CRAZY Horse Paris performer Candy St Louis is so sweet she was bestowed her stage name in honour of a French sugar.
The Brooklyn born and raised dancer trained in ballet, tap and jazz from the age of seven where a career performing professionally soon called.
“We are all born with a talent,” St Louis said.
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READ NOW“I was blessed to know what I wanted to do at such a young age and for having a family that supported me.
“It is so special to make my mother proud and my sister has been such a big part of this journey. They love getting to travel with me.”
St Louis moved to Las Vegas in 2009, where a drink with a fellow Juilliard alumni changed her life forever.
“He knew a Crazy Horse dancer who told me to bring my photo and resume to the show manager and when the Paris crew came to Las Vegas they would call me for an audition,” she said.
“They arrived, I auditioned and a few months later they called me.”
When Crazy Horse Paris closed in Las Vegas, St Louis moved to Paris, the traditional home of the cabaret show that has celebrated the female form by presenting naked couture for the past 65 years.
She is now continuing her dream in Australia on Crazy Horse Paris’s Forever Crazy tour, opening at Crown Theatre Perth on September 6.
“Being around so many women, doing the most womanly thing you can do just makes you more comfortable and secure with who you are,” she said.
It is just as well St Louis is secure with who she is, given the dancers are weighed every Saturday and have to meet a strict set of physical requirements, including being between 1.68m and 1.73m tall with a distance of 21cm between their nipples.
“You can’t help but countdown to each Saturday, so the answer is yes, there’s pressure 24 hours a day, seven days a week since I became a dancer, except on holidays,” she said.
“But it’s the best decision the universe has ever made for me.”
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Crazy Horse Paris – Forever Crazy
Where: Crown Theatre Perth
When: September 6 to 23
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com.au