Ready for an event that spotlights and celebrates fresh new performers?
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY THE COCOA BUTTER CLUB
The Cocoa Butter Club was founded in 2016, sparked by the amount of cultural appropriation, lack of diversity and other limitations of the cabaret scene. This award winning collective has been on a mission to decolonise and moisturise whilst creating a platform where the melanated are celebrated. The Cocoa Butter Club is starting 2022 off with a bang with an announcement of its new three-round competition TAKE THE TITLE: ‘Trailblazer’ which is seeking out new Black and POC queer talent to take to the stage.
Hosted by London’s renowned queer venue The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, the competition will kick off in February. It will showcase a range of new and upcoming talent within burlesque, drag, music, spoken word, circus arts and more!
Are you interested in applying?
Consisting of two heats, a semi-final and a final, the overall winner will take home:
- A £250 cash prize
- Performance bookings
- A photoshoot at Hotdog Studios
- Mentoring sessions
- Kurt Geiger footware
- Treatment from Brixton-based, Black and LGBTQI owned Texture Hair Salon
- Natural skincare products by Avisa
- A £40 voucher from Black trans owned business Da House Of Phalanges
The competition seeks new performers, all ages 18+ with under three years performance experience are welcome to apply. Each heat will consist of eight performers, four will be selected from both nights to go through to the semi-final. The top four will go through to compete for the title at the final. Oh, and there will be a big ol’ afterparty to celebrate.
The Cocoa Butter Club founder Sadie Sinner said: “I am proud that in addition to multiple ethnicities, we are able to platform disabled artists – a sorely underrepresented demographic within performance. I really hope people show up and show out for what’s about to happen, because these artists are the next generation in Black and POC radical talent.”
“My hopes for TAKE THE TITLE are as big as that for The Cocoa Butter Club, to dominate, decolonise and ‘do-da-ting!’”
You can purchase tickets for this unmissable spectacular here 🌈
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