Zorita
| Zorita | |
 | |
| Birth name | Kathryn Boyd |
| Born | Aug 30, 1915 Youngstown, Ohio, USA |
| Died | Nov 12, 2001 - age 85 Stuart, Florida USA |
| Occupation: | Burlesque dancer, entertainer, actress |
Zorita (born Kathryn Boyd, 30 August 1915 – 12 November 2001) was an American burlesque dancer. She was best known for a twenty-minute dance which she performed with two boa constrictors called 'Elmer and Oscar'.
Early life
Zorita was born Kathryn Boyd in Youngstown, Ohio in 1915 and was adopted by a strict Methodist couple in Chicago. When she was 15 she worked as a manicurist. Following a client's suggestion (because of her full and mature figure) she worked as a stripper at stag parties to earn extra money.
When she was 17 she moved to San Diego to work in the Zoro Garden Nudist Colony at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. It was here she built up a friendship with a snake charmer who gave her the two snakes that became part of her act.
After being discovered through a beauty pageant, she began working as a burlesque artist in 1935.
Career
Zorita became well known for her unique and controversial numbers, such as the 'Half and Half'. She dressed one half of her body as a groom and the other as a bride, and, keeping one side to the audience, began to undress each other, leading to the 'wedding night romp.' In another, an unseen 'spider' removed her clothes whilst she danced in front of a rhinestone-covered spiderweb. However, her most iconic acts involved boa constrictors - an example of one was called The Consummation of the Wedding of the Snake, where she stripped while holding an 8-foot boa constrictor. She described it as: "A gorgeous young maiden is going to be sold into slavery to an ugly old man. Instead, she dances with a snake, gets bitten, and dies."
In another act, she emerges from a giant spiderweb dripping in rhinestone. Dark 'spider's hands' slowly peel off her clothes from the rear.
On August 15, 1941, Zorita was arrested for indecent exposure at the Kentucky Club in Toledo, Ohio. She was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment.
In 1941, Zorita was arrested by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) for her use of snakes in the act - she was also known to walk her snakes on leads in public. She was released on a $1,500 bail, but after her last New York performance, all of her snakes were confiscated.
The name 'Zorita' was given to her by Mr. Miller, who owned the San Francisco theatre where she was performing.
'Zorita', a song about her, was recorded by the Fields-Madera Orchestra.
She retired from stripping in 1954 and ran several burlesque clubs in New York and Miami before retiring completely in 1974 to breed Persian cats.
Zorita'a dance style
Zorita was adopted by Methodists as a child; by the time she was fifteen years old and "built to the hilt for her age," she would be doing stag parties, then nudist colonies (San Diego Worlds Fair) and finally turned to burlesque. Her routines would contain the use of snakes (Pythons & Boa Constrictors) as a gimmick with her most remembered routine being called "the consummation of the wedding of the snake." Cabaret Magazine (9/1957) reported that she taped the Pythons mouth shut during act, Also used Macaws in an act to undress her.
Another of her routines was called the "Half and Half" (by Vernon Castle), wherein the dancer/performer's costume was half designed as a male and the other half as a female. The dancer usually wore make-up to reflect the same, and Zorita became famous for her provocative rendition.
- Zorita in Dance
Half and Half
Snbake dance
Snake dance
Spanish dress
"Streaks"
Seated
Zorita was 'The Queen of the Flashers,' meaning that when the cops were not in attendance looking for a reason to shut it down, the audience would see a lot more than the PoPo would. Zorita liked women more than men and never married but did date certain men and used them for all they were worth. She became very famous in the world of burlesque and by 1954, had retired from strip-ping while owning her own burlesque nightclubs (Showbar) in the New York and Miami areas. Around 1974, she moved to Florida, where she bred Persian cats and entirely retired from the Burlesque world.
Personal life
Zorita was bisexual. When she was touring venues, her 'girlfriend' accompanied her. She was married (the first time at 15) and divorced three times. She later said that she stripped for men but preferred the company of women.
She died on 12 November 2001, aged 86.
Sources
- Zorita: Vintage Burlesque Dancer
- Academy of Burlesque & Cabaret - Superstars of Burlesque: Zorita
- Snake dancer Zorita arrested – Toledo History Box]
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