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Some of you finding this page may know me as a feminist scholar, some as a historian, some as my mothers daughter, even some as my performance alter ego Lydia Ransom[. My name is Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, and I am the adjunct historian for the Oral History Project at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender. The Burlesque Hall of Fame began as Jennie Lee's Exotic World, and was kept alive by Dixie Evans. As of now, it is a museum in Las Vegas. The Weekender is the yearly burlesque convention at which an international community of burlesque performers come together to watch, to learn, and to compete.
The Burlesque Hall of Fame event allows me 4 days in which I can interview numbers of performers from different eras - numbers I couldn't access in my day to day life. As a burlesque historian, this is an important thing for me, but also for the community. The more I can access, the more the community can learn. Every day I'm in Las Vegas on those days, I'm working. And then I attend shows and I shoot.
I've done this two years in a row as the point person and one year as an assistant, and the stories I've heard from performers really illustrate not only why burlesque is an important part of American history, but also a huge piece of women's history. I studied Women's History at Sarah Lawrence College in order to do this work, and I intend to continue it. Serving the community in order to study a history I believe needs to be heard. Here is a post on my site with further explanation of WHY I believe so strongly in this work: Burlesque History on Feminist Sonar
What I need: Airfare. It will cost me between $400-500 to get to Las Vegas from NYC. If I make more than that, I'll use the funds to upgrade some of my equipment, and to potentially bring an assistant to the Weekender. To bring an assistant, it will cost me $1000, so if we make that, I'm very excited!
Organizer
Elsa E. Sjunneson-Henry
Organizer
Jersey City, NJ
