Jo Weldon

{{Short description|American burlesque performer and author (b. 1962)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Jo Weldon

| image = Jo_Weldon_at_Miss_Exotic_World_2009_(crop).jpg

| alt = Jo Weldon at Miss Exotic World Pageant in 2009

| caption = Weldon in 2009

| imagesize = 200px

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1962

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = American

| occupation = Burlesque performer, author, photographer,

| known_for =

| spouse =

| website = {{URL|schoolofburlesque.com}}

| children = 1

}}

Jo Weldon (born 1962),{{cite news|title=Dressed to Kill: The Power of Leopard Prints|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/29/arts/design/dressed-to-kill-the-power-ofleopard-prints.html|last=Kahn|first=Eve M.|work=The New York Times|date=April 28, 2016|accessdate=February 5, 2017|archivedate=February 23, 2019|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20190223000241/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/29/arts/design/dressed-to-kill-the-power-ofleopard-prints.html|url-status=live|quote=...the year of her birth (1962...}} commonly known as Jo Boobs or Jo Boobs Weldon, is a performer, author, activist, and educator based in New York City. Weldon's body of work centers around stripping and striptease. She established and runs the New York School of Burlesque and wrote The Burlesque Handbook.Lewis, Steve. [http://www.blackbookmag.com/good-night-mr-lewis-1.109/my-intimate-interview-with-burlesque-queen-jo-boobs-weldon-1.40830 My Intimate Interview with Burlesque Queen Jo Boobs Weldon] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213446/http://www.blackbookmag.com/good-night-mr-lewis-1.109/my-intimate-interview-with-burlesque-queen-jo-boobs-weldon-1.40830 |date=October 4, 2013 }}, BlackBook, November 4, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2013. She is an advocate for sex workers' rights and freedom of sexual expression.{{cite web|last=Johnson|first= Holli-Mae|url=http://21stcenturyburlesque.com/burlycon-past-present-and-future/ |title=BurlyCon – Past, Present and Future|publisher= 21st Century Burlesque|date= September 13, 2011|accessdate= March 30, 2013}}

Early career

After moving to New York in 1997,{{cite web|website=The Zoe Report|title=True Career Success Doesn't Have A Shelf Life|url=https://www.thezoereport.com/living/career-success-after-40|first=Elyssa|last=Goodman|date=5 April 2023}} Weldon took part in burlesque shows at The Blue Angel and Coney Island and was inspired by performances from Angie Pontani, Bambi the Mermaid and Remy Vicious.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} Weldon's academic career includes a degree in Business Administration, with her graduate work in media ethics. During her internships, she worked writing summaries of House of Representatives activities and writing scripts for CNN.

Burlesque

File:Jo Boobs (562826292).jpg in 2007]]

Weldon's burlesque style spans classical burlesque to avant garde performance art. In her signature Godzilla act she strips from a monster costume to a mashup of Blue Öyster Cult's song "Godzilla" and sound clips from the original Godzilla movie. Weldon describes herself as "an absurdist and a surrealist as well as a lover of glamour."Weldon in {{cite web|url=http://javasbachelorpad.com/joboobs.html|title= Jo Boobs|publisher= Java's Bachelor Pad|date= July 2006|accessdate= March 30, 2013|archivedate=February 24, 2017|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20170224121052/http://javasbachelorpad.com/joboobs.html|url-status=live}} She has performed internationally and in unusual venues such as the New York Public Library, where she performed a tribute to Gypsy Rose Lee as part of the Gypsy Centennial celebration.[http://www.bust.com/artsy/here-she-is-world-celebrate-gypsy-s-100th-birthday-with-the-new-york-public-library.html "Here she is, world!" Celebrate Gypsy's 100th Birthday with The New York Public Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110042120/http://www.bust.com/artsy/here-she-is-world-celebrate-gypsy-s-100th-birthday-with-the-new-york-public-library.html |date=November 10, 2013 }}, Bust Magazine. Retrieved March 30, 2013.

Weldon is co-executive director of education at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has judged and coordinated judging for the Hall's Miss Exotic World Pageant. In 2012 she was awarded the Sassy Lassy Award for Recognition of Outstanding Contribution to the Art of Burlesque.{{cite web|last=Droganes|first=Constance|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/burlesque-diva-jo-weldon-wants-you-to-take-it-off-1.520218 |title=Burlesque diva Jo Weldon wants you to take it off|publisher=CTV News| date= June 8, 2010| accessdate= March 30, 2013}}

Weldon was inspired by the sideshows and burlesque shows of Coney Island in the mid-1990s, and has moderated the Wild Women Panel, among others, as part of Coney Island's annual Congress of Curious People.{{cite news|last=Mixson|first=Colin|url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/2012/15/24_boobzilla_2012_04_13_bk.html?from=bd| title= Weird sisters: Sideshow women talk feminism in Coney|work=Brooklyn Paper|date= April 16, 2012|accessdate= March 30, 2013|archivedate= February 22, 2019|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20190222235312/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/2012/15/24_boobzilla_2012_04_13_bk.html|url-status=live}} Weldon has produced shows for Coney Island's Burlesque at the Beach series, including her annual Follies Fromage, a show based entirely on cheese, and the autobiographical God-Damned Women show. She is the coordinator and lead instructor of the Coney Island University Master Class in Burlesque.{{cite web|url=http://coneyislanduniversity.com/ |publisher=Coney Island University |title=Sono Varieta|accessdate=March 30, 2013}}

Teaching and The New York School of Burlesque

File:Jo Weldon at Burlesque Hall of Fame 2010-02.jpg in 2010.]]

Weldon is an educator and authority on the topic of burlesque.[http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/35589/Jo_Weldon/index.aspx Author Jo Weldon], Harper Collins Publishers Retrieved on March 30, 2013. She is the founder, in 2003, and headmistress of The New York School of Burlesque. The school has taught disabled performers at DaDaFest in Liverpool, UK, and taught breast cancer survivors through its Pink Light Burlesque program.{{cite web|url=http://ravenous.journurl.com/2011/05/03/presenting-jo-weldon-rim-shot-please/|title=Presenting Jo Weldon! (Rim shot, please!)|publisher=Ravenous.Journal.com|date=May 3, 2011|accessdate=March 30, 2013|archivedate=April 11, 2013|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130411050616/http://ravenous.journurl.com/2011/05/03/presenting-jo-weldon-rim-shot-please/|url-status=dead}}

Weldon is the founder of Pink Light Burlesque, an organization to provide burlesque classes free of cost to breast cancer patients and survivors.[http://www.pinklightburlesque.com/ Pink Light Burlesque] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203115632/http://www.pinklightburlesque.com/ |date=December 3, 2011}}, Official website. Retrieved March 30, 2013. The first Pink Light Burlesque showcase in December 2011 was featured in TIME.Santa Cruz, Lauren. [https://healthland.time.com/2012/01/26/pink-light-burlesque-breast-cancer-survivors-strip-down-and-celebrate/ Pink Light Burlesque: Breast Cancer Survivors Strip Down and Celebrate], Time, January 26, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2013. Pink Light Burlesque classes have been held in Seattle, New York and New Zealand.{{cite news|last=Shadwell|first=Talia|url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/8269167/Burlesque-a-confidence-boost-for-cancer-survivors |title=Burlesque a confidence boost for cancer survivors|series=Manawatu Standard|location=Palmerstown North, New Zealand|work=Stuff|date= February 3, 2013|accessdate=March 30, 2013|archivedate=February 8, 2013|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20130208053718/http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/8269167/Burlesque-a-confidence-boost-for-cancer-survivors|url-status=live}}

Published works

=''The Burlesque Handbook''=

Weldon is author The Burlesque Handbook (HarperCollins/ItBooks 2010), which developed from a compilation of her class handouts and from a 50-page ebook that she had already produced covering technique and performance.{{cite news|last=Devotchka|first= Divertida|url= http://pincurlmag.com/jo-weldon |title=Jo Weldon|work= Pin Curl|date= October 31, 2010|accessdate= March 30, 2013| archivedate= June 27, 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627010713/http://pincurlmag.com/jo-weldon|url-status=dead}} It has a foreword by comedian Margaret Cho.{{cite news|first=Steve|last=Lewsis| url=http://www.blackbookmag.com/good-night-mr-lewis-1.109/my-intimate-interview-with-burlesque-queen-jo-boobs-weldon-1.40830 |title=My Intimate Interview with Burlesque Queen Jo Boobs Weldon|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213446/http://www.blackbookmag.com/good-night-mr-lewis-1.109/my-intimate-interview-with-burlesque-queen-jo-boobs-weldon-1.40830 |archivedate=October 4, 2013|url-status=dead}}

File:Jo Weldon behind the camera.jpg

=''Fierce: The History of Leopard Print''=

Weldon's second book is Fierce: The History of Leopard Print (Harper Design; Illustrated edition (June 26, 2018) Fierce chronicles the history of one of the world’s most beloved fashion patterns, leopard print, celebrating its beauty and place in couture, and the women who have dared to wear it.

=Blogging=

From 2001 to 2010, Weldon produced the website G-Strings Forever, a collection of photographs and articles about stripping and burlesque.{{cite web|title=Jo Weldon: G-Strings Forever!|url=http://www.gstringsforever.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709110518/http://www.gstringsforever.com/|archive-date=9 July 2007}} She maintained a LiveJournal account from 2004 to 2010 where she wrote extensively on burlesque, sex work, and women's issues.Weldon, Jo. [http://gstringgirl.livejournal.com/ Eau de Jo] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309234522/http://gstringgirl.livejournal.com/ |date=March 9, 2013 }}, LiveJournal, December 22, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2013. Since 2007 Weldon has written the burlesque blog Burlesque Daily. From 2010 to 2011, Weldon answered burlesque questions on her Formspring account.{{cite web|last=Weldon|first=Jo|url=http://www.formspring.me/schoolofburlesq|title=Ask me anything about Burlesque!|publisher=Formspring|date=May 24, 2011|accessdate=March 30, 2013|archivedate=April 12, 2013|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130412185651/http://www.formspring.me/schoolofburlesq|url-status=live}} She writes a burlesque etiquette column for Pin Curl Magazine.{{cite news|last=Weldon|first= Jo|url=http://pincurlmag.com/backstage-etiquette-with-jo-boobs |title=Backstage Etiquette with Jo Boobs|work= Pin Curl|date= March 31, 2012|accessdate=March 30, 2013|archivedate=January 4, 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104222738/http://pincurlmag.com/backstage-etiquette-with-jo-boobs|url-status=dead}}

=Other=

Weldon publishes essays and articles on the topics of stripping, sex-worker rights, burlesque history, and burlesque performance. She has consulted for, and was profiled in two webisodes of, the movie Burlesque.[http://www.christinaaguilera.com/us/news/show-me-how-you-burlesque-episode-1 Show me how you burlesque – episode 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217052659/http://www.christinaaguilera.com/us/news/show-me-how-you-burlesque-episode-1 |date=December 17, 2011 }}, Christina Aguilera official website, December 8, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2013.[http://www.christinaaguilera.com/us/news/show-me-how-you-burlesque-episode-2 Show me how you burlesque – episode 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225134245/http://www.christinaaguilera.com/us/news/show-me-how-you-burlesque-episode-2 |date=December 25, 2010 }}, Christina Aguilera official website, December 22, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2013.

Sex-work advocacy

Weldon supports and works for the rights of strippers and other sex workers. She has attended and spoken at academic conferences, including the 1999 Socialist Scholar's Conference,{{cite book|last=Ditmore|first= Melissa Hope|title=Prostitution and Sex Work |publisher= Greenwood|year= 2011|page=??}} the American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting, the International Congress on Prostitution, and the United Nations Beijing Plus Five Conference, where she lobbied for the adoption of the term "sex work" and for a distinction between forced and voluntary sex work.{{cite web|url=http://www.nerve.com//content/a-lifes-work-the-strippers-advocate |title=A Life's Work: The Stripper's Advocate|publisher= Nerve.com |accessdate= March 30, 2013|date=May 12, 2004|archivedate=December 16, 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20091216061301/http://www.nerve.com/regulars/lifeswork/strippersadvocate/}} Weldon has written articles on sex work and sex worker rights.{{cite web|last= Weldon|first= Jo|url=http://www.thescavenger.net/feminism-a-pop-culture/sex-work-research-needs-to-focus-on-money-93786-350.html |title=Sex work research needs to focus on money|publisher=TheScavenger.net|accessdate= March 30, 2013|archivedate=May 12, 2017|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20170512091418/http://thescavenger.net/feminism-a-pop-culture-sp-9560/feminism-a-pop-culture/350-sex-work-research-needs-to-focus-on-money-93786.html|url-status=live}} Weldon also toured with the Sex Worker Arts Show,{{cite news|last=Huang|first=Karen|url= http://fnewsmagazine.com/2007-feb/sex-as-work.php |title=Sex as Work|work= F News|date= February 2007|accessdate= March 30, 2013|archivedate=September 1, 2014|url-status=live|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140901114959/http://fnewsmagazine.com/2007-feb/sex-as-work.php}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sexworkersartshow.com/bios_jo_03152009.html |title=Jo Weldon| publisher= Sex Worker Arts Show|accessdate= March 30, 2013|archivedate=November 28, 2009|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20091128090516/http://www.sexworkersartshow.com/bios_jo_03152009.html|url-status=live}} and co-produced W.O.(e).R.D., Women of experience Read Downtown, a performance reading of literary works by undomesticated women.{{cite web|last= Ikard|first= Theresa|url=http://carnalnation.com/content/51279/5/jo-weldon |title=Burlesque's Jo Weldon on Feminism, Fluid Sexuality, Domestication Drag|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20101120225134/http://carnalnation.com/content/51279/5/jo-weldon |archivedate=November 20, 2010|publisher=Carnal Nation|date=April 3, 2010|accessdate=March 30, 2013}}

Television and film appearances

class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" cellpadding="3"
bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! scope="col" width="70" \| Year !! scope="col" class="unsortable" width="280" \| Appearance !! scope="col" class="unsortable" width="100" \| Role !! scope="col" class="unsortable" width="300" \| Notes
rowspan="1"\| 1999	Time Square Clean-Up	Herself	TV, Documentary
rowspan="1"\| 1999–2006	SexTV	Herself	TV series documentary
rowspan="1"\| 2005	Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man	Burlesque Beauty	Documentary, biography
rowspan="1"\| 2006	Monja satanica	Estudiante Amore	Short horror
rowspan="1"\| 2006	Tales of Times Square	Anna Turner	Documentary
rowspan="1"\| 2006	Alison Lapper/Spread Magazine/Lust Circus	Herself	TV, Documentary
rowspan="1"\| 2007	What Not to Wear	Herself	TV, Reality
rowspan="1"\| 2008, 2009	Gossip Girl		TV, Drama, Romance
rowspan="1"\| 2009	No Strings Attached	Herself – Jo Boobs	Short
rowspan="1"\|2010	Dirty Martini and the New Burlesque	Herself – Jo Boobs	Documentary
rowspan="1"\| 2010	The Real Housewives of New York City	Herself	TV, Reality
rowspan="1"\| 2011	Show Me How You Burlesque	Herself	Webisodes, Documentary

Books, essays and DVDs

Essays

Editors: Brewer, Gwen; Bullough, Vern L; Douglas, Jeffrey J; Elias, James E, Elias, Veronica Diehl. Porn 101: Eroticism Pornography and the First Amendment (Prometheus Books, 1999) Collection of essays including: Weldon, Jo. Topping from Below: Does Female Dominant Pornography Endorse the Rape of Women?
Editors: Egan, Danielle; Frank, Katherine; Johnson, Merri Lisa. Flesh for Fantasy: Producing and Consuming Exotic Dance (Seal Press 2004) Collection of essays including: Weldon, Jo. Whipped Cream, Fire Eating, and the Other Delights of Feature Dancing
Editors: Kramer Bussel, Rachel; Tyler, Alison. Hide and Seek: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists (Cleis Press, 2010) Weldon, Jo. Forward: Opening Doors

DVDs

Director: Weldon, Jo. Featuring: Weldon, Jo. Honey and Spice: Sensual and Fierce Burlesque Studio: World Dance New York (2009) DVD / instant video
Director: Weldon, Jo. Featuring: Weldon, Jo. Silk and Feathers: Burlesque Fan Dance Studio: World Dance New York (2009) DVD / instant video
Director: Weldon, Jo. Featuring: Weldon, Jo. Striptease for Burlesque, Exotic Dance & Every Day Studio: World Dance New York (2009) DVD / instant video

Books

Weldon, Jo. The Burlesque Handbook (It Books, 2010)

References

External links

{{Twitter}}
{{cite news|last= Gasten|first= David|url= http://thethingis.co.uk/2010/11/29/the-burlesque-show-is-almost-over/|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130505105442/http://thethingis.co.uk/2010/11/29/the-burlesque-show-is-almost-over/|url-status= dead|archive-date= May 5, 2013|title= Why The Burlesque Show Is Over|work= The Thing Is|date= November 29, 2010|accessdate= March 30, 2013}}

Category:Living people

Category:American neo-burlesque performers

Category:American female erotic dancers

Category:American erotic dancers

Category:American vedettes

Category:1962 births

Category:21st-century American women