Thee Inner Cirkus Meets Elby Brass Band

Self Henna - Hip Flowers

Thee Inner Cirkus went a-traveling far far away to a land filled with soft fluffy cat, massive amounts of pasta, spectacular coffee, and gnomes. Let's call it Fredricksburg, Virginia.

I have had the opportunity over the last year or so to do some work with a talented group of freaks from Greenville SC who call themselves Thee Inner Cirkus. Most of the gigs we have had thus far have been in the upstate of South Carolina, so the 8 hour road trip came as a bit of a surprise, but I was super excited to get on the road.

Kenny Phoenix All Sparkly

As always, one of my favorite aspects of performing is the opportunity to practice multiple arts. For this gig, I chose to do some self henna. All of my pieces for this gig were belly dance and fire dance, so I kept the henna classic and discovered exactly what kind of contortions I have to do in order to decorate my own side.

Shinola and Pasta

Pre-show with Thee Inner Cirkus

We got on the road Friday around mid day. The most pertinent discovery of the ride was the fact that North Carolina has nicer rest areas than Virginia...and as always, traffic on I-95 sucks. I was ecstatic to reach our destination. In order to thank our host, I proceeded to cover his patio in glitter. This way, he'll think of Thee Inner Cirkus every time the light hits and the ground sparkles. I have discovered that as both a body artist and a bellydancer, that I almost exude glitter....it happens.

We had a lot of spaghetti. We had some rum, and some beer....some vegan chocolate and plenty of boiled peanuts. We did silly magic tricks and counted each others fingers. Then we had our pre-show meeting, planned a set list, set up our music, and said good night.

Relaxing in the Parlor

Saturday dawned bright, beautiful, and Freakin' hot!

Fredricksburg is a fabulous little town - not at all what I expected, but filled with antique stores and cute little niches, one way streets, and historic buildings. We spent some time downtown before we met up at the Silk Mill and walked through the show. The venue was fabulous - a renovated mill with concrete floors and super high ceilings. Misters and fans were set up to beat the heat, but the heat fought back.

Thee Inner Cirkus pre show meeting

Luckily, the kind owners of the bed and breakfast opposite the concert venue allowed us into their parlor, so we had a place to cool off, sit and relax, drink water, and escape too.


After checking out the town and the venue and getting ice cream (because you can't cirkus without ice cream - well, I can...but I'm in the minority on this one), we returned to gnome headquarters and got ready. Costumes and make up and last minute plans....and then it was time to got back to the venue for the last time. 6:30 show time.

Mr Greenleaf and Fire Dart (the socks make it)

We set up our fueling area and started strolling. Mr Greenleaf and SparrowCat entertained the crowd with some fire eating and contact outside while Dei-adis, Shinola, and I hooped, veil poi-ed, and danced around the inside of the venue while people were trickling in.

Official performance started with a short set. We couldn't forget the reason we were there, so Thee Inner Cirkus serenaded Seth with a fantastically cackophonous happy birthday remix led by our MC, the amazing Bella Bonsai.

Bella Bonsai and a hoop

I opened our set with fire fans, followed by Dei-adis with LED hoop. Mr Greenleaf surprised us all by taking his pants off and performing fire dart in sparkly hot pants (Hot in so many ways!)

Dancing to Elby Brass

Thee Inner Cirkus pumped the crowd up, but everyone was there to see Elby Brass Band, and oh how did they rock! An absolutely fabulous mix of irreverence and musical talent, Elby Brass brought the crowd up and kept them there. They finished out their set with Virginia Creeper and invited me onstage to dance with them. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Jaidra Solo to Virginia Creeper

We followed Elby Brass's first set with an hour long Thee Inner Cirkus extravaganza! SparrowCat and Mr Greenleaf ate some fire and then Bella Bonsai entertained everyone by attaching beaver traps and mouse traps to herself and lying on a bed of nails. The fantastic Kenny Phoenix awed everyone with his contact juggling, SparrowCat fascinated with her fantabulous Fire Staff. Mr Greenleaf got back up and stuck a screwdriver in his face, Dei-adis spun fire hoop, I danced with fire palms and my sword, and our lovely Glow Poi spinner, Psyryn did a beautiful  performance with glow poi to Dude Looks Like a Lady. Shinola closed out our set as she let the crowd staple money to her beautiful body....and Thee Inner Cirkus was done!

Mr Greenleaf and Shinola dance the night away

But our work is never done. We returned to the stage while Elby Brass played and continued to have a grand ole time!


SethFest XXX was a rousing success. We probably had as much fun as the crowd did! Now we have a new home away from home....and there are gnomes there!

The Enchanted Chalice Renaissance Faire - A Dancer's View

Sword Dance

 I have the strangest sunburn. Luckily, I took my parasol with me, but it didn't keep me from burning in an odd pattern around my bodice, necklace, and turkish vest. The sunburn is totally worth it though. Yesterday was amazing!

I am having a great time!

We arrived at the Faire at noon and were pleasantly surprised at the size and scope of the event. For a small Renaissance Faire located at a church in Greenville, SC...it was wonderful. Two stages were set up, along with wide variety of vendors, events, games, and demonstrations.

 My first performance was as a guest of the Daughters of Ishtar at 12:30. I have been dancing for almost ten years now (and loving every second of it), but I've only recently begun to consider myself a professional performer - and events like this are what made me realize that I am becoming what I have long aspire to be.

Greenville ATS Dancers

I didn't have a plan - other than dance the best that I could and plop a sword on my head. I was thrilled that I hadn't tried to choreograph anything because there's no way that it would have worked.

 The "stage" was a grassy hillside with a bamboo mat laid on the grass. I was blessed to have a wonderful musician as my accompaniment, and a spectacular audience topped it all off.

I even managed a little floorwork on the hillside!

Jaidra with Veil

Belly Dancers

I was followed by the lovely Greenville ATS dancers who absolutely rocked it out. I love watching these ladies dance - grace and skill topped with a joy that is palpable. The crowd loved them, as they should.

We topped it off with a free for all belly dance jam session. I broke out my veil and played, and a good time was had by all.

 We spent a little time recuperating in the shade before the 1 pm processional march following the king and queen around the faire grounds.

All Hail the King and Queen

The grounds were absolutely lovely. Our musician spent a little time with us before taking off to do SCA reenactments in the baking sun - hats off to those guys!

We Love a Parade

 The bellydancers had a wonderful time in the processional. Brandy and I spent the majority of the time coming up with new and exciting ways to dance and walk at the same time.

 After the parade, we had a little time to wander around the faire grounds and check out the miriad vendors and activities. I was especially impressed with the phase of the moon jewelry and the picture cutouts. Aren't we adorable as a princess and knight!

We took a mid day break from the Faire to eat and rest in the shade before I had to be back on stage with Thee Inner Cirkus.

Add caption

I opened Thee Inner Cirkus' set with a fire fan performance at the chalice stage. This stage was more stage like, and more comfortable for fire dance. I didn't have to worry about falling down a hill - just setting the backdrop on fire (just kidding - I had a great fire safety guy ready to put out the set or me if a problem presented itself, and luckily he didn't have a job to do).

I unfortunately didn't get photos of the other cirkus folks, but they were Phenomenal! Andy Greenman and Mel debuted their acrobalance act, which was stunning. Robin rocked out the fire hoop, Leila and Andy were extremely impressive with contact fire and fire breathing.

Jaidra with Fire Fans

 Crickett was as ever, a consummate performer on a balance board with fire devil sticks - super cool! Kenny Phoenix, whom I just got to meet, is a wonderful contact juggler and awed the crowd. I made a second appearance with the veil....it was a rousing show and a wonderful time!

Jaidra with Fire Fans

Jaidra with Veil

Sunburned and exhausted, I left the Faire richer in friends and experience and thrilled to have gotten the chance to participate in the inaugural event of what I am sure will become an upstate staple!