Issue 03: Arabesques and Feathers: A Showgirl Story

Arabesques and feathers: A showgirl story

Once upon a time, there was a little girl from Essex named Corinne, who would religiously dress up every Thursday night to watch Top of the Pops, mimicking the choreographies in front of the TV. Her parents never doubted their daughter was a born performer, so when aged seven, she begged them to join her friend at ballet classes, they supported her.

Despite early stage fright, she was a natural in all dance styles: ballet, jazz, tap, disco and ballroom. But she had to settle for ballet, due to the financial strain from her parents’ divorce. At barely twelve, she was delivering the daily gazette before school to help with her dance fees, and by thirteen, waitressing for a local restaurant.

At school, PE was her strongest subject. And even when her teacher told her mother she had “one chance in a million of becoming a professional dancer”, Corinne’s ambitions remained unabated. “I always wanted to be a dancer” she says. “my dance teacher told me I’d have to enter the Royal Ballet Academy to become a ballerina…it was my goal! Ballet was everything,” She dreamt of joining a prestigious dance school, but while many of her peers did, she faced several obstacles, not least of which was her humble background. At fifteen, her body’s curvy evolution made her ballet dreams slip further away, and teenage Corinne starting having eating disorders for a while.

When she was sixteen, and with no high school qualification, Corinne enrolled in a local dance college. There, she danced every day, from 9 to 5, followed by classroom syllabus till 9pm. She waitressed on her days off and often returned home at midnight. But she loved it. However, after one year of such an unforgiving routine, her body and spirit were affected and her hard earned cash had been swallowed up by school fees. She was seventeen, broke and exhausted. Paid dance work seemed the only solution. Despite having no agent, Corinne pored through the Entertainment industry newspaper looking for dancing opportunities and auditioned relentlessly. She managed to keep herself employed until adulthood.

She couldn’t wait to escape English suburbia, and knew her skills could get her paid for indulging her passions, dance and travel, simultaneously. Empowered by the fearlessness of youth, she signed her first contract for a cabaret show in Japan, the first of many travelling opportunities, such as Malaysia, Portugal, Italy, Hong Kong, the Caribbean and Macau, her final career stop.

Over the course of her career, Corinne would bag-pack between contracts. Not even a brush with death in 1997, after contracting Dengue fever in the Thai jungle, dampened her enthusiasm for exotic locations.

In 2001, a job opportunity as a Showgirl presented itself in Macau, and having danced in Hong Kong before its handover and being familiar with the region, she jumped at the chance. At the time, Macau was not the vibrant Casino hub it currently is, with only Stanley Ho’s “The Lisboa” existing. There, Corinne remained for 8 years, earning enough to save for a property.

Her part in the show was “topless”; it was optional but paid better than being fully dressed. The partial nudity never bothered Corinne; the costumes had rhinestones, feathers, bodypainting, and she never felt truly exposed, enjoying the freedom of movement it provided.

But the showgirls’ attire did mark them as fair game for sexual harassment from both audience and fellow entertainers. Describing being “open minded” as key to her resilience, Corinne brushed off the comments and misbehaviour, and never let it affect her personally. More upsetting to her was the way people assumed dancers were stupid, showing little respect for their years of training, hard work, skills and dedication; as if anyone could just walk on stage and perform with such graceful perfection.

A showgirl’s career is short. One might expect ageism and loss of looks to be the reason but in reality, with a schedule of non-stop rehearsing and performing, the job takes a physical toll, and by their 30s, showgirls are already looking for new professional paths. By 2009, sustained injuries made Corinne transition to managing performers for Casinos. However, while still dancing at night, she was training in the day for a Pilates qualification in Hong Kong, and soon, with a teaching certificate under her diamante belt, began working as an instructor in Macau, drawing the curtain on her showgirl adventures.

As Corinne relates her story to IMTAC, her nostalgic walk down memory lane is one of gratitude “I was lucky to have had such a long career” she says. Though she had always hoped to perform as a backing dancer in a concert, or on TV… “they are ‘commercial dancers’ who don’t get to travel and must be available at all times”, she reasons. As for missing out on the high profile dance schools, regrets dissipated a long time ago when she found herself on stage with some of their former pupils!

What she cherishes the most is the closeness and camaraderie showgirls experience – sharing everything, rehearsing, living, eating, shopping together – creating a bond so strong, it’s like family. She has retained her friendships and her closest friend is a girl she met on her very first show in Japan.

Corinne is positive but pragmatic about her vocation: ”it’s very hard physically and mentally. At 16, you can’t go to parties, or have a boyfriend… but, when you start to work, it’s the best job ever, you travel the world, you experience amazing places, meet people from all nationalities… but you never spend Christmas with your family, you miss friends’ weddings. Sometimes, someone close to you may have died; your body physically shuts down; you have a cold, but you still need to go on stage!… The adrenaline rush is amazing though!”

She is glad to see dancing finally being recognised as a career and even being linked to the health and fitness industry.

Today, Corinne Clifford lives happily with her 4 dogs in a quiet village in Hong Kong; a bubbly blonde in her 40’s, whose good looks and upright posture serve as a reminder of her former, fascinating yet misunderstood, profession.

Corinne is a Pilates instructor in HK, contact her @Tohi Fitness

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