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 That’s right everyone! You will have not one, but TWO opportunities to smooze with the ladies of Burlesque during our Festival event weekend, drink some fine booze and nosh on some good chow thanks to our very generous sponsor L.T Verrastros Inc !
Our first soiree will be our opening party meet and greet hosted by Pepperjacks at 41 Broadway in downtown Jim Thorpe, just steps away from the Opera House. The event will feature finger foods and beers from Verrastro Inc Beer Importers that will include Coors Light, Blue Moon and Stoudts Scarlet Lady .
If you miss the kick off celebration, no worries, you can meet the girls right after the show (and congratulate the winner!) at our post show party hosted at The New Molly Maguires Pub & Steakhouse at 5 Hazard Square in Downtown Jim Thorpe!
We can’t wait to see you there! Admission is FREE!
 DeeDee Madison, Esq. & Irma Bumstead Winterbottom We here at the Jim Thorpe Burlesque Festival were overwhelmed and overjoyed at the level and amount of talent that applied to be in our show. We are happy to announce our final and complete line-up.
Just about everyone is listed on our Meet the Performer page. We have such headlining acts like DeeDee Madison Esq and Irma Bumstead Winterbottom, Eva Valentina, Bella Sin, Jessica Saint, Peek-A-Boo Revue, The Incredible Edible Akynos, Eerie Twilight, Riley Schillaci, Sizzle Dizzle, Jacqueline Hyde, Lucky Minx & Trudy Dare, Bianca Dupree, Velma Candyass, Donna Touch and Mourna Handful. They are coming from all corners of the U.S & Canada including such cities as Seatle, San Francisco, NY, Philadelphia, Chicago, Toronto and Montreal!
And we are also proud to welcome strong man Pete Tino who will be going for a world record on our stage and magician Steve Cambian . And , of course, our opening act and special guest judge the International Burlesque Star & Diva Scarlett James.
Wow,this is going to be one amazing show! We hope to see you there.
 The Jim Thorpe Burlesque Festival is happy to announce our partnership with sponsor Retro Lovely Magazine. “Retro Lovely” is a 1950’s inspired pin-up magazine which caters to lovers of retro kitch, classic pin-up photography, Rockabilly style, and everything vintage.
“Retro Lovely” is currently holding a PIN-UP CONTEST to determine which lovely lady will grace the center pages of their maiden issue, which is set to be released in late March, 2010. Applicants and fans can go to www.retrolovely.com to submit their best pin-up photo and to vote for their favorite model. Current applicants include such gorgeous ladies as Bella Ciao, Asia DeVinyl, Ruby VonVanity, and Sophie St. Clair.
The winner of “Retro Lovely’s” Pin-Up Contest will be announced LIVE at “The Big Reveal” Burlesque Show during The Jim Thorpe Burlesque Festival. Vote NOW at www.retrolovely.com, and get your show tickets for “The Big Reveal” by clicking the “PURCHASE TICKETS” link at the top of this page!
Michael Bann, professional photographer and founder of Retro Lovely Magazine, is the official photographer of The Jim Thorpe Burlesque Festival. Learn more about his fantastic talents at www.bannphotography.com.
 We are excited to announce that Montreal’s Burlesque diva Lady Scarlett James has joined the Jim Thorpe Burlesque Festival as our third and final guest judge. But, even better than being seated as a judge , Miss James will be the opening act of our ” Big Reveal” show !
Scarlett is heavily involved in the re-emergence of Burlesque both as a producer and performer. She is known internationally for her beautiful, classy and classic burlesque performances. We are honored and extremely happy to have Scarlett as both our opening performance and a judge at our First Annual Burlesque Festival.
The following is the Biography from her website :
Scarlett spent her childhood in beautiful France with her Mother, by the ocean of Brittany. She studied Classical Ballet and Modern Jazz as a teenager, admiring Dalida and her very dazzling outfits, Bigitte Bardot, May West, Sally Rand ,the American silver screen sirens on TV, movies with bombshells and Pin-Ups, Marilyn. Dreaming that oneday she would have the chance to perform on stage in costumes as extravagant as those ones, creating vintage styles and dazzle an audience. She quietly prepared for the day whilst working in a jewelry store in a small city nearby… A fine job, but very quiet! At 20, she wanted adventure, action, and above all glamour! Eventually, she left France for new horizons, Montreal, Canada.
She studied at a college in Fine Arts, she was a 3rd generation painter after her mother and Grandfather. However, painting was not all she wanted to do. It was not enough. So she learned English, Spanish, took Theatre and Acting classes, Belly Dancing , travelled extensively, met new friends, made a new life and never stopped looking for that ‘je ne sais quoi’.
One day, some good friends brought her to see a Burlesque show downtown and there it was, she had an epiphany! ‘That’s it!’ she thought, ‘All that I love is contained in it! Acting, dancing, amazing costumes, performances, travel and photography!’
She did her first show, the public opened their arms warmly, she fell in love with it, and was hooked!
Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s how Scarlett James was born!
For More information about all of Scarlett’s productions please visit her websites:
montrealburlesqueproductions.com
montrealburlesquefestival.ca
scarlettjamesburlesque.com
 Jessica Saint It’s only Monday, and what an exciting week it has been for our festival.
For starters, our ticket sales are now up and running on our website on the Purchase Tickets page. There are two types of tickets available. You can purchase a ticket to “The Big Reveal” show and competition for March 27th at the Mauch Chunk Opera House for $28 or, for just $75, you can purchase an all access ticket that gets you into every class and lecture being offerd throughout the entire festival weekend. A full list of events can be found on the Events Schedule page. The day & time of each class will be listed soon.
Speaking of classes, we have added some more this week. We have performer AnneeLia Diamond offering a Make-up how- to -class which will cover the history of makeup, as well as how to apply day, night and stage makeup. Two lucky attendees will be choosen to have themselves made over right there at the class and, you will all recieve samples (AneeLia kindly asks for $5 donation to cover material costs). She will also give away some prizes. In addition to being a performer and giving instruction at our event, AneeLia will also be a vendor at our Bazaar at the Mauch Chunk Ballroom.
We’ve also added the gorgeous Jessica Saint of Philadelphia to our roster of performers. Jessica is a make up artist, model and Burlesque Dancer ; having recently shot a Guns & Roses music video. She performs regularly with Peek-a-boo Revue in Philadelphia. In addition to performing, she is offering a class on how to put together your own headresses from inspiration to creation. Watch as she creates a unique piece before your very eyes. She will even have supplies on hand so that you can create your own to take home with you.
And, we are happy to have picked up our second judge, Lane “The Doc” Roberts, from Penn’s Peak Radio & TV.
There are more exciting things coming our way this week including our third and very special guest judge who is a world renown Burlesque star! All will be revealed in due time. I’m going to save that little tidbit of information for the next blog post!
 Peter Tino of Massachusettes calls himself ’The Human Floor’. When he heard about our Festival, he contacted me about performing and offered to break his current world record on our stage at our “Big Reveal” Show . Of course, I said yes.
What exactly does he hold the record in? Well, while performing in NYC Peter had 20 woman in high heels stand on top of him on just about every available inch of his body while he laid on the floor. The total weight of all the woman; 2.233 lbs. He is going to attempt to break his record with 3,000 lbs!
But , Tino’s talents do not end there. He has a high threshold for pain, as he often performs on a bed of nails and allows audiences to staple bills to his body. In addition to performing the Human Floor routine on our stage at the “Big Reveal” , Peter will also be in our vending area where our patrons can staple money to his body. He is sure to leave you gasping and wondering just how he can perform such feats and it is sure to be an interesting addition to our weekend event.
 Photo by Sarah Priestap When the Jim Thorpe Burlesque Festival was sent a friend request on Myspace from Riley Schillaci, I just knew we had to contact her to be one of our performers at our “Big Reveal” show and competition at the Festival Weekend. When I found out that Riley was just as excited about participating in our show as I was at the thought of having her perform I was even more excited.
I’m still completely amazed at how people actually swallow swords. For most of us, swallowing a pill bigger than a pea is a challenge (you know, those horse pills) , never mind a huge steel blade that goes the entire length of your torso. I had seen the act performed on TV but never in person. And, the fact that this feat will be combined with the art of Burlesque, you know it is going to be one amazing performance. Riley is one of only 10 woman in the world that do this.
The art of sword swallowing originated in India in about 2000 B.C and later migrated to China in the 8th Century then, made it’s way to Japan and became part of their acrobatic theater. It appeared in Greece and Rome in the 1st Century AD. In middle ages Europe it was associated with street performers and performed mostly at festivals and large gatherings. However, during that time religious persecution slowly spread and sword swallowers , along with jugglers, magicians, prophets and performers, were labeled heretics and witches.
Sword swallowing began to take hold in the United States around 1893 when it became associated with circuses and sideshows.
You can learn more about the history of Sword Swallowing at the To The Hilt Sword Swallowing website. There you will also find a list of Sword Swallowers Past and present and World Record holders, as well as many other interesting facts. And yes, Riley is listed on the site.
Riley also works with fire; twirling it, breathing it and swallowing it. She does a performance art called ‘Poi Spinning’ employing a ball or balls suspended from flexible material. Of course, she takes it to the hilt by lighting the Poi on fire. Riley is going to teach the art of Poi Spinning during our weekend festival event. But, no worries, flame is not required! Poi spinning can also be performed with a glow in the dark material.
Please check our Events page to find out when and where the class will be offered during our weekend. We hope to see you there.
 We are happy to announce that Burlesque Dancer Eva Valentina of San Francisco will be in Jim Thorpe December 12th and has offered to teach an introduction to Burlesque class. The class will be a little “teaser” for residents, burlesque enthusiasts and our sponsors to give a taste of whats to come in March. We are honored to have her, and we look forward to seeing you there.
The class is a two hour class that will instruct you on the history of Burlesque, costuming, the Big Reveal & More. The cost is $20. Bring a friend and receive $10.00 OFF!
To pre-register for the class, please email info@jimthorpeburlesque.com or call 484-629-5070. While registering is not required it is helpful.
We look forward to seeing you there!
We are excited to announce that Jacqueline Hyde will be teaching the following two classes at our festival.
Cabaret BoomPow – AM Class (30 Mins)
Get inshape with great dance moves that are meant to target the hard to reach areas and to provide some great moves for when you are on stage. Learn from Professional Ballroom and Latin Instructor, Jacqueline Hyde the art of class, with a tough workout in Cabaret BoomPow.
Includes:
•20 Minute WorkOut Routine
•Tips & Tricks (Level 1)
•Core Control
Cabaret Dance – Smooth, Rhythm & Latin
Learn from professional Ballroom and Latin dance instructor, Jacqueline Hyde, the art of moving in a Smooth, Rhythm & Latin Style on stage with choreographed combinations for mutliple styles of music.
What you will learn:
•How to dance in high heels
•How to identify “Smooth” or “Latin & Rhythm” music
•How to create levels & dynamics with listening
•How to feel like a polished dancer, even if you are a beginner
•The basics of Cuban Hip Motion
We are going to be offering many more exciting and fun classes to our event so please check back regularly to see what is new! The time and day has not yet been set , but we’ll let you know when it is.
In the meantime you can visit Jacquelines Website for her full biography, or find her on Myspace.
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Advertise Here and Become a Sponsor Become a GOLD Sponsor of our event and have your company information, link and logo here!
Contact info@jimthorpeburlesque.com for more information on becoming a sponsor
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