An enthusiastic dancer from an early age, one young British woman is making her mark in Monaco as part of the MC Performers. Emma Wilkinson started dancing at the age of four in Surrey, UK, first with ballet and then all other dance forms, as well as singing.
At age 12, a teacher told her Mother she had potential and she auditioned for and was awarded a place at the prestigious Central School of Ballet in London. At age 15, she became too tall for her male partners, so switched to another field where she could indulge her passion, jazz.
Emma started dancing professionally at age 18, and her first gig was in Monaco in a cabaret show. She dreamed of dancing at the Lido in Paris and six months later was granted an audition. Unsurprisingly, she was offered a position and performed as a Bluebell dancer at the Lido from 2012 until earlier this year.
To say it was hard work would be a great understatement. The dancers performed two shows a night, six days a week. At the Lido she danced for the likes of Dita von Tees and Monaco’s own Lewis Hamilton. The performed arrived for work at 7:30 and were done around 1:00. Needless to say, the Bluebell dancers were very popular in Paris and enjoyed an interesting night life. The line-up of dancers included girls from UK, Australia, US, Russia, Brazil and Mexico, with 40 performers on stage each night performing 10 different choreographies.
The highlight of her experience was performing at the Cannes Film Festival where she performed in front of Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Victoria’s Secrets models, and Nicole Kidman. At age 26, as the wear on her body started to take its toll, she left in April this year and moved back to Monaco.
Emma is now working with MC Performers, the troupe headed by Roisin Wittstock. So far, they have performed at the Monaco Bike Challenge and most recently with Stas Mikhaylov, Russia’s most popular singer, who topped the bill at an exceptional dinner show as part of the SBM summer programme at the Summer Sporting on August 11.
Emma is also developing tap and heels teaching programmes in Monaco at A-Corps Ecole de Danse, indulging her limitless passion for dance.
MORE INFO: From September 3-7 readers can find out more info at the dance school about the classes from 16:00-19:00.
Number for the dance school: +33 4 93 78 42 07, owner Marguerite Boffa.
Website: www.a-corps-danse.com