The naughty naughties...Pt.1

Oh don't get excited. I'm not much of a kiss and tell kind of girl and I'm far too nice to share any really dirty gossip.

December. Well, by the very fact that I haven't written a word since November's Freche Muse you can probably tell it's been rather busy.

Asides from the usual Christmas and New Year preparations there was an awful lot of fun to be had and this year I was in the Christmas spirit more so than ever.

If you've read any of my blog entries you'll know I tend to waffle. I like to think of it as creating the right kind of imagery through descriptive language but I suppose that's up for debate! So I've broken December down into newsworthy events.

There was also a trip to Berlin with BW early in December which renewed my love of the city. Yet another place I must live one day along with Paris. The benefit of living in Germany however is that I would be able to speak the language at least. My german is getting ever rustier and it was pleasing to be able to have an opportunity to practise.

My only real resolution for the New Year is to organise a Stammtisch, where people with varying levels of German speaking ability gather to have a few drinks and attempt conversation. Naturally this becomes much easier for the less fluent as more alcohol is imbibed.

We were mostly focused on enjoying the Christmas markets. Nobody does them like the Germans (yes I know I'm biased) and BW wanted to experience them too, particularly as this was his first time in Germany. We stayed in a lovely place in the center, Pension Elegia. Don't bother with the breakfast though just pick up a pastry and a coffee from the bakery on the corner.

On our first night I managed to put my clock back an hour instead of forward an hour. Which resulted in some serious confusion on our first morning. Staring at the clock which I believed should have read 9:30 and seeing 11:30 instead. Nevertheless I dragged BW off to Checkpoint Charlie. Last time I went there 9 years ago I was just a lass on my first outing to Germany. It moved me then and I appreciated it just as much the second time around.

Once we left the Checkpoint it was starting to get dark, and if we thought it was cold earlier the temperature plummeted once dark fell. But onwards to the Weihnachtsmarkt on Gendarmenmarkt. It was pure magic.

We did go to other markets. There was one outside Charlottenburg castle which had a giant wooden nativity which revolved like the traditional german Christmas decorations. But the one at Gendarmenmarkt was our favourite and we went back again the night before we left.

Brightly lit stars on every stall, Gluhwein (mulled wine), hot chocolate, Bratwurst in breadrolls, Christmas biscuits, waffles with hot cherries and cream, poffertjes and crepes with icing sugar, hot amaretto, this trip was all about the food and drink. There was also entertainment on the main stage. My favourite was the music. A jazz band playing 1920s and 30s tunes one night and a Sinatra style one the next. Rugged up in enough layers to resemble a throng of Eskimos and warmed by a few strong mulled wines, we all danced in the icy square.

Never entirely being able to escape thoughts of burlesque and performance, two things happened in Berlin. BW found a flyer for a burlesque show which had already been and gone which happened to have a number of english dancers I recognised. Secondly, BW had a brilliant idea for an act and as I wandered through a stall selling traditional decorations I stumbled upon something which crystallised that idea. It will be a long time in the making though so don't hold your breath folks.

Tacheles Kunsthaus was one of my favourites parts of the visit. Another performer Therese la Tease had suggested it when we were chatting at Bob's birthday party. Her description of it fascinated me, that it looked like a squat from the outside (and indeed it is) but once you walk inside it is a gallery like no other.

BW and I hopped off the U-Bahn and wandered down Oranienburgerstrasse pausing at the entrance of Tacheles not entirely sure if it was the entrance or not. On wandering in there is a sculpture garden, strange animals and shapes. We got talking to one of the artists, his name escapes me now but he was a New Yorker and told us his story and a bit about the other artists.

They are creating something wonderful there, a free artistic space and a famous tourist destination. All the while they manage the freezing cold with no heating, no running water and constant pressure to leave from the developers who want to build apartment blocks on the space and the police.

Further down on Oranienburger Str is a shop for United Loneliness, which stocks the work of Andras Bartos. I loved the oddness of the characters in his prints, the cute rage and sly humour. These are two of my favourites, kick-ass rooster and Smoking Cucumber in Swimsuit II.

I would recommend a trip down this street if you're ever in Berlin.

There is much more to tell but it's snowing outside, I have a fire going and a glass of wine to hand so I'm planning on enjoying a cosy winter night and that doesn't involve spending the whole night on the laptop!

Wishing you Winter magic. x Bella

Bacchus by any other name Pt. 2

Oops!

Forgot to write part two didn't I!

Well, considering the aforementioned London traffic hell I was lucky to arrive at Nick Von Fiction's place with enough time to down a half glass of red wine before we jumped in a cab to the venue.

We had been planning on trying out some vintage style photographs in Die Freche Muse venue for a while. Unfortunately my issues with the traffic left us limited time but with the time we had Nick worked wonders. He'll try to tell you otherwise but he really is a bit of a clever clogs with his lighting.

I managed one costume change before the doors opened for Die Freche Muse and some of the results of our shoot should be up on the website before long.

Throughout the shoot one of the other burlesque performers for the evening, Laurie Hagen was waiting downstairs. Laurie has one of those incredibly expressive 1920s faces and as I saw later in the night her act was just gorgeous. I think in the picture of me I've included at the start of this post I've got the giggles over whatever is happening in the corner where the girls were sitting.

Once the doors had opened I took my things upstairs to the dressing room where the house cat was on hand to inspect all our things. At one point as Laurie and I were getting ready he had us in stitches as he crawled under a sheet and was just swiping with one paw at Laurie's feet. Once he realised we were no longer playing he decided to throw himself at the 30 cm space between us which resulted in us both squealing like little girls and him nearly clearing the bed.

Often at these events a lot of the night is spent upstairs or backstage if you will, chatting with other performers and friends of the promoters. I had the opportunity to chat with Millicent Binks who looks almost exactly like a china doll, so delicate! And briefly met Sumi Sumatra although I unfortunately didn't get to see her act.

I did discover that we had the same pants on however and I wonder if the audience thought there had been a bit of costume sharing going on backstage.

As ever with Die Freche Muse, I didn't get back home until after sun up. The Baron von Sanderson was late to this party though as he'd been filming for Come Dine With Me. I'm dying to know when his episode airs!

You might have noticed the title of this blog, Bacchus by any other name. A tribute really to a man who reminds me ever so much of a cross between Bacchus, or Dionysus in other mythology, and a very naughty little boy. Although I suppose Bacchus was just a very naughty little boy really.

Whether he's taking everyone over to the bar for another champagne or swooping a lovely lass up for a dance, he is ever the otherworldly host. So Baron, well done for another wonderful Freche Muse!

Well that's enough writing for tonight. BW is tugging at the sleeve of my dressing gown to come watch a film before bed. Sometimes he reminds me quite a lot of a cat. If you've ever owned one you'll know how much they like to get in between you and the computer screen with a 'What is this strange thing you're giving far too much attention to? Here, let me remedy that' kind of look as they plonk themselves on the keyboard.

Night all...x Bella

Bacchus by any other name.

It is currently nearing on 2am as I appear to have out-slept myself. So I thought I'd tell a little tale about this month so far.

Well the first bit of big news is that I've started working on another act. I'm quite focused on environmental awareness and so this new act will be a balloon pop tribute to our Honey Bees. What else could I call it but The Honeypot (Plight of the Honeybee). If there's one thing burlesque allows me, if not demands of me, it is certainly the freedom to come up with the cheesiest names I can.

A balloon pop is one of the traditional burlesque acts and as of yet I've not had one because....well, because I HATE popping balloons! Well actually, I don't hate popping balloons I just hate when they pop unexpectedly.

I was the kid that wouldn't join in the balloon popping game at my school friends parties. You know the one where everyone has to hold a balloon between their knees and try to pop everyone elses balloon while keeping yours safe?

Creating this should be an interesting process and may possibly see my blood pressure skyrocket.

Next thing for this month was Hula Hooping. I'm currently attempting to collect circus skills like some people collect stamps. Speaking of which does anyone actually collect stamps anymore?

Anyway, as I often say 'I'm proud of my curves' when I really mean to say 'I hate sit-ups and I don't give a damn what you think', I've discovered the perfect antidote to my anti-exercise mentality will definitely be Hula Hooping. If one of those babies isn't in my Christmas stocking this year then I am throwing my toys out of the pram.

I have to say though, that I've been wanting to do a Hula Hooping act ever since I saw a duo at the London Burlesque Festival Newcomers earlier this year. H-O-T. I can't even remember the name of their act but it was a travesty that they didn't win anything.

Finally we have this Friday. I've been planning a trip to Vivienne of Holloway ever since my brothers sent me a gift voucher for my birthday to try on the cutest dress I'd ever seen. I roped Bea Devile into coming along with me (I didn't need to try to hard) as it's always more fun with two. I came away with a dress, and a pair of fabulous high waist denims AND one of their halter tops. If Bea hadn't rushed me out of there to get to the Nikita Sablier sale I may have maxed my credit card out.

Bea had discovered a wonderful covered arcade near Carnaby St which has no less than 6 vintage stores and Something Hells, the vintage hairdressers of Miss Betty & Mr Ducktail. The inside of the arcade has a courtyard which feel like it's outdoors but is fully covered and currently bedecked in pretty fairy lights. Much nicer than some of the nasty (there's no other word for it) Christmas displays already up all over the place.

Oh but we had run out of time to look at all of the shops so we had already planned our next visit for December as we had tea and cake at Candy Cakes to get our energy back before our respective journeys. Candy Cakes have the most incredible looking muffins. Brightly coloured icing and topped enormous marshmallow and jelly shapes, they really do look the part in their little turquoise giftboxes.

Unfortunately they were a bit sickly sweet for my tastes but very cute looking nonetheless and kept me going for the next few hours of London traffic hell.

And here I'll leave you in suspense for the second installment of Friday night's frolics and festivities as it is most certainly time for bed.

Calendar on sale!

That's right it's up and ready to be ordered in time for Christmas! See the home page of my website for details on choosing the right calendar for you and you'll have a very Merry Christmas indeed!

The Bunny is back.

Club Smooch Backstage

Ok, I realise I have been a little quiet as of late but that's only because I've been hard at work creating my first true comedy act.

I always have a couple of pages of act ideas at all times and picking ones I want to work on is so hard because I want to do them all! But I must stick by my own mantra of less acts, better quality.

Last time I was in town before a Club Smooch after my sound check and run through I popped out to pick up some false eyelashes. It just so happened that the local costume shop was having a sale of it's ex rental costumes. I wasn't expecting to find anything but I had a bit of a snoop amongst the rails and found a scraggy looking bunny costume.

I've always wanted to go to Halloween dressed in a big fluffy bear outfit, if only so I could run up to people and cuddle them like an overgrown teddy bear. So I was drawn to the bedraggled looking bunny. I managed to talk them down from the overambitious pricing and left the store with a new act in the bag. Well not quite, but you get the picture.

Music was the next stumbling block. I knew I wanted to use Run Rabbit Run, simply for the fact that the cheeriness of it would juxtapose so nicely against what I was going to do to this poor little bunny. But how to finish it.

A chance evening in with nothing to watch but 'Top 100 sexiest music videos' was to be my saviour. Never mind thatthe woman co-hosting sounded like she should have been on one of those ads that crop up at about 1:30am. You know the ones I'm talking about, 'Sexy girls in your neighbourhood are just waiting for YOUR call.' Nonetheless, I found myself tapping my toes to a completely over the top pop/hip hop song and voila! I had my music.

The process was a lot of fun for me. More acting than dancing, it was just a bit of silly fun. I could never have predicted just how much the audience at Club Smooch was going to love it. The reaction was overwhelming. I often have people come up to me after a show to say they liked the act, etc. This time I had people copying the bunny moves!

Speaking of Club Smooch, all puns aside, the Halloween event was a hell of a night! I also performed my La Belle Femme en Rouge act which was the complete opposite of Rabbit Pie. It's a 30s jazz era fan dance with an exquisite costume from Curve Couture. You can see it here where Vanessa, our Club Smooch maid has snapped me backstage waiting to go on.


Chrissie (boss lady at Curve Couture) also had a fashion show during Club Smooch. Her fashion shows are never ordinary and although I saw them rehearsing and had a little peek from behind the curtain backstage I didn't get to see the full show until I was going through the footage from the show with Bob on Saturday. Wow! It was very, very sexy.

In fact, on the Halloween night I was onstage no less than 4 times! We all got out on stage for a boogie to one of Trixy Vixens songs Moloko, and I was also part of the Club Smooch Troupe. It reminded me of all the things I miss about theatre. In particular a nice Sunday roast before rehearsals!

Fake food

Yes you read right. Fake food.

I've recently had to hunt for a fake pie to use as a prop and have discovered a whole new world I never knew existed. The world of fake food and items disguised as food (take your pick - soaps, candles, potpourri, the list goes on!).

Again, as it seems with so many specialty businesses it seems to be based mostly in the US of A and goes from the sublime as seen in the first photo above.

To the ridiculous....

Well my eyes have been opened and apparently there's quite a market for fake cake rental in the US where couples can rent a fake cake complete with one real slice for the cake cutting ceremony. Incredible! Can you imagine Aunt Maude fawning over your beautiful wedding cake when you know it's not real...and to that point would you tell your guests or keep it schtum? Moral dilemma!

I have to admit there are some really beautiful designs and some really ingenious ideas for getting around the cake cutting ceremony issue. This one was from a company called Ultimate Fake Cakes.

However, I think for now I will be sticking with my fake pie for my act and keeping the rest of my food entirely edible.

2010 Calendar

Just a bit of exciting news in...Shortly there'll be the opportunity to buy my very first calendar for 2010...Ooh er!

The calendar is a mix of some of my best pictures from various photo shoots throughout 2009 and onstage performance pictures. I'm really quite pleased with it and I'm sure you will be too. Don't forget your glamourous friends this Christmas, it's the perfect gift for a vintage lad or lass!

Land of the holy shoe

Anyone drooling yet? In yet another frustrating, 'why don't they sell these in the UK' moment I've found a website called pinupgirlclothing.com while I was on the search for some suitably cute shoes. I'm a terrible online shopper. Not terrible in the I'm no good at it way, but terrible in the I will bankrupt myself way.

The crying shame is that most of the great vintage reproduction or vintage look clothes and shoes websites are American. They have a great range, they look really cheap, then you get slapped with the shipping charges and have to pay customs charges on top of that.

Now I know of a couple of great London clothes and lingerie stores (all my friend's know I'm buying myself a Viviennne of Holloway dress for my birthday!), but when it comes to shoes I am stuck.

My birthday plea is to share your vintage repro shoe secrets with me and if you have any wonderful ideas of where to find sweater girl jumpers or cardigans please do tell!

A little midnight magic cont...

Well after my very busy day I had to nanna nap before my performance that night. Rock and Roll, I know, but this particular event is always on very late and I knew I would be flagging if I didn't get some rest in. There's nothing less attractive than a sluggish dancer!



Die Freche Muse is already a favourite night of mine, I wrote about it in a previous post 'A midsummer night's dream'. Stepping into this secret London location is like stepping back in time, into a time I belong to. It's fairly unusual for me to be the only performer in the dressing room and I found it quite unusual not to be squeezing alongside a few other girls in front of the mirror.



There were more performers in later in the evening but I had great and good intentions of performing early and getting back to the station for the first train of the morning to Brighton (I told you it was a late show). Did these great and good intentions come to pass. Not quite.



I was performing Living Doll without my big satin gift box and I'd had to do a quick bit of choreography that week to fill in some of the time I would usually spend getting out of the box. Thankfully it worked very well and it was actually quite nice not to be squeezed into a confined space at the start of my act!



I bumped into Nick von Fiction who was at the last one and who also did some pictures for the LustReality show Striplite back when I first started doing burlesque. Nick got a couple of nice pictures which I'll pop up on the website as soon as I have a chance.



After my act I managed to catch a few other performers and when I wandered over to the Baron to collect my wages he was very insistent I stay on for the after party.



'No, no, no' I said. 'I must get the first train home.'

'Have another glass of champagne.' he said and dragged me over to the bar for another Bellini.



Well, I can't say it was hard to convince me! I rarely get to stick around and enjoy the party at any show and I was in the mood to enjoy the ambiance of this 20s-30s evening, all the way into the not so wee hours of the morning.



Black and white silent expressionist films play on one wall of the room while the guests dance to the sounds of the jazz band, and clusters of party goers lounge on the armchairs amongst the paintings and lamps while a singer croons in German with a voice like Ella Fitzgerald.



Another dancer came out, Isis, who freestyle danced to the piano players hot jazz in a tiny, fringed outfit and ended up with nothing but her g-string and the piano players hat to cover her modesty.



At one point I spoke to a woman who does clowning. Not the horrid red nose and big shoes kind of clowns that freak me out but a small, very flexible, very expressive woman who was also an impressive dancer. She had a little tip to give me about street performance, but that one I'm keeping to myself.



In fact I met so many people I can't remember all their names which is annoying as they were all such fascinating people.



Ultimately I didn't end up getting home till 8:30am the next morning, with a few secrets, a few more gigs lined up and dreams of 1920s bright young things bopping around in my head. Oh boy but it was worth it.

A little midnight magic

Well that's not where my weekend ended. Oh no.



Friday I went into Chrissie's studio for another fitting of the new costume for the relaunch of my Red Angel act. The process of creating a costume is a strange one. From the image I created while curled up in front of a film one night, the idea has sprung forth into reality and each week it gets closer to realisation. Quite amazing really.




Chrissie and I have also had to play around with the original idea as a picture you have in your head is not always possible given the laws of physics. Additionally the 1930s dress design I found and an original 1920s pattern with the most beautiful back line that Chrissie found had to be tweaked and combined to create something that suited the needs of the act, and my figure.


I am a curvy girl and as much as I have willowy Coco Chanel fantasies, the 20s dropped waistlines make me look like a hippo. The 1930s silver screen style is much better suited to my frame and looks far more elegant on me. It is all about understanding your own shape.




I grew up in a very large family and my mother had 3 sisters. One for each season you might say, and quite interestingly as far as complexions go, they were. If you've never had a season colour analysis of your skin, do one...now...Google it! Some say this is old fashioned but it has never, ever let me down and if you are wondering, I am a Winter.




Each sister is a different season and each dresses with such style. Add to that a myriad of female cousins and I had a perfect base for learning how to dress to suit myself. When other girls my age were reading Dolly or Girlfriend, I have memories of scouring the pages of Vogue in my aunt's living room.




I can't say that I dress with Glamour all the time as I love a pair of jeans and hoodie as much as the next girl, but style I can do.




The same day I also had a meeting with a friend about my new showreel. We met some time ago when I first performed for the Burlesque Against Breast Cancer folks and he shot a little film of one of my acts. We met for coffee to discuss the film shortly after and ever since we've met up every now and then to discuss performances.




Affectionately known as Bob by the Burlesque crowd, he always has some excellent insights and ideas on my acts and it's so nice to be able to discuss them in such a focused way. I feel like I must drive BW crazy sometimes as I'm so burlesque obsessed my nearly every thought is related to act ideas, costumes, vintage, other shows and performers, and so on.




I also think I can take the credit for introducing Bob to cupcakes (don't tell his sister!), when the cafe at Waterstones was full and I was craving a sugar hit. So I took him down to Angel Food Bakery on Meeting House lane which went down a treat.



Bea DeVile, who shares my obsession for cupcakes, had introduced me to this cute little shop which is now one of my favourite places in Brighton. She now regularly tortures me by sending me links to anything cupcake related (did you know you can get cupcakes delivered, like pizza!). Something about their daintiness makes them so incredibly desirable to girls who like pretty things.




Anyway, I'm getting distracted again. The new showreel is quite a nice step for me. Naturally I can't help but pick my own performances to pieces, but any decent performer does. Bob filmed the two acts I did at Club Smooch in September which we've combined and will post on the website shortly under Film. An additional 'teaser' (so to speak!) trailer will go up in a few months time when we've filmed all my acts.




A showreel, along with a website and some good recommendations, is a key part of any performers arsenal, particularly to send to promoters who haven't seen or heard of you yet as it can be difficult to tell a teaseur just from their pictures.



So onward into the night. The day is not over but I will continue the story later... Bonsoir!

Full Moon

I promised a next day installment and this time I'm delivering!

After Club Smooch I was itching to get back on the stage. Particularly after seeing so many good friends. I told you Danny was there but did I mention Chrissie of Curve Couture was in the audience?

She shot backstage to wish us all luck or break a leg and I'm amazed she managed it up the stairs in her gorgeously high red sparkly shoes! I'm always surprised by how many neck-breakingly steep stairs are in most backstage areas. I suppose it adds to the thrill! I was pleased that she got to see her Curve Couture masterpiece onstage, and don't worry, I will put pictures up as soon as I get my hot little hands on them.

So Thursday night I was back in Hastings for Burlesk! Cabaret Carnivale. I had such a great time last time I was there I was so pleased to be back. Hastings is only just up the coast from Brighton and a very cruisy train journey had me there in no time. As I've perfected the art of 'On train make-up application' I only had my hair and a bit of glittering to do when I got there.

Ah yes, it's a glamorous life. I can even put on false eyelashes on the train. I'm not quite sure what my fellow train goers think of me, but I've long since stopped caring if it saves me a half hour at home!

Lady Severine who runs the night was the spectacular ring master for the night resplendent in her top hat and hands down the best chest in burlesque. We actually had a bit of time for a chat over a glass of wine and the curling tongs which was nice for a change from frantic preparations. Most excitingly it looks like I'll be back for their Christmas show as well!

Miss Glory Pearl was on in the first half which I was excited about as we really hadn't seen each other since the London Burlesque festival. She performed her Sally Poles routine which I managed to catch from the window in the dressing room while getting dressed. I was concerned that I was going to either burn my hair or knock over the spotlight which was set up in the window so I only caught a few pole tricks, but it was looking pretty good to me!

On in the second half was Honour Mission, another Brighton lass who also happened to be at the Club Smooch show with me the week before. She was on right before me doing her stompingly good 50 foot woman act so I didn't see her act but I could hear it just fine. Those buildings don't stand a chance! Honour Mission, if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting her, is the very definition of an Amazon. Quite a woman.

After catching the end of Domino's act (fabulous as usual) and having a brief chat with the other performers we had to dash, but not before I had a chance to speak with Sinan Bozkurt.

Sin has done most of the pictures from Burlesk! that I have on my website and excepting that he's also a very sweet man. I had just enough time to discuss a possible photo shoot and to take a few pictures after the show (see above).

Gosh, how lucky was I to get a lift home with Honour! To be delivered to my door is a very rare luxury which I enjoyed immensely as we laughed all the way home, Honour, myself and her 'roadie' her very kind friend who was doing the driving.

One thing that did get mentioned was the Burlesque Against Breast Cancer blogs, which at times feature my own blog entries. I won't go into it now except to say that after sharing some stories with Honour I will be writing a special blog about my family's brush with Cancer. I believe Honour has bravely done so as well and after hearing her story in the car on the way home it made me think how many incredible stories must be out there.

So I'll leave you here where I lay my weary head to rest before another day of the burlesque business, and as I'm managing to keep my promises these days I might even promise to update a pic or two to my blog.

See you in the morning!

Smoochie, smoochie!

Club Smooch cast including flirtini's, bears, chaps and burlesque
starlets extroardinaire!

I love travelling for my work. Getting to meet new people, other performers, is very exciting and a lot of fun.

But there is something very special about performing in my very own stomping ground of Brighton. Not only does it mean there's no late night train to catch, but I usually know everyone back stage and quite a few out in the audience!

Club Smooch is a Brighton institute as far as Burlesque entertainment goes. I have modelled for Curve Couture at a Club Smooch night but this was my first time performing at this night.

The atmosphere backstage was wonderfully exciting and friendly, much like when I was in high school and all the girls would congregate at one house to get ready for Friday night's party. There were girls and guys (don't forget the Dream Bears!) chatting and laughing, last minute snacking, dressing, glittering and hairspraying all over the shop.

I was debuting my new box (all puns aside please!) for my Living Doll act and it performed beautifully. Most importantly, it collapsed down at the end of the night so I could fold it into a bag, sling it over my shoulder and carry it off at the end of the night. An absolute dream compared to the cumbersome old prop I had before.

The whole night really felt like one big party really, and the best part of all was that BW came along for his first ever show! I'm pleased to report that he had a great time and brought another friend along who was also a burlesque virgin so to speak (BW has seen me rehearse so often he can sing every word of the songs).

They sat happily up the back with a colleague of mine from Pulp Press, Danny Hogan the talented writer of Killer Tease. By the end they were all looking very comfortable, whooping and clapping and BW has promised to come to the next one!

We all had ambitious intentions of heading downstairs for Born Bad, but with my plethora of props I decided I needed a cab and my bed for some well deserved beauty sleep.

...and yes. I do have a few more tales to tell...but you will have to wait for tomorrow for those!

The Isle of Style

I remember as a child being told that when you get older time starts to race. Of course at the time I thought it was the usual rubbish thing that grown ups would say to placate you when you're bored. If only I had realised how true it was!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last bit of backstage chatter and life gets infinitely more frenetic with every passing week.

The performance crowd are a superstitious lot by history. All that 'Break a leg' sort of stuff. Some performers find that certain things happen at the same nights over and over again. For example they may always have trouble with one of their acts at a certain night or their music never works properly at another, and so on.

I may very well be doomed to leave something behind every time I work one of DJ Suave's nights! The first time when it was Annie's Bar Burlesque it was my CD wallet with all my precious music, this time it was at The Glitter Room two weeks ago.

Not only did I leave my CD wallet but half my costume! I was in such a rush to make my train home I didn't even realise till Honey Wilde called me.
Honey, 'Hon, are you missing something?'
Me, 'Oh S***, my music!'.
Honey, '...and your bra, and your dress!'

Honestly, leaving things behind can be an expensive mistake to make. Thankfully the lovely Honey posted them back to me first class in time for my next gig!

Last weekend I had all the luck to be performing at the Isle of Wight's 'The Cream Tease'. Oh how I love a big beautiful stage! The very cute Lady Catalina and Stuart run this very professional night. If you are bound for the Isle of Style or are lucky enough to live there I would urge you to make a point of searching it out. Top class performers in a fabulous venue make for a very, very good show.

I met the Darlings Divine: Miss Cherry Pop and Miss Fan-Teasy, saw Banbury Cross again (we performed the week earlier at The Glitter Room) and The Divine Miss Em who I met back when Glitter Room was Annie's Bar Burlesque! We all sweltered away in the dressing room as we primped and preened, discussed Colleen in the latest goss mag and the merits of latex clothing, and avoided costuming up until the last minute to avoid decidedly unglamorous sweatiness and bra marks.

I had such a fabulous time I have my fingers crossed to perform there again soon, although next time I intend on staying the night in one of the sweet B&Bs nearby and really enjoying the Isle. The shame of travelling for work is that I don't often get to see much of the surroundings! If you have any suggestions of what to see when I'm there next then by all means drop me a message.

It was the virgin flight of my revamped costume for Na Touche Pas and from the audiences response I can only imagine it was a great success.

Speaking of costumes, you might have noticed recently that there has been a little change to my website. There is an exciting new tab at the bottom of the menu. 'Whatever is this tab for?' I hear you ask.

Well, over the next few months you will begin to see newer and more fabulous costumes than you've seen from me before, and you know I already love a little Razzle, Dazzle. It's all due to my collaboration with the Curve Couture label. Chrissie Nicholson-Wilde is the talented designer behind the label and her skill as a costumier has me very excited!

Ladies...she has a talent for making THE most flattering shapes to grace a woman's curves and makes exceptional occasion wear, wedding gowns and corsets so make sure to click on the Curve Couture tab and see what it's all about. Naturally I will have pictures of my new costumes up as soon as humanly possible!

I have to say I'm having great fun revisiting my collection of old musicals, vintage couture books and researching hairpieces from the various eras. I've also been converted to the dark side that is genuine Swarovski crystals. I've finally had to admit to myself that nothing really compares to their sparkle and despite the cost I am drooling over the colour chart as we speak.

So, what's coming up?

Tomorrow night, that's right, TOMORROW NIGHT is Club Smooch in Brighton Komedia! Can I hear a big WOOHOO! I always get a little excited to be performing in my home town and tomorrow night is no exception. There is nothing like the atmosphere when you know absolutely everyone backstage and all my friends can come along as well. I'm like a kid the night before Christmas!

So there is no excuse. If you're anywhere in the vicinity of Brighton tomorrow you will be sucked into the gravitational pull that is Club Smooch!

I will see you there.

You spin me right round baby right round...

Lately I've been feeling a bout of serious 80's inspiration. Watching Ghostbusters last night was the catalyst. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning.

I have been rather quiet on the blog front for a few weeks as I've been enjoying some down time. Fitting in so much can be very exhausting and it's great to have a rest.

Even so, there's much more to burlesque than gigging. I've had a choice opportunity to re-evaluate a few of my routines, consider a few very exciting new possibilities, rehearse, perfect, meet with the dress maker, contact the prop makers and generally plot and plan like an evil nemesis out of a Bond film.

For the next month and a half my red angel routine is temporarily out of commission while it is revamped. Fear not, with it's sparkly relaunch it will be a knock-out headliner.

Additionally Living Doll and Na Touche Pas! are experiencing a fixer-upper however will still be available for bookings while work is being done.

I've also had time to sketch out some potential new costume designs. As is the case with many performers I have pages and pages of ideas for acts and shows. However I subscribe to the school of thought (and this is a personal preference, not a dig at anyone else) that it's better to invest in props, costumes and time for rehearsals for a few great acts, than to have lists of acts that are thrown together in a minute.

For my own comfort I feel better onstage knowing I've put everything I possibly could into making this one act as great as it could possibly be. Unfortunately this does mean that I end up with many potentially fabulous acts locked away in my head clambering for attention and I wish I could realise them all. So it's very exciting when I'm finally in a position to start looking at plucking one of the wriggly little ideas out of my head and fleshing out the fantasy!

Unfortunately as my circus skills are still limited my fabulous trapeze ideas will have to wait, but I am looking at three different idea from very different era's. I'll keep you posted.

So this weekend....Yesterday morning I went on a photo shoot at two contrasting locations and was very lucky to encounter a genuine 1930's motorcycle called a Red Indian. Photo's should be with me in about a week so keep your eyes on the gallery.

Photo shoots are amazing fun and absolutely exhausting, although I am certainly not complaining. Anyone who needs a vintage model please free to get in touch!

I got back home in time for a quick rehearsal of a Boston version of my Psycho GoGo Wipeout act, and a bit of last minute tassel stitching. A Boston or Sunday School version is a toned down version of an act to make it appropriate for a more 'family' audience or back in the day was what the girls did when they knew the police were in the house.

I was rehearsing my Boston version for a private gig at a partnership wedding that night and simply involved not taking my bra off. However in such a fast paced act a fair bit of extra choreography was required to fill the time, hence the rehearsal.

Ultimately I like this version so much that I'm going to extend Psycho GoGo Wipeout to fit the new choreography in. More bang for your buck!

The wedding gig went brilliantly, the guests were lovely and the grooms looked absolutely radiant with happiness. Anyone who opposes gay marriage must have flies in their brain. Something that can create so much joy should be celebrated, and celebrate they did!

My taxi arrived as I heard the first bars of 'I heard it through the grapevine' and with my pay in my purse I was itching to hit the town. I did of course resist. My night's earnings are my deposit for the dressmaker. Besides which it was unlikely I would find a club playing the kind of music I wanted to hear. If anyone knows of regular club nights in Brighton playing 60's music please tell me! Born Bad and Da Doo Ron Ron are only once a month.

Well that's my weekend. I arrived home to watch Ghostbusters where I triggered on some fabulous 80's inspiration and went to bed far too late after sketching away at some costume designs. The lack of sleep caught up with me this morning when I woke up (with difficulty) at midday. Hmm, half the day gone, but then what are Sundays for if not recovery.

Till next time, keep it glamorous. I for one am going to get out of my dressing gown and into my warm-up gear, work on some choreography then bake a chocolate and beetroot cake. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Ivy Paige and the Chaps

Just a quick little update for you on a very wonderful weekend.

Friday night was the first time I ever went to see Ivy Paige's Scandalous. I tell you that girl is inspirational. It was the first time I'd seen the show advertised down in Brighton so I jumped at the chance to get in an infamous show without the trek up to London. It certainly didn't disappoint.

In fact at one point I think I may have picked my jaw off the floor and was so astonished by the sheer talent and spectacle that I forgot to keep taking pictures (I was trying to get a couple of good pics for the promoter).

I shared my table with Therese la Tease, Baby Bones (when she wasn't busy organising as the promoter of the night), and Emma of Peep toe Magazine, along with a few lovely ladies I was introduced to that night. However as they don't have performance names and I'm not sure if they'd want their names in my blog I'm sure you understand I can't share them. We were even lucky enough to chat with Ivy after the show when she could impart a little performer wisdom.

Ultimately, as I have already come to understand, it comes down to plain, damn hard work and a whole lot of creativity.

Moving swiftly on, my plans to finish making my polka dot dress were foiled as it was already very late by the time I got home and I had a very big day ahead. The Chap Olympics!

I met Infinity Favour on the train up to London on Saturday with one of the lovely ladies who I met at Ivy Paige. Let's call her Princess Shoes for now...she'll know what I mean!

We must have looked a very interesting sight indeed. Three ladies who looked like something out of a period 1940's film complete with picnic basket. I managed to finish my hair on the train, rather impressive considering the lack of mirrors. Although I must say, a train window in a tunnel does make a pretty good substitute.

It was a great trip up as we debated the merit's of bullet bra's and non stretch versus stretch fully fashioned stockings. Lipstick on, hair done, gloves in place and skirts tugged and smoothed we arrived like a whirlwind into London Bridge station and began the underground battle to the gardens. After going the wrong way for a turn and discovering a 'voluptuous underground station' we made it!

What a day! It was the most fun I've had in such a long time. We laughed at the Bounders event where the gentlemen had to approach ladies on the track and say something so caddish as to receive a slap, stuffed ourselves with cupcakes and cherries, promenaded to check out the talent in the tweed jackets and bowler hats, and danced in the rain with cups of tea until it was dark. As far as 'the scene' goes, the Chap Olympics is really one of the events of the year and you can see why.

When we finally left in search of a pub before the journey home, walking out onto Tottenham Court Rd was like walking through a portal into another world. I love the city as much as the next girl but after a day of gentle manners and tea and cake in the gardens it felt overwhelming, loud and garish. The old-fashioned pub with it's stained glass windows and beautiful vintage looking bottles of tonic water was a blessed relief.

Alas, but all good things must come to an end. After such a busy weekend it was nice to spend Sunday drinking milo and planning out the rest of my year and looking over my acts to make improvements while BW worked on his scripts.

In addition to all of this I have come to understand that I don't seem physically capable of writing a little update. Isn't it wonderful to learn new things about oneself?

Finally, I have a few more bookings to update shortly for August and October so keep your eyes on the events page if you want to make any of the great new shows coming up.

Have a lovely week you lovely people.

Tassletastic!

Burlesk was absolutely wonderful! I've only been to Hastings once before and this time I saw a very different side of it. Venuu is tucked down the sweetest little lane of cute stores and relaxed drinking spots.

I arrived after making a mental note to take the train for a day trip along the coast one weekend. I didn't realise how easy it was to travel from Brighton to Hastings and beyond. It was my blessed luck to be doing a prop free act and one without a corset to boot, as it was ticking on past 7pm and the sweltering heat hadn't abated.

Domino and Severine run a burlesque taster class for beginners before the night begins so I tried to find the dressing room inconspicuously but it wasn't to be as a gent out the front had directed me to the first door on the left which led to the tiniest dressing room I've seen. Realising there was no way they could squeeze 10 girls in there I gave Honey Wilde a call. She laughed and explained they were up the back above the bar and gave me a little wave from the window.

This was more like it! Dumping my bag down on one of the chairs I proceeded to pull my costume out and make some last minute alterations of an extra clasp as it had been popping open during rehearsals.

While I stitched Honey and Khandie Kisses were getting made up as they were in the first act and before too long the two of them had me in stitches. Discussing false eyelashes, Khandie mentioned that she had so many in her bathroom cabinet she thought they might turn into one big eyelash and crawl around her apartment. Which wouldn't half make a bad short film!

Before we knew it the girls for the first act were hurried off to the backstage area and as the show rolled on I managed a peek at the acts while I attached pasties, covered myself in body shimmer, backcombed my hair and untangled my tassels (the ones on the dress not on my chest!).

Piratica did a brilliant debut performance to Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend from Moulin Rouge and I'd seen Honey's 'How to Burlesque the British Way' at LBF and it was as hilarious as I remembered. I hadn't seen Khandie's Blitz Belle act, man that girl has energy! I loved the fact that she got down into the audience and all the more incredible considering she wasn't feeling very well. The sign of a true showgirl.

Unfortunately I missed Domino's first act as I was hurrying to do my final touches before interval.

The girls of the second act were warned by the girls of the first act that it was VERY hot backstage, which wasn't what I wanted to hear but at least we were warned.

Waiting backstage I couldn't help but feel a dose of nerves. I had created the Psycho GoGo act for a pulp press launch and we didn't end up using it, going with Na Touche Pas instead. So this was actually to be the first real performance of this act and I felt like a new performer all over again. It's been a very long time since I debuted an act.

I needn't have worried, it all went brilliantly. One of the girls said afterwards that she wished it had gone on longer which is nice!

Throwing on my new 60s shift that I bought last week in London I dashed out to catch Domino's act which was just fantastic, and Sev's inspiring finale on the Burlesque ban in Camden. I'd love to see a licensing officer go a few rounds with her, she'd have them under the point of her stiletto before you can say Burlesk!

After the show I popped upstairs to sort my things out. Due to the heat no-one had opened any of the wine so I uncorked a red and poured myself and one of the girls who'd been helping out (and a budding burlesque contortionist!!) a glass and went down for a mingle and a nose through the Equilibrium stall onstage.

I contemplating spending my earnings from the night on a pair of sailor shorts and then thought better of it but did have a lovely chat with the owner who's other half was an absolute gentleman and helped me down the stairs with my bag and put me in a cab to the station.

I settled in for an uneventful journey back to Brighton but it wasn't to be as three lads jumped on the train about halfway along. You can always tell if people are safe or not and they were harmless enough, although one was exceedingly drunk and very amusing. In any case, listening to his drunken tangents passed the time until I arrived in Brighton and jumped in the first cab home. There is something to be said for performing mid week and that is that no-one is lining up for the taxi's at the station.

Oh the bliss of flopping into bed, exhausted after a long day! Now who says I'm not rock'n'roll...

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I seem to be having a lot of luck with my weekends as of late. It could be the consistently fabulous weather we've been having or it could just be that I feel a little magic in my life recently.

Friday night I had a special treat organised by BW. My Christmas present that I had so patiently waited for. Tickets to see ACDC at Wembley.


Well it's not just 40's Jazz that I'm into, I have very broad musical tastes I'll have you know!


I've seen a couple of amazing concerts but this topped the lot. Now there's a group of performers who know how to work an audience.


They love what they can do and you can see and feel that from the moment the concert starts to the very last bar. We had a fantastic time and rocked out to all our favourite's, even if we did have to slip out before the last song so I could get my suitcase from the information desk and make our trains.


I'm definitely going to create an act to one of their tunes. Wow.


So BW and I reluctantly parted ways at Kings Cross station. He was heading home but I had a gig on Saturday in London and was staying once again with Duchess Divine.


Saturday was hot, hot, hot. After a slow start and breakfast at the cafe up the road Duchess and I were about to head into Camden markets to pick up a few things I needed for my acts. Just before heading to the tube she suggested we check out the second hand store over the road. Of all the miracles!

I found the most divine 40's style navy and white hat, just the thing for the Chap Olympics. Now just to find the dress, gloves and shoes to match.


We strolled further along in the blazing sunshine ducking in and out of second hand stores and I remembered why I love op shopping. Before the second hand stores starting calling themselves vintage stores and tripled their prices my girlfriends and I would scour the stores and revel in the thrill of finding something secreted away amongst the rows of enormous osty-frocks and tiny shoes.


It seems there are still some real op shops left after all, and after discovering a 60s shift and a 20s inspired covered in so many sequins it looked like scales, we decided it would be best to head back to the house before I spent everything in my purse.


All good intentions of a rehearsal went out the window as neither of us had had a great deal of sleep the night before and before too long we were nanna napping. Thank god I did because it was to be a very long night ahead.


We woke to the raging thunderstorm that hit London in the early evening. It made me feel like I was back in Brisbane in the middle of Summer. The heat of the day culminating in the relief of a very heavy downpour.


Before too long I was ready and off to my gig. Or so I thought.


I had received a last minute booking via email late in the week and thought I had checked the address correctly, looked up google maps and wrote down all the travel details. How wrong I was! Lesson learnt, always check the postcode.


I found myself in the far reaches of East London feeling very conspicuous amongst the drunks and the lads. After a quick discussion with a mini cab driver I realised that I needed to be in North London. Essentially back where I came from.


Despite feeling a little irritated at my silly mistake I found myself in fairly good spirits and found my way to the venue, arriving in plenty of time.

and what a venue...


The evening was called Die Freche Muse, a 20s themed night in a magical building.

I was led upstairs to get ready and I felt like I'd entered another era. Chandeliers, stuffed birds, paintings, old lamps and an enormous dining table filled the cavernous space. Downstairs the elegant guests danced and drank to the jazz band playing and lounged around candled tables.


It was like coming home.


It was my luck to meet 2 of the other performers, the sweetest girls you'll meet. Chrys Columbine and Annette Bette. Annette saved my life when I put the biggest ladder you've ever seen through one of my stockings and my spare had mysteriously vanished from my case. Whipping out a spare pair of tights and some scissors she kindly let me create new stockings for my act. Phew!


Well I certainly hope to perform there again. Next time I'll have a bit of warning so will be sure to put the details up on my Events page so you can all join in the fun.


The inevitable race for the first train to Brighton was as expected but not nearly as hard thanks to my nanna-nap. In fact I was perky enough to watch the sun rise and see the low fog swirling over the countryside as the train chugged it's way home.


Imagining everyone tucked up in their beds as I witnessed the early morning spectacle, with Heartbeats by Jose Gonzales and Aqualung's Strange and Beautiful playing on my MP3 player it really did feel magic.

Quickie

I thought I'd just drop in a line about last weekend and Trailer Trash: Tarantino.

I got a last minute text on Saturday while I was wandering the North Lanes. BW was off in France for the day so I had gone down to pick up a black wig and had one of those wonderful realisations that I didn't have to be anywhere in a hurry. So I took the opportunity to nose about the stores, picking through Dave's Comics and was humming and harhing over a pair of 2nd hand black cowboy boots in Dirty Harry when I received the text.

One of the girls was taken ill and would I cameo as an old lady in the Reservoir Puppies piece?

Well of course I would.

Lucky I did as well because not only was it hilarious fun but most of the people I knew there were backstage. Considering I only had to be on stage for all of about 30 seconds it gave me plenty of time to relax and chat with the girls backstage, go for a dance, and watch all the acts which were fantastic.

It was my first Trailer Trash night and I have to say, it was fantastic. It's a great blend of club night and cabaret show at Komedia Brighton and all the party goers dress to impress. I've never seen so many Reservoir Dogs, Mia Wallaces, GoGo Yubari's, and all manner of Tarantino characters in one place! After each act the dance floor floods with people again and it has the friendly atmosphere of a whole lot of people having a great time. I can't wait till the next one but I believe it's not till September!

Since last weekend I've also been having a read of Ultimate Burlesque.

As mentioned in my Favourite's page, I wholeheartedly support Burlesque Against Breast Cancer who were behind the creation of this book and all proceeds go towards the charities associated with BABC. I did a performance at the launch of the book in Brighton and more recently have been a guest blogger on the BABC blog.

But I've never had a chance to read the book till now.

Well! I tell you what, it's not the kind of thing you'd buy your mother-in-law (unless she's into erotica!) but it is a good read.

So...that's about it. Besides staying up till 1am last night sewing pop clasps on a new costume, life is comfortably quiet and I'm just enjoying the real summer weather we're having.

Oh, and I bought the cowboy boots.

xx

Carry on Camden

I hope everyone that came along on Saturday had a fantastic time.

Festival of Sins Gluttony was a riot!

My favourite part I have to say was Nathan Shame dressed like Ronald MacDonald how he would really look after scoffing all those cheese burgers. Very evil!

I get up to London quite frequently as so much of the Burlesque work is centered there. What doesn't always happen is that I have enough spare time before the show to get in something to eat that isn't picked up from Victoria station between National Rail and the tube.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to fit in a quick catch up with my friend and burlesque performer Duchess Divine at The Diner in Camden.

Diners are a bit of a weakness of mine and friend of mine introduced me to this gem late last year. There is something fabulously kitsch, American and comforting about diner food. I mean American diner food, not truck stop diner food. It fuels my ever increasing fascination with certain elements of the vintage US culture.

I figured an enormous milkshake before a performance was not such a hot idea so I ordered a soda float and hot dog as we babbled about the hot topic of the moment. Camden Council and their determination to stomp out low budget burlesque nights. See any of the online communities for the full story. In particular Burlesque Women's Institute is documenting it pretty well.

So...backstage.

The curious part I find in English buildings and transport is as Summer slowly creeps in, the temperature inside soars up. Backstage areas particularly become little sweatboxes. Trust me, trying to pat translucent shimmer powder over your entire body when you're as sticky as the inside of a toasted marshmallow proves counterproductive at best.

Asides from the relentless heat the atmosphere backstage was friendly and fun, and I took comfort in the fact that at least I didn't have to lie down starkers while being covered in prosthetic makeup and sweets to look like a garroted victim of some evil sweetie fairy, like one brave lass was.

My other distinct pleasure of the evening was getting to meet the unfairly gorgeous Mr Mistress, and Vicky Butterfly with her divine costume. My act went off with a few minor hitches, in fact it was the first time I'd ever had my music stop dead in the middle of my act before. Not to worry, the audience didn't seem to be bothered and after a bit of cheesecaking from myself the DJ got the music back on before too long.
Burlesque tip: there is nothing that can go wrong on stage that can't be handled. If the music stops just ham it up until it comes back on.

As it stands everyone I spoke to after I did my bit was gushing in their praise so it can't have been too bad!

So another busy weekend over. I have a couple of very busy weeks ahead with both rehearsals, shows, prop revamping and event planning. Will be certain to keep you posted!

Don't forget Trailer Trash is on at Komedia Brighton tonight, besides a minor part as an old lady I'll be dressed as Mrs Mia Wallace. Come and say hi if you see me there!

xx

The Grand Poobah

Well maybe not the grand poobah, but the grand arrival back in the UK. So I am a little behind but at least I'm filling you in right?

I think BW had missed me a little as the champagne was chilling and the strawberries were plentiful when I arrived home. Aside from that the house was nigh on spotless and our kitchen was sporting some pretty cute and kitsch new accessories. Oh how quickly it's all decended into chaos since I've been home.

I arrived back fresh and inspired which is exactly how it's supposed to be after a holiday. If only all my holidays could be 5 weeks long. My biggest most fabulously exciting tick off the checklist of things I had to organise was this very website. I have the immense luck to have talented family who are clever at all those tricky little technical things and it's so exciting to have this up and running.

Next step is the website launch party. Unfortunately I've been so busy modifying my Living Doll routine to create Bad Doll! that I haven't had a moment to really think about it.

Modifying Living Doll has been a great deal of fun and getting used to the music editing software has also been an experience. I think BW will have kittens if I play the same 3 seconds of Hello Dolly again.

I will explain the full reasons why it was necessary to create Bad Doll! another day, it's a bit political and I get a little ranty on the subject. However as they say, necessity is the mother of all invention and it's given me the chance to create my first reverse strip. That is, the kind of act where one arrives onstage in pasties and knickers and proceeds to get dressed. Which is actually about 10 times harder than the conventional way!

It's very important as a performer to never get complacent, never think your acts are perfect, never stop trying to improve on the quality of your acts and the variety. One of my other acts, Red Angel is going back to the workshop to strip it down, if you'll pardon the pun, and work over every element. The wings will be lighter, the choreography will be more spectacular, the music more sensual.

I have a thousand other act ideas swirling around in my head but it's too important that the ones I already have are as close to perfect as they can be, and that's just about a full time job in itself.

One final thing....keep a close eye on my photography page. I have some incredible studio shots that will shortly be uploaded. You won't want to miss them.

Have a fabulous weekend whatever you do. Don't forget if you're in London that Festival of Sins is on. All my fans get special discounted prices on the door so if you're coming along tell them you're there to see Bella de Jac.

xx

The Catz Pajamas rescheduled

Due to some unglamourous transport issues I'll no longer be on the bill for Wink: The Pinup Burlesque Show at The Catz Pajamas this month. We are rescheduling for another month so will keep you up to date when that happens. Make sure to check the Events page for the very latest in my performance dates!

xx

Well didn't I just drop off the face of the earth!

Some unforseen technical issues have prevented me from filling you in on the next installment but I'm back and all systems are go!

Brisbane, Brisvegas, the country town that became a very dynamic (and very spread out) city. It's funny that whenever I speak to people overseas, no-one has ever been to Brisbane. Except the airport maybe. It's always Sydney or Melbourne. Not that it bothers me in the least. Brisbane is where I did a very large chunk of my growing up and it has a very special place in my heart, no matter where on earth I go.

After the very exciting reunion with my family and friends (it had been 2 years since I'd been home) I found it very easy to slip back into Brisbane life. One of the things I love the most about coming home is how quickly it feels like I was never away.

Markets! Shopping but outdoors, what could be better. While I was out there was a bit of a fraca over the Green Markets at West End changing hands, however the final Green Markets of the previous management were a beautiful sight. There were hundreds of people there on a very sunny day in Autumn and everyone was in fantastic spirits. Beautiful food, coffee, flowers, and lots of other divine little bits and bobs. Along with anything sparkly, anything vintage catches my eye like a magpie and there was a stall selling the daintiest little tea cup and saucer sets. I would have bought them all if I were staying!

I have a bit of a habit of loving breakfast at markets, particularly the German sausage stand! I have strong German heritage and a bratwurst in a crisp roll with sauerkraut and senf under the tree canopy is a guilty pleasure first thing on a Sunday morning and is very centering to experience that fresh early morning feeling when I'm so used to late nights and dark venues. I believe the green markets live on so I hope it will be waiting for me when I return next time.

Markets were also a bit of a saviour when my family had to stage an enormous Singapore themed birthday event while I was out. Apart from having a stall with a knock-out Mexican hot chocolate, the wednesday night markets at Rocklea have the cheapest fruit and veg, rice and flowers. Oh and the very divine greek yoghurt stand.

Brisbane has a thriving Burlesque scene with very limited time however, I wasn't able to make a show. I have made some fabulous contacts in Brisbane with some very talented ladies who I hope to work with in the future. More than ever I can't wait to finish my performing arts degree and get stuck into the Australian scene.

One very glamourous evening however I did make it to the mid-week showing of Chicago. To see Caroline O'Conner as Velma and the very fabulous Sharon Millerchip as Roxie was so inspiring. I wanted to race back into jazz dance classes immediately. It was also hilarious to see just about everyone we knew at the interval. It seemed that everyone had decided to go the same night. We were all singing 'All That Jazz' for the next week afterwards.



So after some terribly exciting announcements from various members of my close family, many a magic, morning ride down the Brisbane River on the City Cat to my trapeze classes, and a few hysterically funny evenings in Alexander Heads with my girlfriends, it was over all too quickly. After an uncontrollably tearful farewell (I'm not very good at good-bye's) I was off to the UK again for the beginning of my final year in Brighton.

Singapore Sling

Well, as ever I'm procrastinating on a bit of rehearsal. Performing is exhilarating and exciting, but rehearsals... rehearsals can be very tedious. Sometimes the idea of having to put on the costume and take it off, put it on, take it off 20 times in a row makes me want to run screaming for a nice normal job.


So rehearsals will have to wait for this evening I think, and for now I will tell you about my travels which were FAB thanks for asking!


Singapore holds a dear place in my heart, as do quite a lot of places, but Singapore has dibs on a bit of my family history so whenever I'm heading to the Southern Hemisphere I like to squeeze in a few days in the hot and sweaty little island.


This time through I was on the hunt for a Saree so I made my way into Little India. If only I had longer to explore, the place was absolutely buzzing with life. If you're a magpie like me and cannot pass anything sparkly or colourful without being completely transfixed then you would understand how I felt when I explored row upon row of Saree stores with their exquisite materials, the bangle stores, henna artists and spice vendors.


I eventually found the Saree I was after, sparkly of course and black which is quite unusual for Saree's and it went down an absolute treat at the party I wore it to. I of course justified the cost to myself by thinking it may come in handy for a show in the future! After explaining to the sales lady that I had never worn one before she smilingly assured me I would have no trouble and put a leaflet into my bag on the art of Saree wearing, and I tell you, it most certainly is an art.


Because of the way it drapes in such a feminine way, the wearer of a Saree glides like a serene princess. Crossing paths with a group of Indian women dressed up for a special event brings to mind a cloud of demi-goddesses. It is just so exceptionally beautiful.

Next stop, Chinatown. Now countries around the equator generally are the same temperature the year round. Generally.


Singapore starts to get even hotter than usual around April and Chinatown is like a satay pit. It radiates heat. Since moving to the UK I have acclimatised quickly to the 'English Rose' temperament, so when the heat began to make me feel like I was about to take a Jane Austinesque turn I found a shady spot under a fan at the juice stall. Declining to try the avocado cream drink on offer I had the first of many mango juices to sustain my retail therapy. I have yet to find a decent mango in the UK, and for a girl who's ultimate pleasure was the summer season when Mango's would be in abundance in Queensland this was such a treat.


I also find Singaporean architecture fascinating. I don't have any picture of the Black and White's which are typical of older houses on the island, but if you are ever have a chance try to see a few.


What you may start to notice about me is that I love food. I LOVE food. The hazards of growing up in a foodie family, although I have to say I think my attitude towards it is very healthy. Except my lack of self-control!


One of the fabulous discoveries I made this time round in Singapore is that Thai Salmon cakes are fantastic. I am the girl who previously decried fish pies and fish cakes. 'Disgusting!' I cried, 'My fish shall remain whole and untainted!'. That and I hated the smelly, fishiness of English fish pies and fish cakes. So imagine my surprise when I found I absolutely loved these little pink patties of joy! Highly recommended with tamarind soy sauce, Asian greens and white rice. MMmmmm......


So a little more shopping and a lot of fabulous food and my whirlwind trip to Singers was over in a flash. Next stop Australia and my hometown of Brisbane which I hadn't been to for 2 years. But I'm afraid you'll have to wait till tommorow for the next installment. For now I've worked up an appetite with my foodie memories and need to get myself a little dinner before I get stuck into that rehearsal!


Have a lovely bank holiday England.



xx Bella