A dancing mushroom, a dancing teddy bear, a dancing rabbit, a dancing farmer, a dancing cow on roller skates (!) and (less in keeping with my character) a dancing princess! These were all personas adopted by me before I found MyCharleston. Hmmm, maybe I should explain myself…
I have danced as long as I remember, I took the formal route of ballet, tap and later Jazz dancing and just loved performing! My love of dance was quickly side stepped by my love of acting (I created my own drama club at primary school at the tender age of 8 years old. We had 4 members. We created such stonking smashes as “Mum goes to the cinema” and “Sisters playing” - I went to an all girls’ school so it was limited casting, quite possibly why I went on to enjoy a career of playing many male roles!
My theatrical abilities did mature (slightly) and I went to the BRIT school in Croydon for 2 years, studying musical theatre. (Please no one ask me to sing!) It was a fantastic way of meshing dancing and acting together and I knew that I was hooked. I longed to be Victoria the white cat in Cats!! (Still do). I ended up as Milky White the white cow in Into the Woods, performing on roller skates! (By the way, anyone considering the BRIT school….it is utterly fantastic, I had the time of my life.)
By now, I was certain what I wanted to do in life and I was accepted to Italia Conti School for Dramatic Art, in London, on a scholarship. This time, I paused dancing and studied straight acting. (This,, in itself is hilarious as there has been nothing straight about my acting career, as the first line of this blog will attest!)
Fast forward 3 years and I was out in the big, not very wide, professional acting world! I felt like I had left dancing behind with (thank the lord) my singing. I was wrong, most of my acting career, I have literally sung and danced my way through, to today!
Most of my acting work has led me along the theatrical boards, but you can find me in TV adverts selling blenders and fluffy towels, not to mention gatecrashing Emmerdale and Footballers’ Wives amongst other film/TV credits.
I found MyCharleston about 6 years ago now. I joined the Brighton Marina class with Fiona and I was immediately hooked. It was perfect. I scratched my dancing itch and all those faces I learned to pull during years of classical acting training, were put to fantastic over-use during any dance I ever performed with them! After joining the performance troupe The Ragtime Rascals, I soon gained the nickname of Dance Gurner as whenever in doubt, there was another face pulled with my extremely malleable visage!
During this time I was also part of another dance troupe called Copperdollar. We performed at various events, dressed as skeletons, and immersively getting people dancing at festivals, weddings and cabaret events. Everyday a coconut! It was through one event, Voodoo Vaudeville, that I got the idea of creating my own solo act ‘L’homme adores la voiture’. I got the chance to debut this for my friend, Phoxy Qurvy’s, fantastic burlesque cabaret event and later for Voodoo Vaudeville itself.
These days, I have landed in the Netherlands. The land of chocolate sprinkles, clogs, speed skating and orange! Lots and lots of orange!!! (Where to find an orange flapper dress?). I joined the MyCharleston teaching team during lockdown and I am now bringing all the moves to the people of Alkmaar and beyond, and having a smashing time doing so. Last year, me and my class members hit the streets of Alkmaar town centre to perform and we were literally ‘stopping traffic’ (lets face it, mainly bikes!) with our swivels! I am also one half of our Alkmaar based theatre company VosFox Theatre, bringing Santa’s Grottos, Theatrical events and workshops, Murder Mystery events and kids parties to Noord Holland and beyond! (Contact us on the link above for more details).
The thing I love most about the Charleston, is the people it attracts. What a smashing bunch we all are! All of us full of fun, playfulness, cheekiness and happy to steer off that beaten track of normal life! (I’ve been beating that track my whole life). We are all squeezing our huge senses of humour into some fantastically snazzy and cheeky moves and it’s a delight to do so alongside the fabulous Elena and Fiona.
To see me in action, here are many versions of me Charlestoning:
Classes begin again Monday 6th March at the Wijkcentrum Daalmeer, 20:15 and run for 6 weeks until 17th April (with 1 week break on 10th April for Easter Monday). Link to book the Daalmeer class is here
Classes begin Tuesday 7th March at the Wijkcentrum De Oever, 19:00 and run for 6 weeks until 11th April. Link to book the De Oever class is here
Or if you’d just like to come along to the first class to try it and see if it’s for you, please contact Natalie at mycharlestonnl@hotmail.com for details on how to book.