Former Xtra West columnist launches Burlesque West

Book looks at Vancouver's heyday of strip tease

Former Xtra West columnist Becki Ross launched Sep 10 her much anticipated book on Vancouver’s heyday of burlesque and strip tease.

Burlesque West: Showgirls, Sex, and Sin in Postwar Vancouver took UBC professor Ross a decade of research, including in-depth interviews with former dancers and strippers. Vancouver could boast one of the top strip-club scenes in North America for decades, a reflection of its status as a major port and a tourist destination. Dancers could make two-and-a-half times the income of a secretary or clerk at the time — but in exchange had to put up with moral judgment, attempts to impose shame, and racism. The book launch attracted some 147 people to the central Library, including former dancers and practitioners of neo-burlesque.

Read More About:
Culture, Vancouver, Arts, Nudity

Keep Reading

Side by side images of the cover of Terry Dactyl and author Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. The book is hot pink and black with open mouths; Mattilda wears a purple hat with a pink flower and a blue scarf.

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore on the link between the COVID-19 and AIDS crises

Sycamore’s new novel “Terry Dactyl” shirks nostalgia, instead showing how queer history often repeats
A blue moon in a dark sky.

Richard Linklater showed me how to love

During a honeymoon phase with a new partner, I clung to Linklater’s “Before” trilogy. His new film, “Blue Moon,” helped me carve a new path forward
The Girlfriend Experience and Sasha Colby

Sasha Colby and The Girlfriend Experience on dolling across the world

The drag legend and the rising star talk chosen trans family, post-Drag Race jet-setting and how to survive this moment in history
Signs and buildings of queer archives; hands playing a game

Among the archives, you can find love, community and history

Queer and trans archives preserve our past—they also offer community space that is essential to our future