Zorita: The Snake-Charming Star of American Burlesque

Zorita was more than a performer. She was an emblem of the rebellious, sensuous, and often subversive energy that defined American burlesque at its mid-century height. Clad in sequins, draped in serpents, and draped equally in defiance of mainstream expectations, she carved a name for herself in an industry shaped by spectacle, sexuality, and satire.

Though the name “Zorita” conjures images of feathers, boas, and flashing lights, the woman behind the persona began life as Kathryn Boyd, born on 30 August 1915 in Youngstown, Ohio. Orphaned at a young age, she was adopted by a devout Methodist couple in Chicago. Her upbringing was marked by the strict discipline and religious modesty typical of the American Midwest in the 1920s. Yet even in this repressive environment, Kathryn’s future would not be constrained.

Early Rebellion and the Allure of Performance

By the age of fifteen, Kathryn had already started pushing against the boundaries set for her. Working as a manicurist, she came into contact with a wide variety of characters, one of whom suggested she consider dancing at stag parties — a tip that proved prophetic. Encouraged by the attention she received, she began appearing at private functions, and her confidence as a performer began to grow.

But it was her relocation to California at seventeen that marked a significant turning point. Kathryn moved to San Diego, where she joined the cast of the Zoro Garden Nudist Colony, part of the 1935–36 California Pacific International Exposition. The exhibit was billed as educational, showing the health benefits of nudism, but in reality, it was a provocative showcase that blurred the lines between performance and voyeurism. Kathryn and her fellow performers didn’t actually live as nudists — it was theatre, but theatre of a distinctly risqué kind. This experience gave her not only exposure to large crowds but also a keen understanding of how shock and sensuality could be wielded for entertainment.

Enter Elmer and Oscar

While working at Zoro Garden, she struck up a friendship with a snake charmer. The snakes he used in his act fascinated her, and in a gesture that would change her life, he gave her two boa constrictors: Elmer and Oscar. She began experimenting with incorporating them into her act, and the results were electric. Few things thrilled Depression-era audiences more than a beautiful woman performing exotic dances with live snakes — the ultimate symbol of forbidden allure.

Her newfound talent led her to enter a local beauty pageant, which she won. This triumph was more than a sash and a bouquet. It gave her the confidence — and the visibility — to seek out professional stage work. Her burlesque career was officially underway.

The Birth of Zorita

As she transitioned into the world of professional burlesque, Kathryn Boyd adopted the name Zorita — a moniker reportedly given to her by a theatre owner in San Francisco who felt her act needed a name with mystique and flair. It was a savvy branding move. Zorita sounded foreign, exotic, untameable — exactly the impression she sought to project on stage.

Her act grew increasingly elaborate. She was no mere ecdysiast — the term often used to elevate burlesque dancers beyond the simple label of “stripper.” Zorita fused drama, narrative, and eroticism. Her most famous routine, “The Consummation of the Wedding of the Snake,” began with her veiled in white lace, progressing into a slow, sinuous dance in which she removed her garments piece by piece while entwined with her snakes. The act was equal parts taboo and tantalising, and it cemented her reputation nationwide. As she described it:

"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."

Her secondary acts were just as thrilling. In one, Zorita emerges from a giant spiderweb dripping in rhinestones, as dark “spider” hands slowly tease off her clothing from behind. In another, called “½ ‘n ½,” (more of which, later) she dressed one side of her body as a man in a suit and the other as a virginal damsel.

Between performances, Zorita would walk among the tables. In tight spaces, her snake would graze the heads of customers. One patron reportedly became so alarmed that he pulled a gun on her before the club manager intervened. Other times, she would bring out the children of her fellow performers and threaten to throw the snake on a table unless they gave the kids a dollar.

The Half-and-Half Costume: A Costume With Commentary

In this costume, Zorita appeared on stage dressed with one side of her body styled as a man and the other as a woman. One half of her costume was a tailored man’s suit jacket, complete with trousers, a bow tie, and a moustache pencilled on the corresponding side of her face. The other half was a quintessential showgirl’s outfit — fishnet tights, corset, and sequins, with her face made up in glamourous stage makeup.

This wasn’t merely a gimmick. The act she performed in this costume — often a slow, choreographed “duet” between her masculine and feminine selves — allowed her to literally embody gender duality, alternating roles with each turn of her body. In a time when American society was strictly governed by binary gender roles and heteronormative ideals, the visual and symbolic impact of this performance was significant.

The act frequently culminated with her performing a flirtatious pas de deux with herself — a dance routine that mimicked seduction, rejection, and embrace — revealing how burlesque could be used as a form of parody and critique. It was subversive and surprisingly introspective, cloaked in rhinestones and titillation.

Another of her legendary performances featured her locked inside a large birdcage, from which she would slowly undress while the snakes slithered around her. It was transgressive, theatrical, and wholly original. She had “stripped herself down to a costume of goose pimples,” according to a report by the Toledo Blade. She was released on bond, but after receiving word that Zorita planned to leave town, police re-arrested her.

At the time, she had been touring venues in a trailer with a “girl friend.” Known to be bisexual, Zorita nonetheless married and divorced three men. After her daughter was born, Zorita slowed her travels and settled in Dade County, Florida. She bought an estate using money from General Motors stock, which she frequently requested from men she slept with.

Zorita (center) with her mother (left) and friend “Gus” (right), circa 1950s

On August 15, 1941, at age 23, Zorita was arrested for indecent exposure at the Kentucky Club in Toledo, Ohio.

She appeared in court “wearing conventional clothes and a pair of green-tinted glasses framed in daisy petals.” As she left court, she told an officer the whole affair was “kind of corny.” On August 27, Zorita was convicted by a jury and sentenced to six months in jail.

A Businesswoman Behind the Boas

Zorita was not just a performer. She was a shrewd businesswoman who understood the economics of showbiz. At the height of her career, she owned and operated several burlesque clubs across the country, including The Chateau in New Orleans and her eponymous Club Zorita in Miami. She often trained other dancers, coached them in both performance and presentation, and provided them with work when others would not.

Despite facing constant legal challenges, Zorita fought vigorously for the rights of dancers and performers. She resisted pressure to sanitise her shows, arguing that burlesque was a legitimate form of theatre that should not be lumped together with illegal obscenity. She challenged decency laws in multiple jurisdictions and became a quiet pioneer in the fight for performance rights and bodily autonomy on stage.

The Later Years

Zorita retired from performance in the late 1950s, after a career spanning more than two decades. She lived quietly in Florida, where she remained an influential figure in the burlesque revivalist movement that gained traction in the 1990s and 2000s. Contemporary performers often cited her as an inspiration. Dita Von Teese, among others, acknowledged Zorita’s legacy in fusing classical glamour with transgressive themes.

Until her death in 2001, Zorita remained a private but respected elder stateswoman of burlesque. She granted few interviews, preferring her work — and its lasting visual iconography — to speak for itself.

A Legacy Coiled in Glitter

Zorita’s contribution to burlesque went beyond her snake acts. She redefined what a stage persona could be: daring, creative, confrontational, and unapologetically erotic. At a time when women’s roles were circumscribed and heavily policed, she carved out a space where she controlled the gaze — manipulating it, challenging it, and profiting from it.

Her legacy lives on in the resurgence of burlesque as a feminist and artistic practice. In contemporary performances, the echoes of Zorita’s defiant glamour are unmistakable. She turned the stage into a jungle, draped in sequins and serpents, and dared the world to look away.

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Sources:

• "Zorita: Queen of the Striptease", Burlesque Hall of Fame Archive

• Nat Freedland, The Underground Guide to Burlesque Shows (1965)

• Leslie Zemeckis, Behind the Burly Q: The Story of Burlesque in America (2013)

• Interview excerpts from Exotique Magazine (1949–1953)