It was a sad day on Sunday when the exhibition came down! Thanks to all who came and viewed the work. We had some really great feedback. Tuesday night’s celebrations saw some great performances from some of the Dare Devil Divas, some amazing cakey treats made from the multi talented Alice ( have a look at her blog for some musings & observations on the whole performance process) all hosted by our very own Poppy Von Tarte.
Until the exhibition tours later in the year we thought they should live on in an online gallery. Enjoy!
All photography by Carl Newland & Tanya Moulson
Betty Bruiser
Cannon Fodder
Betty takes her research very seriously. When she shoots over the Avon, you can be sure the shoes will be on.
Rocky Martiny
Give Me a Break
Lets have a break from worrying about convention. Rocky Martini invites you to kick back & relax.
Ruby D’Railed
Ruby Stops Trains
Siren of the silent film our heroine Ruby is right on track. Full steam ahead- She won’t be tied down.
Mr J Bond
After Hours
Cool, calm and collected by day; off duty Mr B shakes & stirs it.
Opinya Legges
A Vision of Opinya
Great heavenly Bannanas! It’s fruit galore when Opinya & close friend Delilah join forces. So, here’s looking at You and grab hold of your heads, ‘cause the Female’s more deadly than the Male.’
Buster Tenderloin
The Thinking Bird’s Crumpet
‘I was having a little looksie around the interweb and I find this picture of right on tart-Germaine Greer with her tits out. So I thought I’d have me a bit of feminism…’
Sabina
And If One Day I Should Become
I’ve always been a very technical singer- often the performance will come second to the right sound. The larger than life dimension of Sabina is terribly freeing, and I’ve an excuse to let out my cabaret side. Now I’ve let the Brel in there’s no stopping Sabina.
Michaela Dunne
Battle Axe
Poppy Von Tarte’s alter ego Michaela Dunne unleashes her battle cry.
Lippy Loophole
Delicious Malicious
Sliding sweetly into self defense, fending off the delicious malicious evidence. A macabre march to mistaken identity; it could never, ever, have been me.
Lottie Psychottie
Lottie Psychottie Goes Wild in the Aisles
Sweet little Lottie P enjoys her weekly trip to the supermarket to feed her insatiable appetite for cake and carnage.
Ivana Van Der Fluff
Woman on the Edge
‘Dare Devil Divas’ enabled Ivana to recover from a period in her life when she felt at the end of her rope. She unleashed her glamorous, fun loving side with no safety net other than the support of this women only group. DDD provided escapism from her day to day reality of caring for others, liberating Ivana to go over the top, harness her other very real strengths and take them to new heights.
Lilly Nova
The Lady Lily Nova, scourge of the Caribbean Seas
A fearsome buccaneer, she commanded the formidable pirate ship ‘Revenge’. Losing an eye while battling for loot; Lily is most famous for wearing a patch of diamonds and pearls sewed from her spoils. She claimed they improved her musket’s aim.
Kitty Kat Trapp
What Kitty Did Next!
After years of bitter rivalry with the infamous Opinya legs, Kitty decides to ditch the leopard print trash, set her sights higher and become a lady. Surely 0pinya can’t compete with that?
Minxi L’ Amour
Absolutely Fabulous
‘I can cultivate my curves –they may be dangerous but they won’t be avoided. I didn’t discover curves; I only uncovered them. Say what you want about long dresses, but they cover a multitude of shins and I’m no model lady, a model’s just an imitation of the real thing. My wisdom of advice to all in question is: You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.’
(Quotes from May West)
Strange Eden
Daughters of Eve
For the daughters of Eve, paradise is now a ‘Strange `Eden’, Would she have eaten the fruit if she had seen the future for them?
Programme Notes
Drastic Productions presents…
‘The Dare Devil Divas Gallery of Super Heroes & Alter Egos’
Drastic Productions is a Bristol based not for profit performance company. We make unusual, exciting performance with all types of people. We offer people who would not usually have access to the arts opportunities to express themselves and communicate creatively; take supported risks and create powerful work. We have a passion for contemporary performance and embrace different genres & techniques to create original work.
We are a small team, consisting of live artists, performers, directors and arts & health professionals.
‘Dare Devil Divas’ was a rollercoaster of a creative process which took place in autumn 2010 here at the Tobacco Factory. We attracted women from all over Bristol, of all types of backgrounds and ages to this project; using the artforms of cabaret & burlesque as a framework. Our interest and experience of these forms is set very firmly in their satirical, powerful and subversive roots. We wanted to promote empowerment & sex positivism through creating lavish, outrageous and gorgeous work. 100% of audience feedback said that we achieved these aims!
The incredible women who took part embraced hard work & heels with joy & humour and are themselves the inspiration for this exhibition. The women each created and nurtured a character for the show, an ‘alter ego’; teased out of them by creative writing, visualization & performing together. They then took on a life of their own, ran riot, took over & took off! Each character embodies a fantastical, fabulous and superhuman element of each one of the women and we thought they deserved their own portrait exhibition…
So, the Dare Devil Divas Gallery of Super Heroes & Alter Egos was born!
We commissioned photographers Carl Newland & Tanya Moulson to work with us and held a day of performance based enquiry into the secret lives, aspirations & exploits of these fictitious & fabulous Divas. The results of which you can see here.
The women who took part & made this project possible all shared views on the continuing struggle of women today, whether this be around roles & expectations, family life or mental health issues. This small project is a playful reflection of these and poses gentle questions to the viewer about attitudes and assumptions. At the same time however, this project; marking International Women’s Day 2011 is an overt & unashamed celebration of the female, of the Dare Devil Diva!
We would like to thank ‘The Outer Edge’ for the abseil equipment & Greggs for a trolleyful of cake!
Framed prints all for sale at £70 each.
All profit donated to the Dare Devil Diva’s chosen charities. A run of editions available at smaller sizes. Please email for ordering information: info@drasticproductions.co.uk
Liz Clarke. Creative Producer
