The original Divine Unruly Girls

If you’re looking around the South this Fall for some oh-so-very naughty girls, come to Atlanta to see the infamous divine unruly girls of the Moulin Rouge. The Atlanta Ballet is kicking off the 2010-11 arts season with their opulant production of this fiery cabaret love story set in 1880′s bohemian Paris. Only one other ballet company – the Canadian Royal Winnipeg Ballet – has adapted this French burlesque classic for ballet.

The story was born in Pierre La Mure’s novel, published in 1950, and centered on the life of French Post-Impressionist artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec who frequented the raucous Parisian nightclub. In 1952 John Huston wrote and directed the movie Moulin Rouge starring Jose Ferrer and Zsa Zsa Gabor. In 2001, Baz Luhrmann released Moulin Rouge! with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.

The Atlanta Ballet’s production – which does not include a painfully crooning McGregor or an overly batty-eyed Kidman - follows the tasty entanglements of aspiring artist Matthew, the young launderette Nathalie, and Zidler the nightclub owner. This performance of Moulin Rouge runs October 22-31, 2010. Get your tickets today and see how entrancing French girls who don’t follow rules can be – en pointe.

Math: Girl + (ballgown - shoes) + truck = Rogue Southern Belle

Katie Crouch’s debut book, Girls in Trucks, is a story about a Charleston debutante who doesn’t follow the path laid out for her, often to her own detriment. This book is frighteningly real. If you’ve ever been on a date with a guy who takes you to Wal-Mart or a mud bogging pit in his monster truck, then you’re part of this club. Just so you know, monster trucks take up 3 parking spaces at Wal-Mart…I know this from experience.