Debbie Davies Biography
I was born in Ormskirk, in the county of Lancashire in 1967. From a very young age I knew I wanted to dance, and like many little girls took ballet, modern and tap classes at the local dancing school. At 14, having seen an advert for vocational training in the Dancing Times, I auditioned, and went on to board at the Hammond School in Chester. This relatively small vocational school, with its pink gingham summer dresses and straw hats, was a different world from my previous comprehensive.
At 16 I moved to London, rented accommodation in Gloucester Road and continued my dance training at The Ballet Theatre School in Putney. Ballet was still my first love but here I broadened my horizons studying contemporary and jazz dance, and other performing arts in greater depth. As soon as I completed the 3 year Diploma Course it was time to look for work. Having a longing to travel I took off to Israel. Although it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to the work there was not for me and so I made the most of the trip travelling to Egypt to see the amazing pyramids at Giza, before heading back to Europe. Then with little more than a rucksack and my pointe shoes I took a chance and inter railed around Europe alone for a month, auditioning for all types of ballet companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This was a real character building experience, great fun!
Whilst waiting for a vacancy to come up in one of the companies in Austria, back in London an exciting offer came in for a dance contract in Japan, a place I had always wanted to visit. I spent 3 months in Japan’s most northerly island, Hokkaido, which was blanketed with snow and ice. It was only as we were leaving in early March that cars began slowly reappearing from under the steep banks of snow at the sides of the roads. Japan certainly lived up to my expectations, with its contrasting culture and diverse regions, so much so I have revisited 3 times since.
The travel bug had really hit me by now and I went on to perform in Portugal, Madeira and Italy. Dancing on a cruise ship took me as far north as Spitzbergen and the North Cape, sailing through the dramatic Norwegian fjords, visiting Iceland with its rolling waterfalls, until it was time to head south for some sunshine in the Canaries and the Mediterranean.
Loving all the adventures when the chance came to join the Royal London Circus I just couldn’t say no. Touring Malaysia and Singapore with them was incredible, dancing to packed houses every night, TV appearances and constant press coverage. The circus artists came from all backgrounds and with their various Nationalities they were so vibrant, with such a zest for life, for me to be able to step into their world was a truly wonderful experience.
Hong Kong was my next destination, with its dense population making London seem like a village! In contrast to the circus our venue here was so luxurious the audience could be driven to their seats in a vintage Rolls Royce.
After all the globe totting back in London I decided to broaden my creative talents and began training in make up design. This felt like a natural progression as I had always been interested in the aesthetic side of performance. Having realised from my dance training the importance of being equipped with as many skills as possible, I looked for a course which covered all aspects of make up, including Special Effects, and something which sounded very interesting, body painting. With my love of theatre I also later went on to study wig dressing at The Wig Academy. Gaining these skills has enabled me to work in various fields from the prestigious Glyndebourne Opera to photo shoots, weddings, film and TV and many exciting events. I enjoy the variety of the work immensely.
My fascination and admiration of circus arts has never diminished and when the opportunity arose to learn poi spinning I jumped at it. As I developed this skill I realised it was possible to combine dance moves with the poi loops and twirls. Elaborating on this with friend and colleague, Kim, we developed the poi spinning together with hoop dance, ribbons twirling, fire dance and flags into a circus style cabaret act ‘Inspiral’. Creating Inspiral we have great fun experimenting with our own choreography, designing costumes and make up, and we get the buzz of performing too!
So now based in London, I love that I’m able to combine performing with working as a make up artist. Everyday has a different challenge for me, and even with the unearthly early mornings on a film set and the occasional temperamental artist, I wouldn’t change a thing!
