Miss Burlesque Adelaide takes on the final! The Show part 2!

So finally the show got on the road (after what seemed an agonising wait! I always get more nervous in the wait beforehand then any other time), starting with the evening gown and lingerie parades. Everyone's outfits were absolutely stunning! There are too many to post pictures of, but if you want to have a bit of a gander you can find hundreds of photos here.

Sapphire Demure kicked off the night with her classic routine, though her costume gave her a case of hayfever (stage hayfever that is)! This is one of my favourite costumes of the night, so many intricate details. Her unique routine later in the night was a feat of skill, as she cut up a rug 20s charleston style en pointe! I hope people realise just what an amazing skill this is. Sapphire is such a fabulous entertainer and person, and it was great getting to know her a little bit better. She was the wildcard entry from SA and I think she put on a fantastic show.




Both photos by Mike Kery

Next on stage was Ellashaye D'Amour. Ellashaye is Miss Burlesque Queensland and she certainly is a pocket rocket! (not the dirty kind, the cute, full of energy and amazingness kind). She is one of the loveliest people I've met, with some AMAZING costumes. Plus she has amazing control over her butt cheeks, which had the audience in stitches! Her first act was as Marie Antoinette, the dignified side and the racy side. Her unique show was a rendition of Marilyn Murnoe's "Heat Wave" with some spunky back up dancers.


Photo by Mike Kery


Photo by Dominic Kieler

Fellow South Australian Flavella L'Amour (Miss Burlesque South Australia) looked gorgeous in a costume draped in pearles and sequins, and looking absolutely fabulous peeking out from behind her feather fans. Unfortunately I didn't get to see that act, but the photos look beautiful and I look forward to seeing the video! Her second act was a knockout with her serpent companion, I'm pretty sure that's not what the audience expected her to pull from her box!




Both photos by Getty Images

Danica Lee (Miss Burlesque Sydney) looked stunning in the outfit for her classic routine. Unfortunately I didn't get to see this act on stage, but again the hoots from the stage told me the audience loved it! I did get to see Danica Lee's unique show, in which she emerges as a (almost) naked and innocent Eve in the Garden of Eden, only to have to don clothes (or fabulous feathers I should say!). However once that saucy bump n grind music is on, sometimes a lady just can't help herself! Danica was lovely to work with at the event, thanks for all your help Danica!




Both photos by Mike Kery

Amelie Lulu (Miss Burlesque Brisbane) seems like such a sweet and innocent thing went you chat to her off stage, but once she's on there HUBBA HUBBA! Such a sexy kitten. Her classic routine is another I didn't get to see, but the photos look hawt! Her unique act, involving her as a giant cotton candy with a bit of a fetish for lollipops was fantastic! I'd also like to say she was wearing the most beautiful dress after the show!


Photo by Getty Images


Photo by Dominic Kieler

Rita Fontaine was the wildcard entry from Sydney, and unfortunately I didn't get to talk to her too much, as things were fairly crazy in the lead up to the event! I managed to see both of Rita Fontaine's performances however, and they were stellar! Her first act as Julia Gillard had me (and everyone else!) in stitches. The sheer creativity and balls behind it were awesome. Punchline followed punchline. Her second show was as her male character, Johnny Castrati. I can tell you now, Rita Fontaine makes a devilishly handsome man!


Photo by Getty Images


Photo by Mike Kery

Ginger LaMinge (Miss Burlesque Perth) is an absolute gem. We hung out quite a bit whilst in Sydney and not only is she a hilarious and amazing performer on stage, she is a barrel of laughs and just full of awesomeness. I miss her already! Her first show was a tounge in cheek fan dance, and her unique act involved her twirling tassels on every possible surface (knees, elbows, head!) as well as an onstage brawl with her partner in crime, Peachey Dream!


Photo by Getty Images


Photo by Dominic Kieler

So as not to bombard you with super long posts I have split this one into two parts...

Peaches 'n' Gin Burlesque
Adelaide's dynamite duo!
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Miss Burlesque Adelaide takes on the final! Part 1

Wow. I am exhausted! The last few days have been filled with crazy fabulousness. This post will probably be a long one, I tried to blog along the way but it was so crazy busy, so there is three days packed with stuff to tell you about! So grab a coffee (or a cocktail...I’m drinking gin!) and enjoy part 1!
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!


Photo by Jac Bowie
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.


Photo by Dominic Kieler Photography
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.


Photo by Dominic Kieler Photography
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!
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Got a question about Peaches 'n' Gin or anything burlesque related? Send us an email and we'll answer it here.

Sapphire out and about

Sapphire at The Bay To Birdwood 2010

Peaches 'n' Gin Burlesque!
Adelaide's dynamite duo
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Introducing "the tease"

I appeared in the *Adelaide Magazine on the 30th of September which can be found in the Advertiser. I was interviewed by Katie Spain who is a fabulous writer and who will also be making her Burlesque debut at the next Peaches 'n' Gin show!





Photo by David Solm



INBOX: Introducing the tease. Meet Luna Eclipse, an environmental management student who's a finalist in Miss Burlesque Australia



AGE: 23

STAGE NAME: She's been Luna as long as she can remember. It started as a compliment:"Who knows how much they were exagerrating, or if they were trying to get lucky, but someone said I eclipsed everyone else on stage".

DECKED OUT: Luna has more than 50 costumes. "My favourite is my poker costume - a tutu covered in cards, poker chip pasties, bright red shoes. What's not to like?"

MISCONCEPTIONS: "Some people still expect us to take everything off, or move in ways that leave nothing to the imagination. Burlesque is not always about stripping. Most burlesque is comedic, or even political. Whilst the glamarous striptease is an important part of burlesque, it's not the only aspect."

DAILY GRIND: As well as performing, Luna also teaches burlesque, swing dancing and belly dancing, and is completing an environmental management degree.

PARTY TRICKS: Luna has plenty of experience in belly dancing but can also "balance a sword just about anywhere, throw my fans around in the air, and twirl a mean tassel!"

HOME TOWN: "Burlesque culture in Adelaide is amazing! It's still a relatively new scene, but is charging to the forefornt."

GET INVOLVED: Check her out at www.peachesngin.com. "We can teach you to strut, sashay and shimmy like the burlesque stars of days gone by. Everyone has it in them to be a confident, sexy and glamarous gal."



Peaches 'n' Gin Burlesque

Adelaide's Dynamite Duo

info@peachesngin.com

Ph 0431949703

A very grand show

Usually, I spend about an hour or so each day watching burlesque videos, reading articles about burlesque, and the rest of the day thinking about burlesque! Not owning a car can be awful but the long commute to work and uni allows for many pleasurable hours of burlesque discovery. I've watched many videos ranging from sideshow comedy acts to elegant and sensual shows. The thing that strikes me the most about these elegant shows is the props. They are often insanely amazing. The sheer time and money that must go into developing the props alone must be extraordinary, let alone the costume, act, lighting, music and production. So I thought I'd share some of my favourites!

Immodesty Blaize...what can I do but sigh? A stunning creature perhaps not from this world!

Atop her gigantic telephone, so femme fatale! Image sourced here.

Dita Von Teese is undeniably one of the most succesful neo-burlesque performers, she has become a household name!

Riding a mechanical Mac lipstick. It actually bucks like a mechanical bull! Image sourced here.


Okay, so she doesn't actually use it in a show, but I just had to include the Virgin plane Dita's image graces! Image sourced here.

Roxi Dlite was just crowned Reigning Queen of Burlesque at The Burlesque Hall of Fame Pageant.

They don't call her 'The Drinkin', Smokin', Strippin' Machine' for nothing! Image sourced here.

Catherine D'Lish is a woman of many talents! Her shows are breathtaking and her costume designs to die for.

Catherine D'Lish with the worlds largest feather fans. Image sourced here.

There are lots more but I've run out of time, hope you enjoyed!

Happy Teasing!
Luna

Peaches 'n' Gin Burlesque
Adelaide's Dynamite Duo
info@peachesngin.com
Ph 0431949703

Lili St. Cyr

This post kind of follows on from my last post about some of the legends of Burlesque. I mentioned in class that I don't really know much about Lili St. Cyr, so I decided to educate myself a little! It was whilst reading a fantastic blog called Daily Burlesque, which is written by Jo Weldon, headmistress of the New York School of Burlesque, that I came across a post of hers with a link to an interview with Lili St. Cyr from 1957, on The Mike Wallace Interview. The interview is fascinating, as Lili talks about her disillusionment of the burlesque industry, and how keen she is to get out of it! At the time of this interview she has been doing burlesque for about 16 years, and I'm very interested to know more about her!

A screenshot taken from the interview, which you can reach by clicking here.

A book was written about her by Kelly DiNardo, called The Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique. Jo Weldon interviewed Kelly DiNardo about the book and DiNardos experience with Burlesque, and it's a great read! I am very intrigued and so will be getting my hands on a copy of the book post haste!

Click here to buy the book!

And to finish here is a gorgeous video of Lili, it's been edited which annoys me, but you can still see her gorgeousness.


Happy Teasing!

Luna

Peaches 'n' Gin Burlesque
Adelaide's dynamite duo
info@peachesngin.com
Ph 0431949703

Legends of burlesque class!

This week at the Peaches 'n' Gin Burlesque Academy we had a bit of a burlesque history lesson, discussing some of the legends of burlesque. I think knowing the history of burlesque is really important for understanding and respecting the origins of the art form we all adore! In no particular order...

Tempest Storm
What I adore about Tempest Storm is her grace and elegance, and she is so darn alluring! Tempest Storm has one of the longest careers in burlesque, with her last performance only just last year. She told her story in the book The Lady is a Vamp".


Dixie Evans
Can you say sexy? Golly gosh! Dixie makes me all hot under the collar. Dixie Evans is an amazing, amazing woman. She is the curator of The Burlesque Hall of Fame and has done so much for the modern burlesque revival. She is famous for her Marilyn Munroe burlesque, which she performed throughout her entire career. Recently she taught the act to Kitten DeVille who performed it as a tribute to her.


Jennie Lee
The Burlesque Hall of Fame's collection began from Jennie Lee's personal collection of items from the golden era of burlesque. She passed away in 1990, but the work she did for the burlesque community is legendary. Her pectoral muscles are also legendary!


Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee was one of the most successful burlesque performers, celebrated as a striptease artist, actress, singer, and all round entertainer. There has been numerous books and movies about her life, all worth reading and watching. It was because of her "high class" striptease that the term ecdysiast was created by H. L. Mencken, however she was happy with the term "stripper". She was known for her humour and wit on stage, which can be clearly seen in this clip of her from the movie "Stage Door Canteen".


There are other legends to mention, which will come in part 2 of this post!

Happy Teasing!

Luna

Peaches 'n' Gin Burlesque!
Adelaide's dynamite duo
info@peachesngin.com
Ph 0431949703