Hold On: the show for Burned Out Activists

From Folsom Street to Burlesque, protesters undress to redress.

New York City has long been a place people come to reinvent themselves. But for those who were born here, the city has become somewhere they can barely afford to stay.

The affordability crisis has hollowed out neighborhoods across the five boroughs — and the displacement has not been proportional. Black and brown residents have borne the heaviest cost, pushed out of communities their families built over generations.

Communities have always found ways to fight back. Fundraisers. Benefit concerts. Block parties. The forms change, but the impulse is the same: we deserve to be here.

Grippy Sock Burlesque is trying something different. The goal is simple, and deeply human: to keep one native New Yorker home.

The Anglo history of Public Disrobings as a form of protest begins with the legend of Lady Godiva who rode naked on her horse through the streets after her husband dared her to go out naked and in exchange he would lower the town’s taxes. Since then, nude protests have taken two directions: one is using nudity to bring attention to a cause and the other is to change laws or customs around displaying the naked form. Grippy sock burlesque aims to tackle both.

On the individual level, neo-burlesque seeks to challenge ideas and customs around naked bodies and eroticism. The elaborate costumes and researched performances aim to confuse, entertain, and enlighten audiences. For the length of the dancer’s performance the audience sits transfixed upon their every move. The dancer controls the pace and the emotions of the audience, making them laugh, cheer, groan and gasp. Each piece of clothing removed reveals another portion of the performers body that may or may not be what’s imagined to exist under their clothes. In doing so they challenge the assumptions of gender, race, size and ability. All the while being paid for their efforts.

the four to six minutes you spend on stage are so special if you let them be. And that keeps me coming back.

-Vera Safire

The stage gives the performers with marginalized bodies a rare opportunity to control the gaze of others ,which in turn, serves to empower the human that inhabits that body. Instead of being commodified, the dancer uses their own body as a commodity, one that can contribute to their fight against larger forms of systemic oppression.

Folsom East

On a hot morning Sunday in June many New Yorkers are headed to church, meanwhile a block from the Chelsea piers another group gathers for their own spiritual experience. Folsom east draws revelers from the eastern seaboard to the high line to explore kink, wear leather and commune in a clothing optional extravaganza.

Disability Pride waves

Big Bass gets big laughs