I arrived in Sydney on Wednesday feeling pretty tired. Being a horribly nervous flyer I didn’t get much sleep, and the early morning flight meant I couldn’t calm my nerves with a customary swig of gin. I was greeted at the airport by Clara Cupcakes, Ellashaye D’Amore and Amelie Lulu. We waited for other burlesque babes Sapphire Demure, Peachy Dream, Ginger LaMinge, The Strawberry Siren, Ruby Right and Becky Lou. We were a hilarious ensemble with our piles of baggage. There was a giant lollipop, huge stack of hoops, my sword and many, many overstuffed suitcases. Those rhinestones and petticoats take up more room then you’d think! Cassandra and Jac were waiting with a minibus and trailer...which was only just big enough to hold everyone’s stuff. We headed off to the hotel, where we met the other finalists Flavella L’Amour, Rita Fontaine, Briana Bluebell, and Danica Lee. Everyone was pretty wrecked (some of the girls had overnight flights and had been up for almost a whole day!), but it was straight into the costumes and lippy to promote the final in Pitt St Mall. We certainly attracted a lot of attention. The poor fella trying to hand out MX just couldn’t compete with 14 larger-than-life ladies in saucy outfits. Plenty of photos were taken which I might be able to post later. It was a lot of fun but also very draining, travelling can take a lot out of you and no one feels glamorous sharing body heat in a mini bus!
That night some of the ladies went out for some celebratory drinks, but I unfortunately had a uni assignment due on Friday (same day as the final-lame!) so in a very uncharacteristic way I stayed in to finish it. I did however manage to sneak a few glasses of wine in with some others who had stayed behind. It was the first chance we’d had so far to start getting to know each other, so that was lovely (on a side note, Friday was such madness that I totally forgot to submit my assignment, even though I had finished it! Oops!).
We kicked Thursday off with a rehearsal for the final group act, with MC Cam Hot August Knight. I must admit, I was slightly concerned about how our rendition of Peter Gabriel’s “Steam” was going to go. Eighties stuff is not usually my thing! But everyone pitched in and it came out pretty great. Our costume was nothing but a white towel and I was fairly certain a bit of flashage would be occurring!
Rehearsal was followed by a photo shoot in front of the Syndey Opera House with Dominic Kieler. Everyone looked amazing, but if I had to choose I think Briana Bluebell’s lime feathery creation was my favourite! Such a great colour. Her shoes were also stunning...stunningly high that is. The photos look glamorous but she needed my hand to steady herself climbing up and down those uneven stairs! A broken ankle would not be a good start to the competition.
After the photo shoot we had the rest of the day off, so with some cheese and wine we chilled out in the common room, chatting about anything and everything as well as finishing off bits and pieces of costumes and props with every burlesque dancers friend, the hot glue gun. I was really amazed at how supportive and friendly everybody was, and I’m not just saying that! I was quite nervous coming into the competition, a little bit worried that people would be very much in a competitive mindset. I was pleasantly surprised. I also want to say a big thankyou to Danica Lee who drove many of us around to pick up last minute supplies. It was extremely helpful and really kind of her. Thankyou!
Friday arrived too quickly. The nerves hadn’t really hit me until late Thursday night, and whilst they weren’t debilitating that nagging anxiety just stuck with me all day. A great distraction was watching rehearsals in the common room. I was pretty happy I got to see so many people’s acts either on or off stage. I’m not sure the hotel management knew what they were in for when they let us all stay! There was hula hooping and puppeteering, prop spraypainting, and I managed to accidently flash my tassles to one of the staff. His double-take was pretty hilarious.
The big time arrived and all of a sudden we were in the dressing rooms of the Enmore Theatre in a whirlwind of hair, makeup and costumes. There were people everywhere. Lots and lots of photographers and videographers. At first it was fun to have our photos taken while we were getting ready, but after about an hour or two of it most of us had had enough. So many flashes! There are some fabulous shots though.
Now for what you probably actually want to read about, the show! But...you'll have to wait for Part 2 because I am EXHAUSTED! Time for bed, and I'll post again tomorrow.
Happy teasing!
xx
Peaches 'n' Gin Burlesque
Adelaide's dynamite duo!
info@peachesngin.com
Ph 0431 949 703
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