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Hailing from down under and currently on an international fire-eating tour, we can guarantee you that mesmerising fire duo Shade Flamewater and Mini Azur will be like nothing you have ever seen before…  Watching their act is like feeling both at once connected to the elements and betrayed by them. Mini and Shade guide, mould and play with fire as if it were completely at their whim, from the start you are under their spell
  We asked Mini a couple of brief but beautiful questions: What do you live most about burlesque and cabaret? La vie en grand !!! What is your most memorable performance so far? Festival cultural de Mayo in Mexico. We did a 30 minutes show called the "Rise of the Phoenix" - it was made specially for the occasion. Can you give us a retro or burlesque style tip? Less is more. But not all the time ; )  Mini and Shade will be at our HELLFIRE - Grand Halloween Ball on 28th October DO NOT MISS THEM! 
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 The last time we embarked on a road trip to the big City we were headed to the same location. We adventured to London in July 2016 to check out the cabaret show scene. We dressed in vintage frocks and bought tickets to Hotel Black Cat in the Wonderground ( Underbelly Festival ) Speigeltent.
As the show finished we gazed around the beautiful mirrored vintage circus tent in wonder. It suited us darlings. We felt as snug here as we do in our well-tied corsets.
We headed out to the open top bar to sip our drinks in the fairground style seating. Fairy lights twinkled above our heads as we admired the beautiful selection of huge show posters on the wall. "I think we should put on a show here" said Ruby. And here we are. Less than one year later. The first of TWO shows that we are holding here this year. We do love our Ruby and her determination. 
   Mr Jamie Powell from Bees Bizarre Bazaar in his usual gloriously on fleek style.  "fuck Brexit"
The famous Underbelly Festival is underway on the Southbank until September. We headed outside to join the fun and meet the festival goers. We love how bright and quirky it is here!
We squealed with joy when we saw our show posters! all THREE of them! 
And we posed for lots and lots of pictures with them. Because they are fabulous. And we are fabulous. It was almost too much fabulous to bear. The doors opened and the show began. The line up was as splendid as the venue. "No stranger to the absurd, Joe Black creates a world where the shocking is the sublime and the ridiculous is the beautiful" He was our perfect Mad-Hatter. 
Lena Mae hopped on with her first act as the white rabbit. Popping giant white balloons and riding an enormous phallic golden glittery carrot.
  She's so freaky. We LOVE her!  Ulrike Storch was our lovely little Alice. Beautiful and poised she juggled dancing objects effortlessly on the end of her toes. Such a curious talent to have!  Augusts Dakteris wowed us with his incredible strength during his ascent to the sky. Is he possibly the most handsome caterpillar in the world? 
 Ruby Truelove ruffled feathers with a gloriously beautiful display of fan-dance fantasy as the regal Queen of Hearts. 
 Then Lena returned and painted all the cheeks red! 
 Beautiful Ulrike performed her second, more sultry act, through the swish of her exquisite cloak.  
  Unbelievably wonderful LED poi by Arcturus Light bounced amazing Wonderland style visuals around the interior of the beautiful mirrored Spiegeltent.    The whole cast hit the stage for our incredible Mad Hatters tea party food fight finale. We all ended our night thoroughly covered in cream and champagne. As any good night should end...
 Our first Neon Moon Big Smoke road trip was incredible!
And thank goodness it doesn't end there! Come and join us for our next appearance at this extraordinary big city venue. We will be back at The Underbelly Festival with The Electric Rodeo Circus in September! Circus, Cabaret and Burlesque mixed with stunning visuals - an unmissable and electrifying ride! BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW! Thank you so much to our incredible audience who made us feel so wonderfully welcome!
With our first show Wonderland at Underbelly Festival on the London Southbank only two days away we catch up with Costume Design Student, Emma Ahlberg who helped Neon Moon Director and performer Ruby Truelove transform her iconic Marie Antoinette dress into a bespoke Queen of Hearts for the show:
“For the Queen of Hearts outfit, both Ruby and I discussed what sort of style she was after.
We decided that deep red sequin hearts would compliment the vintage aesthetic of the costume and we roughly placed them around where we thought they were best onto her corset, thin petticoat and underwear. Next, I pinned the hearts into place. I then roughly stitched around the corners of each one, to make sure they were still secure, but easy to remove after the show. I then added a large red bow to the front the the petty coat. I pinned it on with poppers, so that Ruby could simply pull off during performance… You will have to see the video to see what I mean!"
"For accessories, Ruby will be wearing a collection of large flowers in her hair - to pick up the same effect that comes out of the light-catching sequin hearts on her outfit, I have also added sequins to the corners of some of these flowers.
I'm excited to see Ruby in full costume for a dress rehearsal before the show, this will tell me whether anything needs to be added or removed. The queen of hearts is as much as a diva as I believe Ruby is during performance, so I have no doubt in her wowing her audience this Friday!” 
"I had fun with this outfit and am now planning out my own costume! Watch this space!…."
 Join us for a psychedelic trip to Wonderland with the Underbelly Festival on Friday June 23rd! This one night only show promises to be one of our best shows yet - tickets are available now! Excitingly, we will also be bringing our brand new TOURING SHOW The Electric Rodeo Circus to The Underbelly Festival Speigeltent in September! Watch this space for our full lineup but for now, a little something special from our featured Wonderland artist : WORLD CLASS FOOT JUGGLER Ulrike Storch! On 30th and 31st March we launched our brand new touring Theatre Show to SELL OUT audiences at the Cambridge Junction! Find out MORE about the Electric Rodeo Circus on the show's website: www.electricrodeocircus.com  Another Thursday night was coming around quickly. When we heard that Mr B the gentleman Rhymer wouldn't mind heading to kick it with us Cambridge types we knew just the place to welcome him. Our Thursday night cabaret dining club at La Raza of course! "come down good chap! enjoy a little tipple, spit us a few lines and that sort of thing won't you?" He did!  The bar opened and the first thing on the plate was the bespoke cocktail menu crafted by our gorgeous La Raza Mixologists. 
  Passion fruit Pornstar Martini's and chocolaty Cafe de Franco were top favourites on our list tonight. Who doesn't like a little bit of chocolate after their Pornstars? 
 Whilst listening to the beats, rhymes and adventures of The gentleman Rhymer himself. 
    We laughed we cheered and we curtsied. Dammit - it felt good to see the chap! 
We had a thoroughly jolly good time. Smyley Jay and Wunjo Music hit the decks the dance floor filled and we danced our Thursday into Friday!
 This and EVERY Thursday we are bringing you MORE! Tell your friends and book your tables! Impress your most favourite of people with your exquisite taste in fine dining and world class entertainment. Come to La Raza this Thursday! We will be welcoming the Master of wit Des O'Connor & Mardis Gras Mambo Blues from The Sure can Playboys Delightful! EAT, DRINK AND HAVE A JOLLY GOOD KNEES UP!
All for a grand introductory price of £10 for an advance ticket and £35 per head for dining! Contact La Raza to reserve your table 01223464550 info@laraza.co.uk Chin-Chin!  For months and months we have been plotting and purring. Devising and revising. Brainstorming the booty shaking. The past few years have seen us conquer some dreams of grandeur, We've had the Virgin Mary sing in the debating chambers of The Cambridge Union Society. Demons dancing in front of the belly of the Guildhall Historical grand Organ. Acrobats have swung between chandeliers. We have sprinkled about three full tons of confetti over thousands of you over six short years! And we love that. We love it a lot. And we have even more of that on the horizon – MUCH MORE! But you know, in-between all of these most splendid adventures, we do feel a little nostalgic. Sometimes there can be months between our big shows and sometimes we just miss you all a little too much. We want to see you more often. Somewhere a little more intimate. We have just been waiting for the right time to tell you!  Having dreamed about a rather exclusive and decadent little evening event for quite some time, it became clear that great minds really do think alike when our great and gorgeous chums at La Raza Cambridge offered us a place and a partnership that could cater for something unique. We sipped a few samples from the cocktail menu, had a little taste of the sumptuous menu. The deal was done. We knew it was time. Cambridge NEEDS a different kind of haven. Somewhere to spoil and be spoiled. To laugh away the weekly woes. Whilst simultaneously eating delicious food and sampling some of the worlds most delicious and contemporary cocktails! So we’ve got that covered now. You are welcome.   Guests arrived to bubbles and berries. Their tables were waiting with olives, dipping oil, and breads.
 Each evening has a menu of carefully selected cocktails to choose from.     Can you imagine drinking a cool and creamy chocolate orange? Well you don't have to darlings, If it tickles your fancy you can get one here. We had three of these. Ok... it was four. enough said.  Amber Topaz was back and on fire!  Between each of your four delicious courses..
 She sang to you
 She stalked you 
She stroked you   She climbed upon your shoulders   A lot.
She made the lovely Steve smell her feathers..  She even found the space to hide an iPhone in her knickers..  
 As Dickie De Vere and the Dorchester Mavericks hit the stage we saw off the evening on the dancefloor We were tipsy from the cocktails. We had laughed so much our sides were sore! The food was incredible and the atmosphere was wonderful!   We felt gloriously elated at the end of a wonderful and successful evening! Thank you to all of you who came along! This and EVERY Thursday we are bringing you MORE! Tell your friends and book your tables! Impress your most favourite of people with your exquisite taste in fine dining and world class entertainment. Come to La Raza this Thursday! We will be welcoming the hilarious Below the string Duo who's quirky little ditties are surreal and bizarre and will amuse and tantalise your humorous taste buds, with the wonderful DJ Jazzlord to follow - playing Vintage Vinyl - Afro Cuban Funk, Ska, Blues and Cumbia until Midnight! Delightful! EAT, DRINK AND HAVE A JOLLY GOOD KNEES UP! All for a grand introductory price of £35 per head. Contact La Raza to reserve your table 01223464550 info@laraza.co.uk We cant wait! xxx "Thank you so much for making us aware that there was such a great night in store! Loved every second! I now have no voice from laughing/singing and whooping!!! We will certainly be back for more... x x X
"It is so great to see a night like this back in Cambridge! - There is nothing like it on the scene at the moment!" "Really nice event last night and you guys were amazing! We felt really comfortable and really enjoyed ourselves!" Cabaret Dining Guests  The delightful Amber Topaz (who has featured on some of our New Year's Eve event posters) took five minutes out of her hectic Christmas schedule to tell us a bit about her burlesque experiences and inspirations:
What is your main performance inspiration? My inspiration for most part is to be joyful. What I emanate is what the audience experience. As a live performer you are effetely a sorcerer. You can not control how an audience will react but can share your self and your gifts whole heartedly. We live in a crazy world. If people leave moved in any capacity then you have worked your magic. It's a privilege to inspire, entertain or lift anyones spirit. Bringing laugher and smiles is immeasurable. What do you love most about burlesque and cabaret? The freedom to express yourself as you choose. Whether that is through song,dance, comedy and or costume. There is an intimacy. For me an honesty, a candid exchange. It's a symbiotic experience. Every performance is unique by the very fact it happens in the moment with a different group of spectators and participators which can dramatically change the dynamic. There is no knowing how you will be received which is part of the fun and adrenaline rush. What has been your most memorable performance so far? I have so many wonderful memories as an artist. My most recent was winning 'Bohemian Queen' of Burlesque at the Bohemian Burlesque Festival in Prague. I was genuinely shocked and elated. One of the judges was Dirty Martini so it really quite an honour. Can you give us a retro or burlesque style tip? It's not what you wear but how you wear it. With confidence and a smile. Accessorising is great way to finesse any look. I am currently having lost of fun fabulous earrings, headscarfs and victory rolls. Amber Topaz will be featuring in our New Year's Eve Spectacular - an evening of entertainment you won't want to miss! Visit our New Year's Eve page to find out more.  Ok so you want to look like a carnival dancer. The key items you need are feathers, sparklies, and a complete lack of restraint when it comes to an outrageous costume! We're going to start off with some simpler items you can make, and then show you a few pieces that take a bit longer, but will really make your costume stand out! Also, we have focused on feathers as we've already covered crystals and glitter here - don't feel restricted simply by the videos we've chosen - carnival is all about over-the-top, imaginative costumes - just go for it, whether you want to be a sea creature, a woodland spirit or a fire deity! So to start out with, here are some of the quickest and simplest ideas we found online - do be careful tying anything around your neck though and watch that hot glue gun!
This video shows how you can get a great look relatively quickly by combining glue, glitz and of course a ton of feathers! Another way to make life easier for yourself is to add a mask to your costume - which has the benefit of being able to put it on or take it off as you need! Colour palette for facepaint/makeup should be bright colours - ideally co-ordinating with your costume. This video shows how to get a great rainbow effect on your eyeshadow, but is a little subtle - but we'd recommend going big on the eyes! But of course we know that some of you like to go that extra mile.. well here's how to do it! Please note these two following videos go together - it's a two parter on how to make a classic samba headress!
So headresses - YES! I must admit over the top headgear is one of the things I get quite excited about - just take a look at these! Do bear in mind though that if you are standing at the front of a show audience with a huge headpiece or backpiece on, you may well get people asking you to take them off so they can see!
We think this is one of our best dressing up themes yet, so we really hope you'll have fun with it! Enjoy! 
Hula hooping has really exploded onto the cabaret scene in the last few years. Bodyrocking legend Rachel Symone will be gracing our stage this winter with an amazing display of hooping skill! We caught up with her to ask a few questions about her inspirations and experiences:
What is your main performance inspiration? I find most of my inspiration through sound. Music taps into my imagination and takes over my body. I find it gets me productively creative like nothing else. What do you love most about burlesque and cabaret? I'm so attracted by the diverse creativity in the cabaret and burlesque world! I love an act that surprises me and to see a performer so into the music that you can see they're lost, and they take you to that same place. It's so powerful. I admire the different styles and stories told. There is so much power in the mind and body that performers remind us of. What has been your most memorable performance so far? My favourite musician invited me down to Trindad & Tobago to perform for his concert. It was the biggest in the country and my family saw me on TV. DREAM COME TRUE. Can you give us a retro or burlesque style tip? Two words! Lip liner. It's an underrated tool that will make a huge difference! |
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