Best Foot Forward

Blogging has been a large part of my life for a couple of years: I have been working as a freelance performer and any promotional outlet has been seized and exploited for all it's worth!

You can check out my performer blog here if you like... I mostly write about what I've been up to (complete with pictures... probably NSFW...), but have done beauty product and book reviews, I wrote a blog about the history of Burlesque (which was retweeted by Immodesty Blaize, one of the biggest burlesque stars in the world!), I've written about my insomnia, shared my opinions of various aspects of the Burlesque and Cabaret world, and more!

Since graduating in 2007 from Liverpool Theatre School and College I have been working steadily, specialising in Cabaret and Burlesque performance. I love the spontaneity and immediacy of the art form I, admittedly, fell in to - no two performances are the same. A routine is dictated more by the performance space and audience reaction than any rehearsed or choreographed routine, and obviously every show features a wildly varied line-up. It's truly fabulous and I'm so glad that life found me.

Cabaret Detritus

However I accepted some time ago that this career had a finite life span, and I grew weary of the constant hustle and push for jobs; the never-ending trawl of Facebook and other forums where gigs were posted, and, the bane of the freelancers life, living from show to show and only having as much money as the last gig paid. It's a sad but true fact that most dancers, especially in the cabaret world, can't go on forever and can't make a lifetime career out of it, no matter how hard we all work or how much passion each of us have for this funny little industry.

I was working part-time in a dance shop in London, (I worked in dance stores before and during my training so it's something I know and enjoy) and was lucky enough a couple of months ago to be promoted to manager of one of the companies other stores.

So that's where I'm up to now: I'm still performing but only the shows I want to do and can easily fit around a full-time job that I love. And I enjoy it again; I'm enjoying life and I'm so excited about starting the BAPP course at Middlesex as I can finally see a way of making a sustainable future career out of the experience and knowledge I have gained over the last decade.

So Bring. It. On!