Kittie is a guest on BBC4’s Rude Britannia - an exploration of Britain’s bawdy satirical past. She talks about Victorian burlesque, Lydia Thompson and the society of it’s time as well as making appearances in tribute to Lydia as the ‘Sailor boy’ and also as her own characterisation of the figure of Britannia. Kittie appears in episodes two and three on 15th and 16th respectively.
9pm BBC4 14th/15th and 16th June. Repeats available.
Kittie co-writes and presents for the 2nd episode of ‘My Alter Ego’ on BBC Radio 4.
‘My Alter Ego’ is a brand new five part series where leaders in a particular field, discuss what life would have been like had they been on a similar life-voyage in another era. In the second episode, Kittie talks of life as a performer/entrepreneur examining the exciting history and parallels of her heroine, Eliza Vestris - the 19th century burlesque star/manageress who broke the mould of her day. read more….
or, Tickle My Fancy ! - A Guide To Classical or ‘Traditional British’ Burlesque
Amidst the renaissance of the showgirl-striptease, the art of traditional (known as ‘classical’) burlesquing is in danger of becoming totally removed from it’s own genre. This article is an attempt to draw attention away (just for a moment) from the fleeting frenzy of all things frilly, unravel the misconceptions and cast a spotlight upon the magnificence of what classical burlesquing really was – and still is.
Firstly, it must be understood that there is a problem with the ‘b word’ itself. It is an adjective, a verb and a noun – a name for many faces. The meaning is diverse and it morphs according to where you are in the world, the context in which you happen across it and the angle from which you glimpse it.