The New York Burlesque Festival

Dirty Martini

Hometown: New York City

Channeling both drag queens and old-school burlesque starlets, the one and only Dirty Martini modeled her performance after 1940s burlesque queens Jennie Lee and Lili St. Cyr and "a touch of Elvis and Liberace thrown in for good measure." Decked out in rhinestones, big tassels and bright colors, Dirty loves strutting her stuff onstage and is living proof that women of all sizes can be sexy. " After being a ballet dancer with the wrong physique, I had a mission to show my body in the proper light," she says. "The burlesque scene then grew up around me. I used to know everyone who did burlesque in NYC. I could count them on one hand. Now, I haven't heard of half the shows that are going on. It's very exciting and I feel as if I helped to accomplish that."

Website: http://www.missdirtymartini.com/

Burlesque Festival appearance: She'll be closing the Saturday Spectacular show on Sept. 20 at Le Poisson Rouge with the Pontani Sisters and some other wonderful headliners from around the country.

Next NYC performance (after Fest): Keep checking her website for updates