What a wonderful experience I just had! You know, in my 8 years as a model I have had the opportunity to travel here and there, work with many renowned photographers, and take part in some of the most beautiful fetish fashion shows. However, last Friday (April 29th 2005) I was the MC for a fetish event, which is something I had never before had the chance to do. The popular club Manray, which is located in Cambridge (A town neighbouring Boston) hired me to be the hostess of ceremonies at their well-known annual fetish ball.

This is the second time that Manray has asked me to be their MC; the first time was in 2002. Do you remember this story? For me it is etched in my memory like a good Hitchcock film full of suspense and surprises. It was in early 2002, just a few months after the terrorist attacks in New York. On the Manray website, as well as many fliers they had printed, it was announced that I would be the MC for their 11th annual B&D ball. Martin and I were supposed to fly out on the day before the ball, but the moment we reached US customs (which, by the way, you come to immediately in the Montreal airport) we were refused entry into the United States. The reason? I was suspected of going to work in the States and/or planning to sell the contents of my suitcase. You see, Manray asks that their MCs change outfits a number of times throughout the evening, so I had packed an incredible amount of latex and shoes for a little 3-day trip. Between you and me though, the customs agents were just crazy! They were treating us like wanted criminals, going so far as to post armed guards to keep an eye on us. Seriously! Do I look like a terrorist? Sure my boobs are pretty big, and I suppose they could be mistaken for bombs, but still! Let’s not get carried away! All this time we were being aggressively questioned in a tiny isolated room. What a mess! I sympathize with the USA for the pain they went through after 9/11, but I refuse to see how this would serve as a reason to consider me dangerous just because I have too many pairs of shoes! Finally, we decided to go back to customs the next day and try again. One word: MISTAKE. The same customs agent was there and we had to endure the famous speech threatening to ban us from the USA for 10 years. This time, we didn’t try to argue. All this to say that I wasn’t able to be the MC for Manray that year, and that they ended up having to find another person to do it at the last minute. This story was pretty talked about, and was even published in Skin Two #40. Ever since this happened I get shivers all over whenever I am near the US customs at the airport.

After this misadventure in 2002 I never thought that Manray would ask me to MC for them again. Why would they take the chance? I think that, like me, Manray wanted to be able to erase what happened in 2002. They probably also like the way my modelling career has progressed. I thus accepted the offer because for me, passing through US customs had become a mission, and I started preparing for it a month in advance. By email I found out more information about the shows: in total I had to present 5 performances on stage, do my own show, and then conclude the evening. Thus, if I were to wear a different outfit for each of these events, I would have to change 7 times in one evening. Seven latex outfits! Would that even be possible? Yes, if given enough time. But how much time was there between each show? Half an hour- minus the time it would take me to present, so about 20 minutes. Twenty minutes to change my clothes and hairstyle! Ouch! But I decided I would make it. At home I planned what outfits I would wear throughout the evening: A magnificent corset from Dark Garden and a see-through skirt from Polymorphe to present the first show, a see-through catsuit for my baladi performance, my nun outfit, my little red riding hood outfit, my catsuit along with a rubber pony head, (all from Polymorphe) my mafia outfit from Vex and my famous purple laced dress from Especially Rubber (no more web site). These were all complex outfits, but with the help of Martin, and Mario from Polymorphe who was also presenting, I thought I’d be able to come out of it alive. As for my hair, I didn’t have time to stress over it so we asked Richard, my friend and hairdresser, to come with us. With three people helping me I was sure to make it!

This time I didn’t want to risk having too much clothes in my suitcase so I sent nearly all my outfits to Manray by mail. A far as getting through airport customs, I avoided them by taking my car instead. After all, getting from Montreal to Boston is only about a 5-hour drive. The border is always much more pleasant to drive through. They looked through my trunk and suitcases briefly, but nothing more. There were a few questions about the feathers we had brought (to decorate the pony head) which made our hearts start pounding, but we finally decided to explain that we were going to a fetish party. I think the customs officer thought our nervousness was due to embarrassment at being fetishists. It’s funny how everything is nerve-wracking when you’re crossing the border, even when you aren’t doing anything wrong. I never get used to it! I should mention that I was once searched in Cuba for an hour and a half by 7 guards armed to the teeth. I think this may have traumatised me a bit! This time though, the USA welcomed me with open arms. Thank God, because missing the event a second time would really have made me look bad!

We arrived Thursday night and had a party for Richard because it was his birthday. I wasn’t able to party too hard because ironically I had developed a cold 2 days earlier and my eyes were watering as though I had just been cutting onions. Just my luck! I decided to go back to my hotel and get to bed pretty early since I had to be in top shape for the next day.

I didn’t look quite as bad the next morning, but every time I took a breath it felt like there was sandpaper in my oesophagus. I won’t even get into the slimy green creatures I was spitting out. Super! But oh well, there was no time to be sick, and it was nothing make-up, latex, and a little Otrivin couldn’t fix! After a nice breakfast that I could hardly taste, Martin, Richard, and I went to the club to prepare the clothes, check out the stage, meet people, etc. I wanted to do a sound check with the microphone, so while we were waiting for the DJ to arrive Richard started doing my hair. On the menu for the evening: hair curled in a slight up do for the first 2 shows, a veil for the nun outfit, a blond wig for my purple dress, hair loosely curled with extensions for the mafia outfit, and pig tails for the little red riding hood outfit and for the pony. Luckily the wig had been styled that morning, and the extensions had been curled that afternoon. Richard did my first hairstyle and I was able to do my sound check, and so around 6 pm we all went back to the hotel to eat and change, and for me to do my make-up.

We arrived at Manray at about 9:30 pm. My first presentation on stage was only at 11:30 pm, so I had the choice to either hang around backstage or to wander around the club. There was no way I was going to stay hidden all that time!! I love socializing with people and meeting them in person. The club wasn’t full yet, so it was the perfect time for me to meet people and get a chance to talk to them. A lot of people seemed surprised to see me mixing with the crowd and having a drink with them (Just 1! Otherwise I’d have to say goodbye to speaking in English! :) There were a lot of people dressed in leather, some in latex or in fancy dresses or dress pants. Everyone was smiling and a party vibe was really starting to get going. There was a stage in the main room, and I went over to it a few times to take a look and imagine what people would be seeing when I was on stage. The second room was a large dance floor, and you could see sexy dancers who had been hired for the evening dancing on platforms here and there. The 3rd room was more of a BDSM playroom. By coincidence there was a man who had an electric shock machine. You know how much I love to feel electricity shock my skin. Being the nut that I am, I couldn’t resist, and had him crank it up to the maximum! Since I was wearing my skull outfit, (I didn’t want to wear the corset yet, so as not to ruin the surprise) my back, the top of my chest and my arms were bare. I played and I got off! That was great, except that when I went backstage to change into my corset, you should have seen the bright red marks all over me! Oh la la! It was a disaster! I can be such an idiot sometimes! To hide the marks I had to put on some really heavy make-up. I don’t know if that hid them completely when I was onstage, but oh well…I can’t resist electricity :)

Also, Martin had the idea to create short soundtracks for each of my presentations. For my intro we decided to choose something by Dalida since I speak French. For the nun outfit we went with church music and a short conversation between God and I. For the laced dress I did a mini-striptease with a rubber trench coat to Tom Jones’ Sex Bomb, and the mafia outfit had a montage of scenes from the movie The Untouchables followed by some jazz. There was children’s music for the little red riding hood outfit, and finally amusement park inspired carousel music for the pony. So for each presentation I did onstage I would first play a role and then become Bianca again to present the next show. I think these skits and the music really added to my presentations and captured the audience’s attention. And I really had a lot of fun pretending to be all these different characters. :)

Onstage I seemed really calm and under control, but backstage, OUCH! While Richard was trying to do my hair, Mario was dressing me in a glove or tights, and Martin was putting my dress on me, I was trying to do my lipstick. I had the impression of being pulled in every directions. And the time: what time? I generally had only about 15 minutes and it was total madness. My adrenaline was racing the entire night, but due to the limited time, I wasn’t able to see any of the shows :( Some of them were filmed so I’ll get to see them later. Happily, everyone was patient with me while I was stressing like an idiot :) Overall though, we were able to pull it off and I was never once late for a presentation. I think people particularly liked my first outfit, the nun, and the pony. When they saw me come out in the pony boots and the pony head I think they were really surprised. I’m still not sure if they were pleasantly surprised or not. The room was totally silent until I took off the head to present the next show. Personally, I liked shaking them up a bit. Mouahaha! :)

My time at Manray is one of my favourite experiences thus far. I was able to get over my fear of speaking in English and of not being understood. I was also able to successfully get past customs, prepare my outfits, write my speeches, practice at home, and parade myself onstage. This is the most complete experience I have had so far because it involved not only parading around and posing; I also had to animate the evening, make the crowd yell, memorise speeches, speak…

I had been to Manray twice before to attend events in the summer and to their 2003 ball, so I knew the people there were really nice and ready to have fun! Having been there as a spectator, I knew this for sure! But I was still really surprised at how warmly they welcomed me as their MC, especially after having been absent in 2002. To those who were present at Manray, thank you for a wonderful night and your confidence in me. For everyone else, I invite you to make a trip out to Boston for the next annual ball at Manray. It really is a great club!