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It has been a long time coming, but the revived world of burlesque is starting to realize that its soul is in New Orleans.

Enlarge The Times-Picayune
Ursula Undress has established herself as a performer, teacher, and producer in Atlanta
New Orleans Burlesque Festival 2010 gallery (9 photos)
The New Orleans Burlesque Festival returns this weekend for its sophomore year of celebrating the art of classic striptease and paying homage to the city's role in popularizing burlesque during its golden age.

During the 1940s and '50s, Bourbon Street was the center of the burlesque world, so the creation of a burlesque festival seemed like a long overdue no-brainer, founder Rick Delaup said. The first year's festival didn't disappoint, he said.
"We established last year that New Orleans is one of the top burlesque festivals in the world, " Delaup said. "All the performers that came in had a great time, and many said it was their favorite festival."
Delaup designed the events to focus on traditional burlesque in the classic, slow-burn mold, rather than incorporating some of the more avant-garde, comedic and explicit acts that have become a part of the genre's recent revival.

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