Tag Archives: disabled artist

DisabiliTease! An online burlesque show I loved so much.

Noeline la Bouche for Disabilitease by Suzanne Forbes May 28 2020I heard about Disabilitease from the feed of muse Noéline La Bouche, one of the performers.

You can see the drawing I made of her performance above. She is dancing in her apartment, doing one of my favorites of her routines. Noéline is so courageous in talking and sharing about disability in Berlin’s performance scene; she has helped producers understand that some of us have limitations and challenges but are still gonna show up as we can, and be amazing! Follow her here, site here, and my other Noéline drawings here, hereherehere here and here!

Little Peaches for Disabilitease June 21 2020 by Suzanne ForbesThis is Little Peaches!

Little Peaches is an international performer and producer and DisabiliTease is her baby. 18 months ago, a serious flare up of several of her medical conditions left her unable to dance. Being the stubborn renegade stripper that she is, Little Peaches grabbed her wheelchair and re-trained herself to dance with wheels! About booking performers with disabilities, she says:

Performers with disabilities are often overlooked for shows because they may need a little extra help when it comes to making the show accessible for them. That may be having wheelchair or walking aid access, assistance with travel, assistance to and from the stage to aid with visual impairments, BSL interpreters or a quiet space to retreat to if they are feeling overwhelmed. These little things can be surprisingly easy to put into place but more often than not, they aren’t.

Little Peaches welcomed me very kindly to draw the show. She did an amazing routine!

Arielle Firecracker for Disabilitease by Suzanne Forbes August 24 2020Arielle Firecracker is the other half of the Disabilitease team!

Arielle is a gorgeous tattooed bombshell and The Mother of Serpents – she has a snake named Dita 🙂 Check out the project she’s working on, Art & Soul Tribe!

Piggy Rox for Disablilitease by Suzanne Forbes June 21 2020Piggy Rox is so fierce!

I loved getting a chance to draw Roxy, a new-to-me performer.

Lady Phoenix for Disabilitease June 21 2020 by Suzanne ForbesLady Phoenix, trailing fire!

Lady Phoenix is another new-to-me performer, and she was marvelous!

La Nina the Disability Pirate for Disabilitease by Suzanne Forbes May 28 2020This is La Nina the Disability Pirate, with her Spoons hat!

You never know when you’ll need extra spoons. Her spoken word piece was great!

Rosie for Disabilitease by Suzanne Forbes May 28 2020This is Rosie who sang a great song!

I did not agree with her song, which was called “Don’t let a Pornstar tell you who are” – it had a great message but so many people I love are porn performers I take any critique of their profession personally! Rosie is part of the wonderful Invisible Cabaret.

Still working on the drawings of Erin Ball 🙂

I am so grateful to my Patrons on Patreon, whose monthly financial support makes it possible for me work safely at home.

As usual these drawings are licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) for all to share and enjoy!

In addition, I release the copyright on each drawing to the performer shown and they may use the drawings for their own profit and pleeeasssure in any way they choose.

 

From Gollum to Galadriel: When Winter Came to ACUD MACHT NEU.

Alexa Spread at Extravagant Shambles Nov 6 2019 Suzanne ForbesI was so excited when Cadbury Parfait told me she was producing a fantasy-themed Extravagant Shambles!

There is nothing I love like some dark fantasy and mythology – mix with burlesque and drag acts and you get pure entertainment mithril! (lil geek joke there for ya. Very little.) This Shambles was in the Club at Kunsthaus ACUD MACHT NEU, an epic Berlin queer art space. I don’t get to Mitte much, but I had been previously been to an art show there with artist and curator Suzanne Wegh – they are the source of all my art event hot tips. Above, Alan Lee (but not THAT Alan Lee) as Alexa Spread did a terrifying, grasping Gollum, then rose into a column of light and became Galadriel.

Darell Haynes at Extravagant Shambles Nov 8 2019 by Suzanne ForbesDarell Haynes, Louisiana born but now singing his heart out in Berlin, sang “I See Fire” from the second Hobbit flick.

He just filled the room; it was one of those moments that makes the hairs on your arms stand up. He is an actual trained professional opera singer, which is not what you are expecting in the club where the entrance always smells a little like piss. Darell was on German tv show Supertalent last year, with the group Mo’Voce! You can see them sing and get a standing ovation here.

Agata Dmon at Extravagant Shambles Nov 8 2019 by Suzanne ForbesShambles fave Agata D’Mon danced with a glowing moon.

I always love to draw her. My friend and Patron Daniel Paikov  was there taking pictures with his usual sang-froid, managing despite the fact that the ACUD Club is a dark cave of bloody light. We nightlife documenters find a way!

Marie Matthies at Extravagant Shambles Nov 8 2019 by Suzanne ForbesContortionist Marie Matthies was both fierce and so flexible!

Lexy Nightcat at Extravagant Shambles Nov 6 Suzanne ForbesLexy Nightcat did an incredible Ghostbusters number, wrangling green spirits to the classic banger theme.

Sarah Tonin at Extravagant Shambles Nov 28 2019 by Suzanne ForbesHere’s hostess Sarah Tonin.

She is wearing a handmade glitter crop top and skirt with peach chiffon draping by Harry Hardon. I did my best to draw it but it is so worth a look at the real thing!

Felicity Felicis at Extravagant Shambles Nov 28 2019 by Suzanne ForbesI love to draw knockout Felicity Felicis.

Every time I see her I can’t believe how gorgeous and badass she is!

Cadbury Parfait at Extravagant Shambles Nov 28 2019 by Suzanne Forbesand here’s producer Cadbury Parfait herself!

She was an ethereal Persephone who stripped down for a deep dive into the darkness of Winter. I so much appreciate coming to her productions, as they are always inclusive and amazing, and she makes sure I feel welcome and have a seat.

I didn’t draw everyone at this show – and I didn’t draw my muse Noéline la Bouche for an unusual reason. Noéline performed as the Goddess “Yemaya – mère de l’eau”, and I was so captivated by her dance choreography and costume for this number I actually decided to just watch! But you can see photos of her doing the act!

This has been a terrible year for me healthwise as a disabled artist, and crowdfunded support is the only way I can make this work and release it for free. I’m so grateful to my Patrons, who make my work happen.

Anyone can join my Patreon Patrons, for as little as a dollar/euro a month, to keep me making my documentary art of Queer Berlin as Free Art.