The only flair bartending competition on the calendar open only to female flair bartenders, Chicks with Flicks is always a great event. Now in its second year as part of the Roadhouse set up, Chicks with flicks is expecting 15 female competitors this year, the top 3 of which will receive the usual prize money, and three spots in the Roadhouse Grand Finals in November!
Chicks with Flicks, originally created by the first lady of flair herself Vicki Patras, has since been taken on by the WFA last year is now part of the Roadhouse qualification set up. Last year we saw flair bartenders flying in from all over the world including Russia, Japan and from across Europe. Chicks with Flicks was created as a female flair bartender only competition in response to the flair bartending scene becoming very male dominated. The competition aims to provide female flair bartenders with their own stage so they have their own opportunity to show what they can add to the flair bartending scene.
Women to watch including Ayako ‘Ollie’ Kumashiro who won last year’s competition breaking out an incredible routine that would have placed towards the top in the Roadhouse Grand Finals. Naty Peralta, a veteran of the flair bartending scene who always places well, Silvia Daniela Istrate who represents Italy’s best female flair bartender and Elizveta Sovoleva from Ukraine who has won Chicks with Flicks before and brings some incredible flexibility and gymnastic leg rolls to her routines.
Prior to the competition we sat down with Naty Peralta to find out a bit more about Chicks with Flicks and how important it is in the world of flair bartending:
How important is Chicks with Flicks for female flair bartenders?
“Chicks with Flicks is probably the most important competition in the year for female flair bartenders, it is the only competition that focuses on us girls and gives us our own platform to perform. Unfortunately, as with some of the guys, we still struggle to get some potential competitors to our competitions because of issues with travelling and acquiring visas. Considering that we do not have many female flair bartenders in the first place, these sort of things don’t help.
It is not always great to compare the guys and the girls in flair as the style of flair is very different, so that is why this opportunity is so important for us female flair bartenders to show our own style – it only comes around once a year!
It is great for showing girls in the crowd and other female bartenders that they can get to this level if they want to. I often get other women coming up to be after competitions to ask many questions about how us girls do what we do, how long it takes, etc. Chicks with Flicks allows the girls to show they go head to head with the guys on all levels, prize money, scoring system and flair bartending.”
How are the styles of flair bartending different between the guys and girls?
“It is really interesting to see the differences in the style between the guys and the girls. I personally think that when watching the guys it can get quite boring as most of the guys go up and do the same sort of thing, with the same style – showing a lot of strength and ability with some crazy moves, but the same thing one after the other. The girls for me are a lot more varied from their choreography right through to their choices of moves and style of flair.
The women certainly have a more delicate and sensual approach to their flair, which can make it mesmerising. Of course the guys could choose to flair like this a well, but they don’t and it is this diversity that I think is great.”
How did you develop your flair style and what would you say to any women out there thinking about becoming a bartender?
“Well i started as a bartender first and then discovered flair bartending a bit later in 2012. The first competition I ever saw was so inspiring, I knew this was something I wanted to do. I always had an interest in drama so never had any issues with getting up on stage.
I developed my own flair style around crowd interaction and showmanship. I like to add a comedy element into my flair after all for me the first meaning of flair is to entertain. It is not about pulling off the most technical move, it is about making the crowd happy. So this is always my first aim when getting on the stage. But everyone has their own style and desire.
So ladies we need your support for Chicks with Flicks. The more of us we gather together the more we can show female flair bartending is growing and needs to be recognised. The more of us there is and the more effort we put in the more we will start to see flair competitions focus more on female flair bartenders. We are and will always be the best ambassadors for female flair bartending so lets do it!”
