The neo-burlesque movement seeks to restore a sense of glamour, theatricality, and humor to striptease. Neo-burlesque performers strut their stuff in front of audiences that appreciate their playful brand of pro-sex, often gender-bending, feminism. 
 
Performance studies scholar and acclaimed burlesque artist Lynn Sally offers an inside look at the history, culture, and philosophy of New York’s neo-burlesque scene. Revealing how twenty-first century neo-burlesque is in constant dialogue with the classic burlesque of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, she considers how today’s performers use camp to comment on preconceived notions of femininity. She also explores how the striptease performer directs the audience’s gaze, putting on layers of meaning while taking off layers of clothing. 
 
Through detailed profiles of iconic neo-burlesque performers such as Dita Von Teese, Dirty Martini, Julie Atlas Muz, and World Famous *BOB*, this book makes the case for understanding neo-burlesque as a new sexual revolution. Yet it also examines the broader community of “Pro-Am” performers who use neo-burlesque as a liberating vehicle for self-expression. Raising important questions about what feminism looks like, Neo-Burlesque celebrates a revolutionary performing art and participatory culture whose acts have political reverberations, both onstage and off.

LYNN SALLY is a practicing scholar and artist. She received her PhD in Performance Studies from New York University where she has taught burlesque since 2004. Her research focuses on American lowbrow popular culture and entertainment, and her previous publications include the book Fighting the Flames: The Spectacular Performance of Fire at Coney Island. www.lynnsally.com

— Dita Von Teese, author of Burlesque and the Art of the Teese/Fetish and the Art of the Teese

— Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, artists and authors of Assuming the Ecosexual Position

— E. Patrick Johnson, author of Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women

— Linda Mizejewski, author of Ziegfeld Girl: Image and Icon in Culture and Cinema

— Dr. Sherril Dodds, Professor of Dance at Temple University and editor of The Bloomsbury Companion to Dance Studies

— Jillian Hernandez, author of Aesthetics of Excess: The Art and Politics of Black and Latina Embodiment

— Kathleen Rowe Karlyn, founding director of the Cinema Studies program and professor emerita at the University of Oregon and author of The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter

— Meredith Heller, author of Queering Drag: Redefining the Discourse of Gender-Bending

— Dr. Alison J. Carr, artist and author of Viewing Pleasure and Being a Showgirl: How Do I Look?

— Jo Weldon, founder of The New York School of Burlesque and author of Fierce: The History of Leopard Print

— The Gay & Lesbian Review

— Sierra County Sun

— Library Journal

— Zócalo Public Square

— Coffee, Candy, and Creatives podcast

— Kathleen Rowe Karlyn, founding director of the Cinema Studies program and professor emerita at the University of Oregon an

— Jillian Hernandez, author of Aesthetics of Excess: The Art and Politics of Black and Latina Embodiment

— E. Patrick Johnson, author of Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women

— Coffee, Candy, and Creatives podcast

— Zócalo Public Square

— Dita Von Teese, author of Burlesque and the Art of the Teese/Fetish and the Art of the Teese

— Library Journal

— Dr. Alison J. Carr, artist and author of Viewing Pleasure and Being a Showgirl: How Do I Look?

— Dr. Sherril Dodds, Professor of Dance at Temple University and editor of The Bloomsbury Companion to Dance Studies

— The Gay & Lesbian Review

— Jo Weldon, founder of The New York School of Burlesque and author of Fierce: The History of Leopard Print

— Sierra County Sun

— Linda Mizejewski, author of Ziegfeld Girl: Image and Icon in Culture and Cinema

— Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, artists and authors of Assuming the Ecosexual Position

— Meredith Heller, author of Queering Drag: Redefining the Discourse of Gender-Bending