Tease N' Tell: A Seminar on the Body Politics of Burlesque
I'm tickled pink to see exemplars of burlesque taken up as an object of academic inquiry. Scholarly investigations of performance are so overwhelmingly confined to the sort that occurs within the legitimizing walls of the white cube/black box that it's a marvel to see them venturing out into the smoke-filled nightclub parlor and back alley burlesque house.
From the website: "From the seedy Blue Angel Cabaret to the CWTV’s Gossip Girl, in the past decade burlesque has infiltrated the mainstream yet manages to remain a transgressive art form. While it flirts with popularity burlesque at its best does not compromise its subversive origins, erotic themes, and defiant ideals. It naturally lends itself to promoting queer philosophy and values without necessarily calling attention to its inherent queerness.
Contemporary burlesque, often known as neo burlesque, borrows from various genres including dance, drag, performance art, theatre, and, of course, traditional burlesque. It is a hybrid art form that mixes traditions, flaunts rules and standardizations in order to remain provocatively entertaining.
The seminars will invite some of the leading neo burlesque performers in New York to perform as well as provide the theoretical and historical context for their work. The seminar participants will have the opportunity to read about, observe, and engage with this unique form of performance art that advances the artistic expression by constantly challenging the political and cultural authorities.
THE CENTER for LESBIAN & GAY STUDIES (CLAGS)- Seminars in the City | Wednesday 2/4 | 6-8 PM | Room 410 | The LGBT Center | 208 West 13th Street / New York, NY 10011 | Seminar Facilitator: Jasmina Sinanovic. Presenter: Dr. Lukki, performer, producer and educator, New York University and the New York School of Burlesque."
posted by Mashinka
