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I  just kept hearing my Mom saying you should go, you should go. You love it there. She was talking about Paris, France. I’m a very fortunate person. When I was young I sort of found a career that I knew existed, but never entertained realistically. I spent my high school years in Reno, Nevada. In Reno, gambling is legal and there where billboards on just about every road and freeway advertising the casinos and the shows. One particular billboard had a huge blow up of a showgirl in red feathers with a broad smile having the time of her life. I jokingly said to a friend one day as we were passing. by, ” That’s what I’m going to be” . Two years later, I found myself on the stage of the largest show in the world. It happened fast.

Fast forward 35 years and those shows have been retired. People aren’t into showgirls anymore and they are actually pretty tame compared to today’s entertainment. I was invited to a couple of really amazing reunions over the past year and half. The first one, I couldn’t make it and had to experience via hundreds of FB posts from old friends. It was amazing and I knew I had missed something incredible. The next one, I decided to cast of my doubts, my schedule and go for it.

It’s in Paris and it’s far to go, but this is my life and I think I should live it. There were many of us from around the world who were fortunate enough to experience a very special dance troupe that is almost gone now. We lived in the era of showgirls and caberet. We were taken under the wing of Margaret Kelly and woman who had talent and business acumen oozing from her pores. A former dancer from across the pond who made it big in Paris, France.

The Bluebell girls have filled the stages of the world’s nightclubs and theaters for decades. To understand what being a Bluebell Showgirl is, it’s helpful to know who Margaret Kelly was and how she started the most successful dance troupe in the world. Margaret Kelly (aka Miss Bluebell) was from Great Britain. She was an orphan born with polio who was placed in dance classes to straighten her legs. She eventually became a professional dancer and danced her way to Europe and eventually to Paris. She met her husband and became a member of the allied resistance during WWII. She risked her life to save hundreds of her neighbors, fleeing the Gestapo that invaded France. She was gorgeous, but tough. She lived through the ordeal and she continued to dance. She formed her own dance troupe and began to provide opportunities for other young hopefuls to make it on the stage. Once she chose you, you were hers and she would form you into a sophisticated Parisienne showgirl with the ability to dance upon any stage in Europe. Bluebells were often former members of the most famous ballets of the world. From the L’Opera De Paris to Bejart’s Ballet of The Twentieth Century.

Most of us were just regular girls at heart. We loved the same things that other girls loved. We had boyfriends at home, pets, families that loved us and we loved dancing. To be able to actually become a professional was a dream come true. Behind the shows, our lives were filled with trying to find an apartment close to the theatre to share with a roommate. Shopping for groceries and having Al Fresco dinner parties. Treating ourselves to French pastries found on virtually every street corner. There wasn’t a lot of shopping, because the pay was just enough to pay your rent, buy groceries and a metro pass. Even though we knew we weren’t getting rich, knowing that we had made it as professionals was enough.  

So, here we are again, decades later and we will reunite in the City of Lights to rekindle the days filled with dance, rhinestones, feathers and travel. Most of use barely out of puberty who took on the world with innocence and curiosity to find adventure and make a life. Besides all of these memories, we also have a love for Paris. A city that’s a Virgo. Beautiful, creative and mother to all.