‘I told her to touch my bum!’: Cardi B invites burlesque dancer to perform at her 30th birthday party in rollercoaster trip to LA

A burlesque dancer’s dreams came true when she was whisked off to LA for a rollercoaster week that saw her perform at rapper Cardi B’s 30th birthday party.

Burlesque performer Cleopantha, who lived in Vanbrugh Park in Greenwich for five years, was invited to audition as a dancer for Cardi B’s birthday party after hundreds of people tagged her in the callout Twitter announcement.

But when Cleo, who regularly performs at the Clapham Grand, discovered she had made it on to the audition list, she also discovered she had fewer than 24 hours to get there.

Cleo took to social media to ask for help from the burlesque community and in a matter of hours had managed to fundraise more than £3,000 for her trip.

“I booked a flight at 9am and the flight was at 1pm from Heathrow,” said Cleo. “I had no shower. I hadn’t slept. I got to LA and went straight to the studio.”

Cleo arrived at 4.30pm in LA and was taken to the Hubble studio where artists such as Arianna Grande record their music.

Cleo found out she was auditioning alongside 15 other people, but the biggest surprise was when the rapper herself, Cardi B, showed up to the audition.

“I was like f*** off! I didn’t know she was going to be there,” said Cleo. “I told her she was my everything and that my career was based on her. I told her I was representing the UK which she found really funny. She was screaming.

Love her ❤️ https://t.co/9gCVpUSWT2

— Cardi B (@iamcardib) October 18, 2022

“I do a lot of clowning in my performance and she was laughing a lot and then I told her to touch my bum! I found out at 11pm the next night that I had the job.”

Cleo said she had to spend the next day rushing around trying to find a costume before the big event on October 11.

When Cleo arrived there were plenty of celebrities present, including the new Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey.

“They had me dancing around the club. Me and Cardi B were dancing together, her boobs were an inch away from my face. It was absolutely f***ing wild!”

Still can’t get over this! 😂 MEETING @iamcardib AND GETTING TO PERFORM AT HER PARTY IN LA ♥️

Thank you for all the love and support 🙂💕 #cardib #cardiparty #dirtythirty #wap #cleopantha pic.twitter.com/NSQB74vuPm

— Cleopantha (@Cleopantha) October 18, 2022

Then Cleo was asked to perform the greatest honour – carrying Cardi B’s birthday cake.

“I think she liked me from the audition so she asked me to carry the cake through the club. It was six or seven tiers high.”

The night ended for Cleo at 2am who got herself a McDonald’s and went home. She flew back to London the next day.

Cleo said she wanted to thanks the whole burlesque community and was “crying for days” at its kindness.

“If you work hard and have a community behind you, you can achieve anything,” she said.

Pictured top: Cardi B, left, with Cleopantha, right (Picture: WOTP Events)