Burlesque Queen, Angie Pontani, “The Italian Stallionette,” is one of few involved in the ecdysiast arts who shimmys and shakes on stages around the world, as well as carries her art into other fields and genres, including film and television. A child of New York and a key player in the burlesque revival, this bump-n-grind bombshell has spread the gospel of burlesque across the globe for over a decade. The New Yorker calls Angie, “first rate, the perfect centerpiece!” and rightfully so, since her signature acts and productions all set standards of style and class. This international superstar’s ability to mix glamour of yester-years with contemporary sensibility has earned her burlesque’s most prestigious award: “Queen of Burlesque, Miss Exotic World 2008.” Aside from its substantial part in Angie achieving burlesque’s highest Angie has toured multiple runs in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. She has headlined the largest burlesque festivals in the world, including New York, Dallas, Milan, Rome and Helsinki. In 2009 she was named “Best International Touring Artist,” by The Naked City/Alternative Media Group of Australia. Angie’s repertoire and show curating skills are frequently sought by discriminating clients including Lady GaGa, Campari, Esquire Magazine, Dos Equis, The Fox 5 Superbowl Party, Guggenheim, Donatella Versace and more. She worked exclusively with Hendricks Gin to create her glass bathtub act, which was the featured entertainment at many of their events throughout the U.S. In the midst of her wake, Angie has wowed celebrity fans the likes of Sting, Anthony Kiedas, Hillary Duff, The Strokes, Adrianna Lima, and Hugh Hefner. As “New York’s Burlesque Queen” (ToscanaTV.com), Angie has appeared multiple times on the Conan O’ Brien Show and Gossip Girl. She was also featured in other New York productions: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, MTV’s The 50 Cent Project, Good Morning America, and The Today Show. Angie also appeared on The List (Canada), Lady Burlesque (IT), Burlesque Mania (IT), Good Day New Zealand (NZ), and Nightline (NZ). On October 24th, Angie will be featured in the Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett television special for PBS. Always reaching for new fields and genres, Angie had a featured role in Michael Imerioli’s directorial debut film, The Hungry Ghost, and was also featured in the Italian television series, Lady Burlesque and The Poor Man’s Follies, an Italian film created for MTV. She was also a part of an ad campaign for Peter Werth (UK), X-Rite Photosystem with Brian Smith (USA), and Marlboro (worldwide). Aside from having been photographed by renowned photographer Ellen Von Unwerth for L’uomo Vogue, she has graced the covers and pages of many magazines including Pin Curl, Page Six, Glamour, Spanish GQ, Java’s Bachelor Pad and countless others. Angie even made a cameo in Eric Powell’s comic, The Goon (#36).    Website

The Dicey Dame of Burlesque and The Kitsch Bitch of Brooklyn, Anja Keister has been performing burlesque since 2010. Most known for founding and co-producing her nerdlesque group, D20 Burlesque, she is also a co-producer of internet-meme themed troupe OMGWTFBURLYQ and the interactive Victorian Bawdy experience, Uncle Monty's Molly House. Along with producing her own shows, Anja was also a an associate producer of the first ever Nerdlesque Festival in 2014. Anja has brought nerdy performances to DEXCON, Gen Con, the Escapist Expo, Dystopia Rising's DEATHCON, Steam Punk's World Faire and Geeky Kink Event. She has also moderated panels on women in gaming at PAX East, PAX Prime and The Escapist Expo. In the burlesque world, she has performed at the Pennsylvania Burlesque festival and the Fierce Burlesque Festival, The Iowa Burlesque Festival and been featured on Animal Voices Radio, CollegeHumor.com, and dubbed a Burlesque star of the Nerdlesque scene by Time Out NY. Along with burlesque, Anja also works as a freelance makeup artist and part time model    Website

For over 15 years, The BeauTease (formerly The Boston Babydolls) have been New England's premiere burlesque troupe. They have won awards from all of the major local newspapers and have twice been named to the top 5 theater troupes in Boston by WGBH's "The A-List".

Career highlights include performing with Tempest Storm in her "Hollywood Revue", being part of The World-Famous Pontani Sisters Burlesque-a-pades, competing at the first Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend in Las Vegas, and – of course – performing for all of you!

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Born and raised in New Orleans, Bella Blue started dancing at the age of 3 studying extensively in ballet and modern into adulthood. In 2007 she traded in her pointe shoes for pasties and hasn’t looked back since! Her style can be best described as unpredictable! Bella can offer everything from classic fan dances and reverse stripteases to androgynous, neo, and controversial pieces. But no matter what, expect to be entertained! She has become one of the most recognized burlesque performers in New Orleans and across America. Bella performs predominantly in New Orleans but has also performed in Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Las Vegas, North Carolina, Virginia, Minneapolis, and Switzerland. She is also a regular on the stages of New York, visiting every 3 months. In 2014, she headlined the Virginia Americana Burlesque and Sideshow Festival and the Caput Mundi Burlesque Award Festival in Rome, Italy. She also made her Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend debut in June 2014 where she was invited to perform in the “Movers, Shakers, Innovators Showcase.” Bella’s pride and joy is The New Orleans School of Burlesque, where she has reigned as the headmistress since 2008 and hosts New Orleans’ only weekly running of burlesque classes. She has taught the art of the tease to hundreds of women from New Orleans and beyond and the number continues to grow. The New Orleans School of Burlesque is also host to a number of guest teachers from across the country and specialty workshops. She is deeply entrenched in preserving burlesque in New Orleans (which is rich in burlesque history) and can often be seen performing in other local productions and fundraisers making sure that as many people as possible get to experience just how incredible burlesque is. In addition to running the school, she is one of the leading show producers in New Orleans. She is the Artistic Director of “The Dirty Dime Peepshow,” “The NOSB Student Showcase,” and one half of Bellamour Productions. She also is the producer of “The Blue Book Cabaret” at Lucky Pierre’s which is held six nights a week and is the first time New Orleans as has consecutive nights of burlesque entertainment on Bourbon Street since the 1960′s.    Website

Blaze is the fiery redhead from Dallas known as ‘The Red Rose of Texas’! An international award winning performer and costume designer, she’s garnered accolades such as 'Most Classic', E'Biggest Tease' and several crowns including 2014’s 'Evil Queen of Burlesque'. She is the master seamstress behind the dazzling costumes of www.RedRoseRegalia.com which are worn and coveted by performers all over the world. A proud US Army Military Police Veteran, she has long been a fan of pin up history and is now an accomplished model herself with her photographs on the covers and pages of Bachelor Pad, Pin Curl Magazine, Delicious Dolls and more.

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Femme Brulée has been seen across the country diving into cakes, breaking out of eggshells, leading a chorus line of tap-dancing lobsters, and morphing into a human ice cream sundae. She is the founder and choreographer of the Glitter Bombs (Boston’s Premier Strip Hop Troupe) and is a co-producer at Sparkletown Productions, where she masterminds sell-out, off-beat burlesque shows. Ms. Brulée has performed in the holiday burlesque spectacular, The Slutcracker, for seven years, and has appeared in many burlesques shows from coast to coast. Femme Brulée has had the honor of winning "Most Beautiful" at the Great Burlesque Exposition of 2013, and performing at Fierce! and the Show-Me Burlesque Festival. This August, she is thrilled to be co-producing Alterna-TEASE: The New England Neo-Burlesque Festival for the third year in Boston.    Website

JZBich, "a border crossing, gender blending, international provocateur," is a radical, heathenish, polymorphous bender of everything that claims to be real. In this world everything is hyper real and nothing is real at all. Borders of ethnicity, gender and sexuality lose meaning once they enter the Bich land. If they embrace you, they can offer anything but safety. JZ Bich erupted from the malting Balkans and was washed on the shores of the New York City to become one of its night creatures. They have been performing in NYC for over a decade and have also performed nationally and internationally for longer than you need to know. Jz Bich is a producer and a host of HyperGender Burlesque Cabaret - a monthly, post neo burlesque show currently in its 8th year. When not twirling pasties Jz writes plays and teaches classes. Several of their plays have been produced in NYC and they are currently working on a new and secret project!    Website

I was born Francesca Natividad on February 13, 1948, in Juarez, Mexico just across the Rio Grande from El Paso. I am the oldest of nine siblings, though only my sister Eva Garcia and I share the same parents. Yes Natividad is my real last name. I’m a Latin gal! Mom gave birth to me when she was just 16, at home, with my grandmother as midwife. The summer before my high school senior year, I worked for Stella Stevens at her Coldwater Canyon home, scrubbing and cleaning, and learning how to cook. At her big parties, my duties expanded to greeting guests at the door, including Warren Beatty and Linda Evans, wearing a white uniform. I remember watching the guests mingle by the pool, noting their elegance and glamour, and thought to myself, “This is fun. I want to be a movie star.” During that senior year, I fell in love for the first time. My family always insisted on chaperones, so it was difficult for my boyfriend and I to get intimate. It wasn’t until he spent the night at my home, though in a different room, that we made love for the first time. He slipped in through the window and into my bed. God, it was fabulous! Soon after we eloped but our marriage didn't last long. I went back to work for Stella for about a year before enrolling in a trade school course, ultimately landing a job at IBM as a key punch operator. Making very little money and looking for other options, I discovered that a neighbor’s sister earned $300 a week as a stripper - twice as much as I made. I took off my clothes, looked at myself in the mirror and said, “Well, I have a great body.” It was 1969 and soon after an introduction to the owner of a Pasadena-based club called Gianone’s, I made my dancing debut. Very nervous, I concentrated on my dancing while oblivious to everything going on around me. When I finished, the crowd clapped and howled, while throwing money on the stage. The roar would grow so load, it could be heard two blocks away! And I liked it! Before long I was working a couple of clubs a night, making $600-700 a week including tips. The money was great but boy were the hours long. To promote my new career, I signed up with an agency. They advised me to adopt a stage name. Shyer than the other girls, I was given the name Kitten. My big breakthrough came in 1973 when I was age 25. I was working at a club in Pasadena called the High Light where I met Morganna (the Kissing Bandit) and her agent Sparky Blain. Sparky thought that I had a great body and asked me to enter the Miss Nude Universe pageant, held in San Bernardino, California. I wasn't sure I had the confidence to compete with the other forty-five or so contestants, most of whom were several years younger, but Sparky did. It was because of his unwavering faith I was able to walk out onstage and feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. But even with my newfound confidence, I still felt it necessary to lie about my age when I learned that the judges preferred younger women. In the end, I strutted away with the title Miss Nude Universe. I went crazy! My next career decision was a permanent switch from go-go dancing to stripping. Sparky had me doing all sorts of publicity stunts: special appearances at clubs, college campus fraternities, other beauty contests; bikini walks in central business districts; and nude press conferences all across the country from New York to Los Angeles - all centered around club performances. Though the reigning Miss Nude Universe, performing alone as a headline stripper was very new to me. Again unsure of myself, I picked up nuances from the other dancers, making them my own. During each performance I made sure to give individual attention and to put out a lot of energy. When a customer laid down a dollar bill, I went to him and gyrated as much as I could. It was hard work but this was my schooling to become a good stripper. By the mid 70s I was on top of the stripping scene but my next step was at hand. I had a girlfriend named Shari Eubanks, a star in one of Russ Meyer’s greatest hits, Supervixens. Sherry and I worked at the Classic Cat on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and she told Russ that because of my big tits, I would be a great Russ Meyer girl. As it happened, he was looking for a girl to narrate his new film “Up!.” When we met at the club, I found him quite attractive and turned on the charm full tilt, landing me the part. Though Russ Meyer films are typically tangled in story, Up! was perhaps his weirdest film. I’ll skip over the plot which had something to do with Hitler’s daughter and sadomasochism. The film starts with me perched in a tree, nude. A dubbed voice announces me as the film’s guide, the incarnation of the body, cutting back to me every ten minutes, often with close-ups on my breasts and other parts of my anatomy, so I could explain what was going on. Russ was very tough on me, and after the endless takes, I was exhausted, and sometimes in tears. But when I realized that his perfectionism brought out qualities I didn't know I had, I learned to trust his direction. Released in October 1976, Up! was not as successful as Supervixens. Six months into filming, I left George and moved in with Russ, embarking on an affair that lasted 12 years. Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens was Russ Meyer’s next film. He initially planned to use the blonde stripper Ann Marie, a real life Little Annie Fanny - whose humongous 67 bust line made her a top Meyer Girl candidate. But after I tested for the lead role of sultry Lola Langusta, I was chosen for my acting, work ethic and willingness to remain nude. Together with his friend and collaborator Roger Ebert, they reworked the script so I could play both Lola, and the character named Lavonia. Though Russ had already decided to cast me, I had to lose my heavy accent before shooting began (this was not a slant on my heritage, only a means for the audience to better understand my words). Dialect coach Robert Easton was hired and taught me to speak with a Southern drawl. The process could be very frustrating, and tiring (we often worked in eight-hour stretches), but it all paid off. Ultravixens had all the makings for a hit, but met with poor distribution. That may have been a blessing in disguise, for Russ discovered he could make more money in video sales than ticket sales. While the film shifted from film to video, my modeling career took off. At clubs, I modeled between dance sets for eager photographers, picking up quick, easy money. The pictures were soon published and by 1977 there was an outpouring of Kitten Natividad pictorials. I couldn’t believe I was on the cover of so many magazines! There were other photo spreads too; steamy girl/girl shoots with associates from strip clubs and Russ’ films. I did sessions with Candy Samples, Uschi Digard, Patty Plenty and many others. Because of the increased exposure, I was able to command more money, sometimes earning over $1,000 a week while other girls made just $50 a night. By the end of the 70's, my level of stardom on the strip circuit demanded more elaborate and lavish shows. I came up with the gimmick of a giant champagne glass where I bathed on stage to the tune of the Bobby Darin hit “Splish Splash”. I had a lot of fun, jiggling and caressing my tits. At the end of the performance, I sometimes let a couple lucky members from the audience dry me off with a towel! Since my break-up with Russ, I’ve made brief appearances in many films and rock video’s while featuring in adult movies. I was also the stripper at Sean Penn’s bachelor party in September 1985, at the Roxy Nightclub on Sunset Strip. Harry Dean Stanton arrived late that night, missing my performance. Penn led him to me, picked up my blouse and said, “See what you missed?” shoving Stanton’s face into my cleavage. These days, I’m not traveling or making many appearances, devoting much of my time to my fan club, pursuing a film career, and trying to stay healthy & young at heart!    Website

Lucy Buttons, "The Queen of Rock and Roll Burlesque," exploded onto the scene instantly becoming a headliner and force to be reckoned with. Her award-winning signature style has been featured in television, magazines, and film and made her a New York City Club Legend! Also an accomplished ballroom dancer, this professional temptress produces sell-out shows as Executive Producer of I Love Burlesque, and performs across the country from Boston to St. Louis, down to Texas, and up to Montreal.    Website

Nina La Voix is a multifaceted stage performer and fitness professional based out of Brooklyn, New York. Dubbed NYC's Titan of Twerk and The BGirl of Burlesque, Nina has formal training in ballet, breakdancing, and everything in between. She has been seen in multiple burlesque festivals nationwide, including the New Orleans Burlesque Festival, and The Great Burlesque Exposition in Boston, where she recently took home the title for best Soloist. Nina is also a burlesque producer, most known for her signature show celebrating all shapes and sizes of backsides titled #WHATDATBOOTYDO. Get a taste of this performer's style by scouring the internet for her signature hashtag!    Website

Red Velvet, a life-long dancer, has performed in musical theater and burlesque throughout the U.S. and internationally.   Red Velvet is proficient in various dance forms and teaches classes in burlesque, cancan, and Isadora Duncan dance.    Red Velvet is co-artistic director of a monthly show, DIVA or Die Burlesque, and is artistic director of the cancan troupe, The Velvettes.  She has performed with the award-winning Hot Pink Feathers and award-winning Flaunt Follies, Bombshell Betty’s Burlesqueteers, Alegria Samba Dance Company, and was artistic director for the dance group Pretty, Pretty Please.   Her burlesque performances have won Judge’s Choice at the 2019 Arizona Burlesque Festival, Most Classic at the 2016 Great Burlesque Exposition and Most Humorous at the 2014 Great Burlesque Exposition.  She co-created five full-length burlesque/cabaret/theater productions: Rebel without a Bra, At the White Rabbit Burlesque, Hotel Burlesque, Just Another Zombie Holiday Show, and Dollhouse Monsters.  She loves bringing her crazy ideas on stage for your enjoyment.  Come and Try a Slice of Red Velvet!

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Scandal from Bohemia, the Weapon of Ass Destruction, has been getting ridiculously naked or nakedly ridiculous since 2007. Since then, she has performed in the United States, Canada, France, and Italy as well as being named Most Humorous in 2010′s Great Burlesque Expo in Boston, Most Unexpected Reveal, and Grand Supreme at 2015's Seattle Burlesque Games. Whether her acts involve ten foot long stuffed snakes, tomato soup can shimmy belts, or inappropriately placed bologna, audiences will leave shows understanding that Naked Is Funny.    Website

Scarlett Letter has been dazzling the world since 2004 and stunning them even longer. A long time fixture of the Los Angeles Burlesque scene, Scarlett has graced stages across North America and Europe and has won several awards along the way. Also a costumer and producer, Scarlett is known for a dark cold beauty reminiscent of Hollywood Noir and the classic Hitchock heroine. 

 

"With 4 feet of red hair and miles of bad intentions"

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Greetings from the tropical island of Taradise! I'm here to melt your hearts with high kicks and pristine point shoe work. My fun and charismatic performance will have you craving a piña coloda. My last stop was at Burlesque Idol where I won the September heat and was lucky enough to take the crown at the finals ! There is only one question, do you have your one way ticket to TARADISE?!?    Website

Whisper De Corvo is a creature of myth. Seattle’s Mythical Muse, Whisper dances on the breath of the wind. Exotic, mysterious, dark, and dangerously beautiful, she treats every performance as a legend in the making. In addition to performing vintage-inspired burlesque with a twist of the bizarre, she recently won "Most Beautiful Performance" at the Great Burlesque Expo. She also holds three titles from the Seattle Burlesque Olympics 2012 ( “Most Dramatic Glove Removal” , "Best interpretative fan dance without fans"and “Grand Supreme”). and has performed at the Pennsylvania Burlesque Festival (formerly Jim Thorpe) and the Windy City Burlesque Festival.    Website