Sweet Tarts

In our ongoing attempt to satisfy your craving for all the delicious news from the world of burlesque, The Candy Pitch is introducing two new contributors. In addition to Don Sprio, who dishes up sweet photographic treats in his Revealing Images feature, Jo "Boobs" Weldon and Ginger Valentine will be adding their sometimes sweet, sometimes tart but always scrumptious voices to our Candy bowl.

As Headmistress and Founder of the New York School of Burlesque, Jo "Boobs" Weldon has turned up the heat in the burlesque kitchen. She has been photographing and writing about neo-burlesque for nearly a decade. She is the director of the Master Class in Burlesque at Coney Island and produces classes for the New York Burlesque Festival. With Miss Indigo Blue, she is Co-Executive Director of Education at The Burlesque Hall of Fame, and a collaborator on the production of BurlyCon. She has collaborated with Lily Burana on Operation Bombshell. Her book, The Pocket Book of Burlesque: A Backstage Guide, with a foreword by Margaret Cho, is due out from Harper Perennial this fall. And her how-to DVDs are available for those who can't shimmy all the way to NY for her classes. Jo will serve up regular backstage photos and teacher tips for The Candy Pitch.

Ginger Valentine, a former ballerina turned burlesque dancer and instructor, twirls her hips in Dallas. Ginger is the premiere model for the Dallas Dr. Sketchy chapter, modeling for them many times. She has shimmied in bars, clubs and historical theaters all over Dallas. In 2009, Ginger launched her Burlesque Charm School where she teaches classic striptease to a variety of levels. She also traveled to Chicago to perform in Michelle L'Amour's Bells and Whistles show benefiting the Burlesque Hall of Fame. For The Candy Pitch, Ginger dons her reporter hat to bring you our weekly news round-up, All The News That's Fit To Strip.