Crazy Horse evacuated after Miss Nude Australia competitor sets stage on fire
A dancer who literally set the Crazy Horse stage alight with her routine kept on with her act — and there’s a video.
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A dancer has been disqualified from the Miss Nude Australia competition after her fire act set the stage of the Crazy Horse alight and forced an evacuation.
During Harley van Dangerfield’s performance, the venue’s sprinkler system were turned on to extinguish flames after her act set fire to the stage curtains.
The City understands the sprinklers did not shut off, so patrons were evacuated out on to Hindley St.
An MFS spokeswoman said the fire damaged the curtain and water damaged a small area of carpet.
Fire officers estimated about $3000 worth of damage to the Crazy Horse.
The performer, who says she won the title of Miss Nude SA, wrote on Instagram she was sorry for the ordeal.
“I’m so sorry everyone for everything that happened last night,” Van Dangerfield wrote.
“To all the competitors and the management team, it was an accident.
“I have officially been disqualified, good luck to everyone in Miss Nude this year.”
A male patron told news.com.au a bottle of flammable liquid was left too close to the fire and too close to one of the curtains.
“I think she’d finished with the batons … and she’d put them down and that’s when she squirted the ring of liquid around her and then lit it,” he said.
The fire ring set the bottle alight and then the curtain.
“She just kept on dancing,” he said.
“The fire alarms started going off and next minute the sprinklers are going all over the stage.
“I reckon she was doing a shower show.”
The woman “persisted” while the flames were extinguished by the backstage crew, he said.
Due to the alarms, sprinklers and “black smoke from the curtains” the club — which was packed with up to 200 people — had to be evacuated.
“They just said, ‘Everybody out,’” the patron said.
Van Dangerfield uses fire as a symbol of resilience after she “essentially hit rock bottom”, she has written on Instagram.
The dancer said she had survived domestic violence, drug addiction and debilitating grief but was now been sober for 14 months and is studying a Masters.
“It took a level of strength I never knew I had to survive, I feel that strength when I watch the flames dance, with such captivating intensity,” she wrote.
“I hope to bring that passion to the Crazy Horse stage … (and) I hope to tell the audience a story, my story and the story of so many women and men, still suffering in silence.”
Crazy Horse management and Van Dangerfield have been contacted for comment.
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The Crazy Horse “is home of the globally renowned” Miss Nude Australia competition, its website says.
There are heats in every state, including South Australia, with each winner performing in finals in Adelaide.
“The winner is chosen after being judged on the basis of the smile, hair, shape, beauty, personality, charm and grace,” the website says.
“In short, the woman who is a complete package is chosen as Miss Nude Australia.”