At a gathering in August, about 20 dancers sipped cocktails, watched dances under development and discussed the out-of-print biographies of burlesque legends in the hope of lending authenticity to their own acts.
Other dancers use burlesque to criticize the prevailing standards of female beauty, especially slenderness.
Burlesque and feminism both aim to raise awareness of gender stereotypes, although that's not all feminism does, said feminist historian Deborah Siegel, who wrote "Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild.
Weldon spoofs standard sexiness by doing a number that combines the skimpy allure of a classic striptease costume with a Godzilla head.
Another dancer, Creamy Stevens, turned sexy into scary at New York nightclub Lotus recently, opening her act as the girl next door trying to hitch a ride to Hollywood and ending it by spilling a suitcase of severed limbs onto the stage.
"If you think of us as burlesque nerds, it makes sense," said burlesque dance teacher Jo Weldon, 45.
She has raised about $15,000, much of which she has given to soldier-support organizations such as Bake Sales for Body Armor, which buys protective equipment for soldiers overseas.
"We live in a world where if you're not the perfect size, then you're not beautiful," said Lukki, a New York City-based dancer and tenure-track professor who won't disclose her real name for professional reasons. "I like to explore ugliness in my acts."
FEMINIST FUN
"Everybody focuses on the fact that it's girls taking their clothes off and misses the political satire," said Habacker, who's noticed a spike in acts mixing burlesque with politics.
To the serious revivalist, a sense of burlesque's past is as essential as false eyelashes. That's why Peekaboo Pointe, a New York dancer and teacher who prefers her stage name, forces boozy bachelorette parties to sit through a seminar before she'll teach them burlesque's basic steps.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Burlesque is back. Fans of the fancy form of striptease that first flourished in Depression-era downtowns can find swivelling hips and spangled lingerie weekly in at least 12 U.S. cities.
The revival has even entered the mainstream on the stiletto heels of dancer Dita Von Teese, who hawks upscale lipstick, drapes herself on the covers of women's magazines and was in a rocky marriage with rock star Marilyn Manson.
In Austin -- the capital of Bush's home state of Texas -- burlesque devotees mount annual Veterans' Day shows starring female and male soldiers in uniform returned from Iraq.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_industry said.
"They strip out of their fatigues and all the medals and dog tags and it's a huge relief for them," said the organizer of the "Bring the Boys Home" shows, Audrey Maker, 31.
"A lot of burlesque is about being an inappropriate female," either in appearance or in lifestyle, said Weldon.
But unlike classic burlesque, the contemporary form embraces all body types, said Karen Crow, 33, who attends Weldon's salon and classes. It is the best dancers and most creative storytellers, not the most slender, who elicit the most raucous audience appreciation.
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