recognized as a leading expert in today's modern world of Strip Tease and Burlesque, this is Weldon's first time teaching at any Vegas studio. The students were varied: young, old, tall, thin, heavy, casual, to fixed-up pin-ups, just proving Burlesque and Weldon's w