Getting up on stage wearing only pasties, fishnet stockings and hot pants was not something Michelle Dickie ever envisioned herself doing.
However, last year she took a deep breath, a gulp of vodka and joined some powerful women to perform with La Bombe Burlesque in their Halloween Queens Cabaret at Zamia Theatre.
“The first time I saw it was when I sat in the audience at the concert,” she said, recalling the being in the audience the previous year.
“I didn’t even know what burlesque was. When it started, I thought wow what this is, but I was so inspired by it.
“I talked to some of the women at the gym who did it and they said I should. I thought there was no way I could do that. I’m a not a dancer, I feel so uncoordinated.”
Michelle found herself caught up in and fascinated by the inner strength of her peers.
“I was drawn to the women up there celebrating themselves and feeling strong up on stage. But the fear of how raw burlesque is and how vulnerable it is held me back,” she explained.
With the support of a friend the two went along for their first class.
“I went home crying. I wanted to do it but felt I couldn’t because of my own vulnerabilities I grew up with; feeling not pretty enough and not confident enough to step outside my comfort zone.”
Michelle said as a former high school drama and English teacher she was no stranger to the stage, but burlesque was different, so she had to draw on those acting skills and ‘fake it until she made it’.
“Day to day I’m in the office, gym or garden, for years I’ve been cleaning nappies and to get up on stage and feel confident and beautiful it’s not something you feel comfortable to do.
“I felt it would be good for me to put myself first and feel like a woman, rather than a mother,” she said.
Now Michelle is gearing up for her second burlesque show in May at Zamia Theatre.
Michelle moved to the mountain with her husband, Cyrus, and daughter Mirabelle, 10, in 2018 from Brisbane.
“Before having kids we’d get away for a weekend and stay at The Castle on Tamborine was a special thing for us. It felt really extravagant,” she said.
Ready for a tree change and more space, they began looking on realestate.com just for fun and quickly found their dream home.
“It and it felt like the mountain was calling us,” Michelle said.
“We thought as long as Cyrus could get internet and phone reception, we’d make it work.”
The couple, who met and began dating when Michelle was just 16, now have a second daughter, four-year-old Olivia, and Michelle made the decision to devote her time to raising the children and doing business accounts for Cyrus’ photocopier and printer leasing business.
“It’s never been a strength of mine to be doing maths, so it’s been a big learning curve, but it gives me flexibility to be there for the kids, which teaching didn’t.
“To work in the business with him was a big part of the team mentality that we’ve always had.”
In between being a mum, Michelle keeps active doing weight training at Mountain Fitness.
She also loves pushing herself through the mud at events like RAW.
“I want to build a healthy body, so when I’m older my kids don’t have to worry about me,” she explained.
“I love the garden; it’s been like an apprenticeship learning about the garden.
“Before we had kids we loved to travel and I’m looking forward to doing that again and teaching them about the rest of the world.”
For now, her feet and heart are firmly planted on Tamborine Mountain.
“I feel so lucky living here with the space and the environment and the community and the schools,” she shared.
“I don’t think I ever want to move.”
