Video of the Week

To get you ready for Exotic World, we'll be featuring clips from past performances as we lead into the weekend.

Video of the Week

To get you ready for Exotic World, we'll be featuring clips from past performances as we lead into the weekend.

All The News That's Fit To Strip

Christina Aguilera is rumored to be making her silver-screen debut in Burlesque, a musical about a small-town gal who moves to LA and finds work at a burlesque club.

In other news ...

The Burlesque Hall of Fame announced the lineup for Exotic World Weekend, June 4-7. (Click on lineup.)

A Wink and A Smile gets more love.

Canada.com chats with Tanya Cheex.

All The News That's Fit To Strip

Viva Las Vegas winner Dizzy Von Damn talks about VLV, how she chose her stage name and burlesque around the country.

"I don't know about a coastal difference, but individual cities certainly have different approaches over all. In my experience, New York has a much edgier, performance art sort of feel. That's not to say there aren't classic performers there, but as a whole, there's just an air of the avant-garde. LA has its rebels (whom I love) but as a whole it seems to be more on the pretty side. Perhaps that is the east/west split."

In other news ...

Dita Von Teese shuns the sun.

The Pussycat Dolls get an extra dash of Spice. Victoria Beckham plans to take the stage with the burlesque troupe at Caesar's Palace Hotel & Casino in June.

Tickets to 2008 Miss Exotic World Pageant are on sale now.

All the News That's Fit To Strip

Sherry Britton once donned a "Let's Go Mets" T-shirt, but the burlesque dancer is really a Chicago Cubs fan. And reminiscing about Sherry, columnist Bill Gallo confirms something we always suspected:

"The older fellows said they went to burlesque for the comics, funny men such as Red Buttons and Phil Silvers and Jackie Gleason ... After seeing our very first burlesque, we were certain, the older guys didn't come to see the comics."

In other news ...

Dita is naturally a freckle-faced blonde.


Kellita of Hot Pink Feathers explains how she found herself "bumping and grinding, shimmying and shaking."

It's ok Britney, pole dancing is hard.

Woody shares photos from Miss Exotic World.

How do you know the "stripperization" of America is complete? When the word is used to describe New Gingrich's potential presidential run.

Bostonians who are ready to take their hip swiveling professional might want to head to Rock City Body on August 26. The Boston Babydolls are holding auditions for new troupe members.

The latest issue of Shimmy Magazine is now on sale. Purchase your copy online or, if you happen to be in New York, here, here or here.

While I love a great debate, let's keep this civil. If you criticize people by name, please have the courtesy to leave your own name and affiliations. Strong opinions are welcome as long as they are backed up with reasons. The Candy Pitch's comment policy is as follows: The Candy Pitch allows anonymous comments as long as they don't contain content the administrator deems inflammatory or spam. The Candy Pitch reserves the right to delete any comment at any time for any reason.

Bring It Up Sexy

At this year's Miss Exotic World competition Gravity Plays Favorites shimmied and twirled around a large pole. The duo interwined themselves and slid up and down the pole with impressive acrobatic prowess. This was the image I had in mind as I met a group of friends at The P Spot in D.C. for an introductory pole dancing class.

After reading an article about the class, a friend rallied a group of us to give it a whirl. The studio, a first-floor in a brownstone, was empty except for the row of five poles strategically spaced in a long line. Over an hour we took turns learning the components to a quick routine. We swung around the pole. We slid our backs down it and pulsed low to the ground. And finally we lifted ourselves up off the ground trying to imitate how our instructor wrapped her legs around it as she slid down.

It was a sweaty, fun, hot mess -- it's hard to look or feel sexy while thinking, "Walk one, two, three. Grab the pole. Smalll step, swing it around ..." But in the end, even when you land on your podunka-dunk, if you bring it up sexy it's all good.

And if anyone ever doubted the workout part of these classes, here's what the other pole-twirling girls thought:

"I work with a personal trainer and my quadriceps have never felt a workout quite like this. ... I think I need a few more classes to test out my skills before I try some moves at home!"

"Being sexy on a pole is hard work, I have a new found respect for the profession. Shape, size and fitness level do not necessarily indicate how well someone will look dancing around a pole."

"Sore does not quite describe where I am. ... my thighs, butt, wrists, forearms, upper arms and fingertips are KILLING ME! I am so shaky! ... I can't get Michaela's arms out of my head. Her upper body was amazing! I need to swing on that pole (or get my own) if my arms can look like that!"

"Not only are my legs STILL trembling, but I am sore in every section of my arms!"

All the News That's Fit To Strip

Margaret Cho gets saucy with The Sensuous Woman, a burlesque-inspired variety show. Cho told Playbill, "The Sensuous Woman is an evening of comedy, dance and music celebrating women's bodies. I have suffered from eating disorders and a horrendously distorted body image for my entire life, and I think the biggest reason is a lack of images of real women's bodies. Where are they? We don't see them in movies, on TV, in magazines. Instead, we are force-fed a steady diet of unattainable ideals, a tyranny of slenderness and youth, goals we can't even aspire to, they are so far out of reach. When we see dancers who enjoy their bodies, who are sexy and having fun, it gives us permission to enjoy our bodies and to enjoy ourselves in the process. We are presented with a new ideal, not one that is about dieting ourselves down to a smaller size, but expanding our notion of what is beautiful and to allow ourselves to be included there too."

In other news ...

Julie Atlas Muz shares her New York Diet.

SexTV's fall lineup includes Bump & Grind: The Making Of A Burlesque Diva, a documentary that follows four burlesque dancers to the Miss Exotic World competition.

Trixie Little makes a splash with water ballet.

Tessa Thompson shimmies into Make It Happen.

Dita Von Teese loves Madonna and porn.

Will DC's strip clubs start bumpin' underground?

Playboy reports Elvira Mistress of the Dark returns to TV this fall to put “the boob back into the boob tube.”

Mr. Skin bares the cinematic nude scenes for you.

E!'s favorite "bald dingbat" does a beachy striptease. So does a "wild-child in recovery."

Exotic World Redux

The Candy Pitch isn't the only one abuzz about Exotic World. Here's what some other folks are saying.

Powparazzi features some very sexy photos of Michelle L'Amour, left, by Don Spiro.

Jo Boobs, who did a great tribute to Candy Barr, is still wondering how much of what happened Vegas has to stay in Vegas.

Vixen Violette offers a rundown -- with pictures -- of the whole Exotic World weekend.

The Blessings of Liberty has "finally recovered from all the hard work of observing gorgeous bodies in pasties and g-strings."

Devilica posted photos from Friday night.

Exotic World Redux

The performers in the Best Duo category prove that twice is always nice. Gravity Plays Favorites twirled around a pole in an aerial tease.

Photo courtesy of Martin Lindsay.

Exotic World Redux

Chicago's Vivian Velvet blew the crowds away with a more modern twist to the fan dance.

Photo courtesy of Martin Lindsay.

Exotic World Redux

This year's Exotic World pageant was a shimmying, acrobatic, tassel-twirling, eye-popping festival of rhinestones, g-strings, feathers and fun. But you don't want to read about the fun, you want to see what all the fuss was about. We'll be posting pictures throughout the day.

Sure, we understand burlesque is all about the tease, but today The Candy Pitch is gonna cut right to the chase and start with the winner. London's Immodesty Blaize brought the house -- and her dress down -- to take home the crown of Miss Exotic World 2007.

Stripped Of Its Name

Exotic World's got a new name. The museum will now be known as The Burlesque Hall of Fame. Why mix it up? From the ever lovely Laura Herbert:

Simplicity.
Over time, Exotic World has been though many changes--and many, many names: The Burlesque Historical Society, Inspirational Star Land, The Movers & Shakers Striptease Hall of Fame... the list goes on and on. But, no matter how our business cards may have read throughout the years, from the very beginning we've remained at our core a "hall of fame"--identifying and honoring Burlesque's best, both on and offstage.

Semantics.
Let's face it: In contemporary times, the term “exotic” has connotations that can be confusing (you'd be surprised how many calls we get inquiring about our birds and reptiles), if not downright misleading. When Jennie Lee & company launched the Exotique [sic] Dancers League in the 1950s, "exotic dance" and burlesque were one and the same. Today, the term is widely applied to *all* forms of adult entertainment, regardless of their origin or content. While we've got no issue with people calling themselves "exotic" (or being labeled as such by others), the more broadly the term is applied, the less it represents who we are and we do.

Of course, the name Exotic World will continue to live on--in Exotic World Weekend, the Miss Exotic World title (albeit slightly appended as 'Miss Exotic World, Reigning Queen of Burlesque'), and as part of our shared history.

Breast Defense

The 50th annual striptease reunion and the 2007 Miss Exotic World competition are just days away. Exotic World was founded by Jennie Lee, a dancer known as "The Bazoom Girl." In 1991, at the age of 61, Jennie died of breast cancer. So it seems only appropriate that this year Exotic World has teamed up with the Keep A Breast Foundation to raise money for breast cancer prevention and treatment.

Throughout the weekend burlesque stars like Julie Atlas Muz, Michelle L'amour, Dirty Martini and Tempest Storm as well as celebrities like Margaret Cho will have their breasts cast by sculptors. Then each mold will be given to a different artist who will decorate the bust before it is exhibited and auctioned off. The first round of finished casts will debut at Florida's Casa Monica Hotel in October 2007. In June 2008, the entire collection will be displayed in Downtown Las Vegas, as part of the city's First Friday Exhibition Series. Both exhibitions will be open to the public, and all casts will be auctioned online at Keep A Breast.

Vegas or Bust!

Perhaps it should be Vegas and bust because we're a little over a week away from Exotic World Weekend. Each June the burlesque hall of fame hosts a striptease reunion and the Miss Exotic World Burlesque Pageant. The weekend brings together both former dancers like Exotic World curator Dixie Evans who used to perform as "The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque" and Tempest Storm as well as neo-burlesquers like the reigning Miss Exotic World, Miss Julie Atlas Muz.

This year's festivities, which kick of June 8, get an extra shimmy of fun. It's the 50th anniversary of the striptease reunion and Exotic World is going all out. The fun starts Friday with a world record attempt as dancers stretch “The World’s Longest Boa”— just over 1/2 mile long — across Fremont Street. But things really heat up Saturday night during the Miss Exotic World Burlesque Pageant. The competition draws a wide range of dancers performing everything from the elegant, ballet-inspired striptease to fire-eating, circus-caliber hula-hooping.

Head here for tickets or stay tuned to The Candy Pitch. We're heading to Vegas with a small cadre of volunteers in order to bring you the low down on the down and dirty.