Hello my Dumplings! After a brief hiatus of non-stop performing, I am back to dish the skinny about all those adventures. Starting with… The Dallas Burlesque Festival, produced by Black Mariah, Elisa, and Ginger Valentine; three amazing performers in their own right!
The third annual Dallas Burlesque Festival was one of the most anticipated burlesque events in Texas, taking place over two nights, and attracting performers from New York City to New Orleans. My fellow Jigglewatts, Jolie Ampere Goodnight, Coco Lectric and I headed up to “The Big D” for the Saturday night showcase at the House of Blues.
When we arrived, the first dressing room I came to was full of glamorous girls with perfect hair that I didn’t recognize. One familiar face emerged from the crowd, the lovely Amber DeVille, acclaimed pin-up model. Then I realized I was in the model greenroom. Before the show and during intermission, there was a live, spicy pin-up photo shoot featuring gorgeous girls in delectable lingerie and corsets.
I found the correct dressing room, thankfully closer to the stage (and equipped with a coffeepot!), and set about getting my stage face on. This process was helped immensely by the bottle of champagne snuck backstage to me by a good friend! (You know who you are ;-))
The opening act of the night was the delicious Praline DuPree of New Orleans. A bumpy patch in her music left her onstage in utter silence for a few moments, but she continued to delight the crowd until they were eating out of her hand. When her music finally resumed, the audience went crazy with cheers.
The first Jigglewatt to take the stage was Jolie Ampere Goodnight, singing “My Daddy Rocks Me” with a wicked pair of black ostrich fans. I had a “proud mom” moment as a couple of the Dallas girls congratulated me on our talented new addition 😉
Moments later, Darlinda Just Darlinda stood naked in the dressing room shower, applying copious amounts of body glitter. She then proceeded to bring audiences out front and backstage to their feet with her blacklight fringe number.
I was second in our troupe to perform, with my “Screen Siren” number in a tribute to silver screen goddesses Rita Hayworth and Jean Harlow. It is amazing what a hall full of 1400 people feels like. Upstage center was a large screen surrounded by little vanity lights. In the middle of my number I whirled around to see that a live feed of my act was being projected onto the screen as I danced. I was startled to see my face that big, so I immediately turned back around and tried not to think too much about it! My brief four minutes on stage was over all too soon, but the warmth of that fabulous crowd and the camraderie backstage lasted all night.
Closing out the show was The Jigglewatts own Coco Lectric, with a brand new “sexpionage” number with a nod to James Bond. She calls it, “007.21 Jigglewatts.” Clever eh? In a costume of head to toe gold, combining singing, dancing and a shadow screen, it was the perfect finale.
After the show, Angi B. Lovely hosted us in her beautiful home where we crashed, slumber party style. Besides being an acclaimed aerialist, Angi is known for her two giant Bengal cats. Sweet tempered and wild natured, they serenaded us in the morning with loud meows that sounded like an old lady howling “Heeelloooooo?”
We all went to brunch the next day for much needed mimosas and coffee, before hitting the road back to Austin to prepare for our next adventure…
xoxo, Ruby Joule
Ruby Joule is a burlesque performer, go-go dancer, pin-up model and bonne vivante based in Austin, TX. She is a founding member of The Jigglewatts Burlesque and strives to seek out new adventures in Showgirlhood!
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For all inquiries please contact: info@thejigglewattsburlesque.com or visit www.RubyJoule.com