After a short hiatus, the fabulous party that is Sapphic Disco is coming to an all new home at Verdict.
Sapphic Disco was launched in 2023, promising “silly fun, camp, tongue-in-cheek, sapphic-focused party for queer folks from all walks of life, and all those under the queer umbrella are welcome.”
We caught up with event creator Cléo Schurrer to find out more about what’s new, what’s next and her own journey to becoming a full-time professional party person.
For those who haven’t had the pleasure… where did Sapphic Disco get started? What’s it all about?
Sapphic Disco was created as Boorloo (Perth) was sorely lacking a regular dedicated space for people who identify as sapphic! As a lesbian, I was often getting harassed by straight men even at queer events and venues, and I was getting so tired of it, as were many of my friends. I just couldn’t ever relax or truly enjoy my nights out. I wanted to create a space where safety is extremely important and lovingly upheld, so that my community could really relax, dance, enjoy incredible sapphic-identified DJs and burlesque performers, and let their hair down – without having to be constantly on guard and worried for their safety.
I also wanted to create a sapphic event that was a bit more high camp, silly and glittery than your average space for the sapphic community, with a focus on DJs playing songs people know and love and can sing along to together, as well as platforming Perth’s incredible burlesque artists. In many ways, to me, burlesque is the sapphic counterpart to drag. I could nerd out for ages about burlesque and its queer history and revolutionary, art-as-protest status, but I’ll just say I am so happy to be able to provide a regular platform for Perth’s sapphic burlesque artists.
I understand you’ve decided to focus on Sapphic Disco and other LGBTIQA+ events full-time – why did you want to make that leap of faith?
I’m so grateful for the incredible arts career I got to forge over the years, working for Perth Symphony Orchestra, The Ellington Jazz Club, The Royale Theatre and The Rechabite as well as putting on pop up concerts for Yagan Square Amphitheatre a few times, amongst many other things!
Getting to work with Fringe World Festival every year over the past ten years has been a massive highlight for me, they really do transform the city into the most vibrant space every year. As Sapphic Disco grew and started to require more of my time and attention, I knew it was time to take a big leap and focus on it, as well as producing other events, full time.
So I started my own events business – astralibra – and I also decided to learn to DJ (shoutout to Larry D DJ degree) which felt like a very natural path for me as a club producer and absolute music nerd. I will be performing my first set at Sapphic Disco on Feb 6 under my DJ name adhdiva!
Sapphic Disco has a shiny new home at Verdict – what can we expect from the first outing in the new space?
For the first outing at Verdict (upstairs at The Court) on Friday, 6 February, expect double the capacity of previous events, a fully contained and dedicated space with private bathrooms and a private rooftop deck, plush and comfy seating, a souped up production setup for the DJs and live show, cocktail specials, free tiny tattoo happy hour with Upbeat Ink, and some iconic interstate guests who are in town for Fringe World Festival!
Athan and the team at The Court have been so incredibly supportive of Sapphic Disco, I am so excited about our new home!
What does it mean for you to be taking this event you’ve grown from inception to heading on a national tour?
I’ve honestly been so humbled and blown away by the love and support I’ve received from the sapphic community throughout Australia for this event – from taking it to Naarm (Melbourne) a few times over the past year, to being inundated with messages from people asking me to bring the event to their cities, to finally taking the event on a national tour of Midsumma Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras and Adelaide Fringe.
To create a safe and dedicated space for my community is so incredibly meaningful to me. I didn’t have anything like Sapphic Disco to go to when I first came out and starting going out trying to meet people and find community, so to know that this space exists now not only in Perth but in other cities in Australia is truly wonderful. Next up: the world!
What advice would you have for other queer folks looking to carve out inclusive, safe and welcoming spaces for those who need them?
Look at what’s on in your community, for your specific community – and if there’s nothing, and you want to, create the event you want to go to! That’s what I did – I created the kind of event I wanted to go to but that didn’t exist, and the response has been amazing.
Most importantly, take your time planning your event, exactly what you want it to look like, your branding, who it’s for, etc. I sat with Sapphic Disco for a good year before I brought it into existence, and the artwork you see now was not what I originally created, it went through a fair few iterations that never saw the light of day before it was where I wanted it to be. Taking the time to really put some love into concepts for your community is so important!
Sapphic Disco: The Relaunch takes place at Verdict (Upstairs at The Court) on Fri 6 Feb. Tickets are available via Megatix.
Images: Georgia Sassenfeld
