Attention! Word of the week!

In French, the word Boite (it’s pronouced ‘bwat’ and it is supposed to have a little line over one of the letters – but I couldn’t find that symbol on my computer) means:

1.    A Cabaret and Jazzy nightclub or restaurant.

Putting the Boite into action:

Scene…

Mystery Man       Hey Dares… Wanna go to this groovy new boite?

Dares                   Oooh, there’s nothing I love more than a good boite!

Discovering this little but enormousley satisfying word brings me lots more pleasure than it should.

Now, if you’re following the Dares it’s very likely that other than a love for nineties nostalgia (I promise my next act will NOT be 90’s themed)! you also have a love for the Zebra! I got my inspiration for these magnificent creatures whilst on safari in Tanzania. On the Serengeti I was lucky enough to see herds of Zebra and wilderbeast feeding, drinking cautiously, being wary of hippos and crocs at their water hole.

!QUESTION! What do you know about your Zebras?

Zebras really are remarkable creatures. Here’s my top 10 Zebra facts from one Zebra lover to another:

Fact 1: Each Zebra has an unique pattern. Much like our fingerprints no two Zebras are identical!

Fact 2: A Zebra foal identifies its mother by sight. Thus after birth, mare and foal spend time away from the herd so that the foal can memorize his (or her) mothers stripes. The foal will stay in close proximity to the mare for upto a year!

Fact 3: Male zebra are vicious. The alpha stallion will have to defend his harem from young males who are coming of age. These fights involve biting around the head and neck, wrestling and, kicking. If you see an old males face it will be pockmarked with scars. Stallions have also been known to go on the offensive against wild dogs and hyenas that they deem to be a threat.

Fact 4: The stripes are used to confuse predators. When running from a predator the zebra will zigzag. This causes their stripes to blur with the high plains grass.

Fact 5: You cannot ride a Zebra as their back will not support the weight of a human.

Fact 6: If a Zebra becomes poorly its mane will droop to one side. A healthy Zebra has a punk mohawk mane going on, which looks awesome.

Fact 7: The males can be distinguished from the females by thick muscular necks and lots of scars.

Fact 8: Young stallions branch off and form bachelor herds as they reach maturity.

Fact 9: A Zebra can run up to 35mph and lives for arouns 25-30 years in the wild

Fact 10: You know that age old question?! Is a Zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes? Well scientistts recently discovered that the answer is… (drum role here) black with white stripes!

If any one has any other facts about these beautiful creatures please fill me in, I love to learn more about these stunning animals.

Other news, I have two brand spanking new housemates who are brilliant and I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who shared my statuses and helped me get viewings for the flat.

Until next week,

Stay energised and Keep it animalistic

Dares

I would LOVE to know…

What is the most daring thing you can think of that Ursula Dares could do and, if you can think of something – would you like to dare me to do it? (This is not a trick question)!

When I was younger I was the teenager who you could count on to do the Dare, and the double dare – whatever that dare happened to be.

Sneaking out the house in the middle of the night, streaking down the street, sticking ketchup ridden chips up my nose, ringing door bells and doing one… I’d be the child on the rollercoaster who showed off screeching ‘look at me! No hands!’  I was mischievous and got up to no good in the best possible way. I enjoyed bunking off school; revelled in pushing the glass on the Ouija board; whispering secrets; kissing boys and riding motorbikes… in my early twenties I went to stunt school in Seattle and have always sought after adventure.  I spent years living the raving epidemic and scouting out parties – feeling truly in my element when stood on top of a speaker.

My most daring deeds are private to me – as all the best ones are.

When it came to picking a burlesque name I originally called myself- Miss Flame, I loved playing with fire (literally). Despite ‘Miss Flame’ describing my personality well I missed my birth name – Ursula. (No little mermaid jokes here please… there was also Andress)!

The name Ursula means ‘little she-bear’ and although it is rare to have a performer use their actual name – I simply don’t love any name more.  After hours of thought and scouring the web I came up with a list of 6 possible surnames to add to Ursula. I put these to my friends and family on facebook and asked them to vote their favourite. Ursula Dares was the outright winner – by far, besides, Lady Cheek would have it no other way.

I believe, as a total ‘newbie’ (to use a filthy word) as I am – my chosen name ‘dare’ has been partly responsible for helping me get gigs in my first year, I don’t know this for sure, but I have a feeling…

Nowadays I am as silly and playful as I’ve ever been and the dare has reached new heights. I am proud to announce I have begun learning trapeze – which is pushing my body to new limits in the best and most painful way.

My third act which has been in the pipeline for a while is not something you could guess at. It’s provisionally named ‘Torture Garden’ and for now I will leave it at that. It is for this act I am seeking to learn a new dare.

I have some pretty special gigs lined up this year including a debut at Lady K’s… I will keep you posted. A new addition is my first ever Oxford gig. For those of you who don’t know, Oxford is my home town, so I am super excited about performing there. Check out the details on the link below…

https://www.facebook.com/events/629765280414467/

I will be performing my Cock-err act. If you still need a bit of persuasion here is a quote from the delectable Hotcake Kitty

‘Ursula’s energy on stage is comparable to that of a Duracell bunny! Great comedic sketches packed with nostalgia and laughs. Her ‘Cock-err’ act is one not to be missed!’

Hotcake Kitty – International Burlesque Performer & Compere

And the stand-up genius that is Chris Head

“Ursula’s committed, energetic and delightfully mad performance is a breath of fresh air.”

Chris Head Producer, director & stand-up comic

Don’t forget – Message me your Dares,

Passionate KISS

Dares x

Ursula Dares Studio Shoot for Cock-err.
Credit to Sin Bozkurt – Photogapher

Ursula Dares Studio Shoot for Cock-err.
Credit to Sin Bozkurt – Photogapher

Happy Christmas Y’all

Whilst I’m home with my family and taking a well earned break, I want to give a heart-felt Christmas KISS to each and every person who has supported me during my first year of performing. Whether that be for booking me at a night, crowning me champion of a competition, cheering me on at a gig, liking my facebook page, following me on twitter, working with me on the ongoing development of my acts (In particular Bernadette Russell and Hotcake Kitty), filming me & taking photographs live (Ryan Evans & Ed McFadden) and giving me all kinds of opportunities to develop (Lady Cheek & India Starr), supporting burlesque as an industry every time you engage with a post or buy a ticket and ultimatley support this Zebra on the long, winding path of migration…

An extra special thank you to the fabulous Rob Sayles at Designory for designing my first ever website and being a pleasure to work with while he’s at it.

For Dares, 2013 has had its ups and downs and if nothing else has been full of unexpected surprises. With 2014 poking its mischievous head around the corner, I have no idea where I’m going to end up… quite literally. Will I fly high or fall on my ass? No one knows, only one thing is for sure – no matter what, I am sure as hell going to enjoy the journey.

Daring Shimmies and Squeezes

Ursula
xx

Prizes! From India Starr at Cabaret Nouveau including a beautiful vintage style swimming costume byt ‘Kiss me Deadly’. Looking forward to donning that in Brixton baths!

Photographs from the inspirational and charming Sin Bozkurt of myself reminding you all to Rave till you die this festive season (although not necessarily outside a police station, on a busy crossroads… wish I’d had the pictures of the stunned passers by). One Zebra in Hackney.

For a while now I’ve felt like there’s something missing in my life. Well, more specifically on my living room wall. This week I found it, in the form of Liza Minnelli who now has pride of place, opposite the fish tank, overseeing everything that takes place there.

Everyone knows there’s more than a little something inspirational about this lady, I don’t need to go on.

However, I’ve been creating my third act, or rather, attempting to create my third act for a long, long, long time. Exasperatingly, I have some kind of performers block… the story of the piece is not quite coming together… all suggestions welcomed.

And so, I feel like having Liza watch over me as I work is a step in the right direction, and even if it doesn’t have the intended effect, its a damn fine poster.

This last week has been superb for me. I won best newcomer 2013 for Cabaret Nouveau, have taken bookings as far away as next September and have won tickets to several shows and lots of fabulous prizes.

I am donning a set of Christmas pudding pasties courtesy of AllGirlsAreMagpies and am seeking the most awesome housemates South of the river to share my beautiful rented Victorian, garden flat in Brixton.

Details can be found on Gumtree and Spareroom at http://www.spareroom.mobi/flatshare/flatshare_detail.pl?flatshare_id=2204671.

Know anyone looking? Drop me a line,

Daring Kiss
Ursula