UnDressing Burlesque

A photographer gets an intimate look at New York's fastest growing—and most frequently misunderstood—dance scene.

Photos by Madeline K.B. Ross

New York burlesque is back, in all its topless glory, on well-lit Manhattan stages and at private parties; inside living rooms and in the cramped back spaces of Brooklyn bars. Susan Gardner, a.k.a. Miss RunAround Sue, the artistic director of Sugar Shack Burlesque, estimates that in the last eight years the number of regular burlesque dancers in New York has tripled.