Christmas time brings with it many festive delights: time spent with family, gift giving and eating copious amounts of chocolate. But something else that has become something of a tradition over the Christmas period is the annual Love You Burlesque Christmas Party & Solos event! November 30th saw many a LYB lovely take to the stage in fabulously festive fashion to showcase their unique solo acts to an excited audience, and what a night it was.Arriving to the event, audience members were delighted to discover that Bocking Village Hall had been decked out with Christmas lights, a bauble-adorned Christmas tree and gorgeous feathered table decorations. Adding to the festive sparkle of the night, Kimmy Von Shimmy was also there selling her seasonal hair accessories and jewellery.
But as the show began, it was clear that neither the Christmas decorations or tree were the stars of the show. That title was reserved for the LYB lovelies who were boldly taking to the stage…
Opening the show and debuting her first LYB solo performance was the stunning Black Phoenix. Slinking across the stage in an outfit that would even make Marilyn Monroe herself blush, Ms. Phoenix tantalised the audience with such confidence you’d never have known that it was her first performance. Featuring a chair and a crop, the audience were left definitely left wanting more.
In the mainstream world of burlesque, many stars are infamous for their pin-up girl style traditional burlesque. But at LYB, we like to encourage individuality and uniqueness in our soloists’ performances. Introducing, Siren. Shrouded in a shimmering cloak, Siren had the audience in the palm of her hand from the moment the curtains opened and, when she let out a blood curdling scream and fell to the floor, the audience were completely speechless. Who is she? What happened to her? These questions raced through the audience’s minds as we watched Siren free herself from the anchor and chain, then her cloak and finally, her clothes. This mermaid had been set free – but we, the audience, were the ones ensnared in her trap.
From the deep, dark depths of the sea, to the candyfloss coloured land of fairies – LYB is nothing if not diverse. Tallulah Demure, resident fairy, took to the stage and captured our hearts from the moment her act began. Adorned with flowers, glitter, sparkles and fairy wings, even the fairy on top of the tree was envious of her striking look and, as Tallulah made us laugh with her perfectly timed comedy, empathise with her as an elder fairy and finally whoop and shout as she revealed all – it just goes to show that fairies are sexy too!
Returning to the stage and bringing Jack Sparrow to life once more, Ruby Blue and her treasure chest were up next. Impeccably timed humour lends itself well to burlesque, and Ruby Blue is one such performer who’s timing is perfect, right down to the second. Jack Sparrow prancing across the stage and touching himself inappropriately is truly a sight to behold, and one that the audience revelled in! Complete with dreadlocks, pirate hat and spotty pirate undies, we here at LYB think that this is one act that Jack Sparrow himself would be proud of – savvy?
Love You Burlesque’s mission statement speaks about finding love for yourself no matter what – and the next act on the bill encompassed all of this with her stunning performance. Ruby Siren appeared on the stage blindfolded, opposite a mirror and, as the music began to play, the audience were led on a journey of self-discovery and self-love. Stripping down to nothing but knickers and pasties, Ruby Siren empowered the audience beyond belief. Bravo!
A festive surprise came next with a performance by the LYB Showgirl School! Dressed in purple fringed dresses and ‘rolling down the river’ in energetic and fabulous style, this performance was one which left the audience smiling, clapping and wanting to take to the dance floor themselves!
Miss Ivory Grace rode into our lives next on a bright red bicycle. Complete with her hair in bunches and a black and red two-tone corset, reminiscent of Harley Quinn, she showed us how the perils of growing up can soon take over our lives. But is it really a sin to grow up? If Miss Ivory Grace’s performance is any indication of what growing up should be like, we at LYB HQ would say not.
From being young and alive, to exploring the darker side of burlesque, Sofie du Monde explored what it means to really strip down to nothing. Trussed up in skeleton attire, Sofie du Monde drew literal meaning to taking off her skin and stripped down to her bare bones – skeletons aren’t usually sexy, but as she sauntered across the stage and slipped off her stockings, the audience found themselves spookily entranced by her.
Time flies when you’re having a ball, and soon enough it was time for the closing act of the Love You Burlesque Christmas Party & Solos event. Spicy Cupcake brought LYB’s mission statement to the stage once more and performed a fantastically humorous number addressing bingo wings, thighs and squidgy tummies – a lot of things that we love here at LYB! Closing the show is never an easy thing to do, but Spicy Cupcake created raucous laughter in the audience and once her performance came to an end, many of us found that we couldn’t stop smiling!
Once more, the Love You Burlesque Christmas Party & Solos event encompassed everything about Christmas. Festive fun, touching moments, diversity and most of all, it showed how the love of a burlesque family can support you in doing something that you’ve always dreamed of doing.
From all of us here at Love You Burlesque, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!