dita von teese: pocketvenus

Dita Von Teese talks to The Daily Beast about her sexy new flipbooks, why America can’t handle her moves, and the secrets of old-school burlesque.

America may have just lost burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese to Paris. The 37-year-old Michigan-born performer (née Heather Sweet) finished a run at Paris’ Crazy Horse and has purchased an apartment there (it’s also the home of boyfriend Count Louis Marie de Castelbajac). LA’s “mini skirts and UGG boots” style and permanent sunshine are part of what drove Von Teese to take flight, so she can “fall back in love with LA.”

She says she believes Europe gets her and her art in a way that some in her native country don’t. “Some people really think that all I do is wear red lipstick and dress in vintage clothes and cruise around,” said Von Teese while in Beijing, where she recently performed for a GQ China event. “In France and the U.K., they can show what I do on TV. The Jay Lenos of Europe all have me on. In America they’re obsessed with pop stars and maybe they’re a little bit afraid of having me on there because they think what I’m talking about and what I’m doing is too risqué.”

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