JERSEY CITY -- Leona Beldini, a former deputy mayor who once performed on the burlesque circuit as Hope Diamond, is reviving that persona for a gala next week honoring the 40th anniversary of the Kennedy Dancers.

Beldini, known as "the gem of the exotics" starting in the 1950s, won't be stripping and, just three months after a knee replacement, will forgo dancing too. But she has some other tricks planned for the May 11 show.

"I can still strut a little bit," she told The Jersey Journal. "Maybe I'll take off a glove."

Beldini, who was sent to federal prison in 2012 following a bribery conviction, performed her bump-and-grind act for audiences at Union City's old Hudson Theater in the early 1950s. Her career, which included at least one appearance with burlesque legend Blaze Starr, came at the tail end of burlesque's popularity. A reporter called her "more of a respectable madame figure than a temptress" in a 1965 Harvard Crimson story.

Though she bared (mostly) all as Hope Diamond, Beldini thinks of those days as "an innocent time."

"By today's standards, we were nuns," she said with a laugh.

Beldini hasn't performed as Hope Diamond in over 40 years. One of her last appearances was on Long Island in 1970, when the local paper dubbed her "one of the premiere ecdysiasts" (in vulgar parlance, a stripper).

A deputy mayor under Jerramiah Healy, Beldini was arrested during the 2009 Operation Bid Rig sting and later found guilty of accepting $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions in exchange for assisting a corrupt developer with city approvals. Beldini, who was Healy's campaign treasurer, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2010. She was released in 2014.

The Kennedy Dancers' 40th anniversary show, called the "Jersey City Follies," will be a tribute to vaudeville and burlesque, styles of live entertainment dating back to the late 19th Century that included comic acts, singers and, yes, strippers. The show will be staged at the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theater in Journal Square.

Next week's show doubles as a major fundraiser for the Jersey City dance company, which started its first season in 1976.

Beldini won't be the only familiar name to grace the Loew's stage next week. The lineup includes: a song from "The Hague Quartet," ex-Corporation Counsel Sean Connelly, County Executive Tom DeGise, Healy and Freeholder Bill O'Dea; a performance of "Dreamgirls" courtesy of County Register Diane Coleman, who will sing live backed by state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham and Assemblywoman Angela McKnight; and Tom Parisi, a.k.a. "Tommy Two Scoops," singing "What a Wonderful World," made famous by Louis Armstrong.

Diane Dragone, Kennedy Dancers' artistic director, said she thought it would take more convincing to get Hudson County pols to agree to sing and dance live, but "people love to be on stage."

"Everybody has their showbiz side," said her husband, Tom Horan, the dance company's technical director.

The "Jersey City Follies" gala is scheduled to begin on Thursday, May 11 at 7 p.m. at the Loew's. Tickets are $65 and are now on sale at the Kennedy Dancers' studio at 79 Central Ave. and online.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.