The Great Boston Burlesque Exposition (from virtual to physical)

Hello everyone! I’m so excited; I’m leaving for part of my “physical” fieldwork in just about 3 days! I will be attending the Great Boston Burlesque Exposition as a participant observer, where -- aside from attending shows, conferences and classes -- I will be assisting as a “Legend Escort” which will allow me to get to know better some very important personalities such as Dusty Summers, April March, Tiffany, Lilly Ann Rose, Candy Caramelo: ladies who have “paved the way for today's burlesque performers”.

April March, image taken from the Great Boston Burlesque Exposition website


I will also attend a class about burlesque choregraphy with Jo “Boobs” Weldon, from whom I have been following the blog website Burlesque Daily for a while, and have purchased the newly-released dvd...

I will as well have the opportunity to host a “Birds of a feather” session about my research topic; an informal discussion group with members of the community:

Neo-burlesque: bumping or grinding the mediated gendered norms?
Let’s discuss how neo-burlesque performances can lead to new representations of women by expanding the boundaries of the mediated feminine representation, as well as by challenging the feminine stereotypes commonly found in advertising and media. Can neo-burlesque be considered subversive or feminist? Is there an underlying commonality between the presence of “seemingly naïve” and “subversive” acts in the neo-burlesque community, other than sheer exhibitionism and retro afición?

I hope to take this opportunity to discuss the implications of online burlesque performances (in a context often reffered to as "disembodied").


This field opportunity was actually found while working on my cyber ethnographic research project. (!)

I’m so happy it is taking shape… (I also hope some of those quantitative research supremacists from my business school get to read that! : P)