A Townsville Burlesque Dancer’s tribute to a fast-paced striptease from the 1930s has landed her international recognition, after recently completing a whirlwind tour of the US and a performance in Croatia.
Miss Billie Beau’s trip began with an invitation to perform at Croatia’s Burlesque and Cabaret Festival and she decided to apply for a few other Festivals since she’d already be overseas.
“The act that I have attracted a bit of attention, so all the Festivals I applied for come through and it turned into a bigger holiday than I’d expected.
“I ended up going to four places: St Louis; Austin, Texas; Chicago and Croatia. With the American Festivals, I loosely followed the Jazz & Blues trail, so I started in New Orleans and it was a bit of Burlesque and Jazz & Blues research for me as well. I visited some of the Blues museums, followed the trails of the old performers and got to see the Chicago World Fair site where [Burlesque legends] Georgia Sothern and Sally Rand actually performed.”
Miss Billie Beau’s attention-grabbing act was inspired by Georgia Sothern, who was known as The Human Dynamo for her vivacious style of fast dancing.
“She’s best known for her fast striptease,” said Miss Billie Beau. “It was really unusual, and quite different from the normal slow tease. As well as being classic, it’s a little bit weird as well … so the Festivals picked up my tribute act pretty quickly.”
Miss Billie Beau will perform in the Australian Burlesque Festival in Melbourne on 29 September 2019. She is considering another international tour in 2020, including auditioning for the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.
