Class Overview

Course Experience Level:  All

Class Description:  This class invites you to challenge the way you learned burlesque history. Most burlesque history is taught under the focus of white Americana erasing the people of color who not only existed but brought this industry forth as trailblazers. Burlesque was not just an American concept of entertainment it was a global phenomenon that included a multitude of countries and cultures. Learn burlesque history through a new lens and challenge your perception of its origins.

About the Instructor

Bella Sin

Bella Sin has been researching the history of burlesque for the past fifteen years. Some of their areas of specialization include Latin burlesque throughout the Americas, LGTBQ+ burlesque, as well as the history of performers and venues in their current region, Cleveland Ohio. In their search for evidence of the lives of vedettes, rumberas, ficheras, and burlesque exotics, Sin has worked closely with the researchers and archivists of Ohio State’s special collections and assisted in the expansion of the Charles H McCaghy Collection of Exotic Dance. Sin also shares their knowledge and methods in an effort to decolonize burlesque, both historically and currently. Their class on Latin Burlesque emphasizes the often-overlooked contributions of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ to this art’s history. Sin currently serves as the historian of the Comite Mexicano, and the archivist for Mexican American Historical Association of Cleveland.