Check Out DIANE CHRISTIANSEN’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to DIANE CHRISTIANSEN

Hi DIANE, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a teenager, desperate to get out of Illinois and into the glittering world of professional dance, at 17 I audition for the reknowned Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. I was accepted by the original creator and choreographer, Russell Markert in a semi private audition appointed by my mentor and dance instructor from her hometown.

I then visit Montreal and discover the electrifying world of French Cabaret. This kicks off a chain of events which finds me, before long, in Paris, dancing with a giant Seahorse on my head at the world-renowned Lido de Paris. From opium dens in Paris to comedy clubs in the Bahamas, the arc of my dazzling career spans the globe, all before the age of 28. This insider perspective on the industry presents the singular life of the last real showgirl, while also capturing the swansong of a thrilling era in stage entertainment.

Diane Christiansen’s career has spanned five decades as an actress, dancer, author, director, producer, writer, costume designer, theatre company founder and studio owner. She is an acting coach to many acclaimed actors on television shows like The Penguin, Euphoria, This is Us, Dickinson, Stranger Things, Sandman, Quantum Leap and countless other well-known and popular TV shows and movies. She has been voted the #1 Acting Coach in Hollywood for over 15 years.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Maintaining a career as an iconic showgirl Internationally, I struggled to fuse long term romantic relationships while committing to 1 year contracts in multiple Countries as a dancer. That was my greatest challenge, always.

The other struggle was to maintain the same body I had when I auditioned at 17 years of age. Although many other showgirls and dancers managed their schoolgirl figures for decades, that was never an easy task, having a super sluggish metabolism like I did.

We were completely objectified in the ’70’s and I am certain that is one reason this type of Entertianment is no longer relevant. As the instrument of dance is the body itself, it is impossible to get away from talking about the physicality of the women on the stage. Dance and women on stage have a long history of being linked to prostitution and sex, from can-can dancers whose high kicks displayed their underwear or “often no knickers at all” to showgirls who used sex to supplement their incomes during the early days in Vegas via the Mob, or raise their social standings to burlesque dancers who traded in titillation from the safe distance of the stage.
This is a stereo type my story diffuses. We were real dancers, trained, skilled professionals with every little time on our hands to be the above.
Along the way my book reveals what it was really like in the 1970’s to be in a monumental dance troupe like the Rockettes or the Bluebells in Paris and Las Vegas. Or with the most revered Disco Troupe in History – Le Clique in NYC.

The recently released film starring Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis, now streaming on Prime, has been a hot topic of discussion for me as the title of my book is so similar. So many interested readers have asked if the film was based on my book. The short answer is ‘No.’

I titled this book twenty years ago when I began writing my dance memoir. ‘The Last Real Showgirl… My sequined ’70’s Onstage.’

I decided to write this memoir while attending a Stardust Reunion shortly before the Stardust Hotel and Casino was imploded in 2006. I looked around at the 650 attendees, mostly dancers, choreographers, stagehands and musicians from the glittering productions in Paris and Las Vegas, and realized this was the end of an Era. I felt compelled to preserve the iconic showgirl.

Thus, making my story a very real one.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work encompasses the multi hyphenate completely. Having created 3 trimesters of lIfe for myself, it’s now about what I’ve done leading to what I do. How it’s all interrelated and each a new branch of my full self expression.

My early years were spent traveling the World as an International showgirl and dancer. All of the trials and tribulations of that career are on the soon to be released pages of my book, The Last Real Showgirl My Sequined ’70’s Onstage. My Coming of Age story reveals the many demands and lessons thrust upon me at 17 when I began dancing professionally. Culminating in my retirement as a dancer in 1981.

Learning very very young how to balance a grown up, professional life during the Summer of Love 1969. More specifically I learned;

* Build strong relationships and keep them

* Don’t destroy yourself to be thin

* Find a way to calm your mind and find inner peace

* Recognize toxic bosses

* Love what you do or change the game

All of that led me to a career in Los Angeles as an Actress, Acting Coach,Director, Designer, Wife and Mother. Then into my current chapter as studio owner, acting coach, grandmother, mentor and author.

How do you think about happiness?
I love this question!!!

My Family makes me happy. My granddaughters are my everything. Staying creative keeps me feeling young. Surrounding myself with artists, and creatives makes my senses sizzle. Spending time with forever friends, the ones that truly know you and your depths along with unconditional love is one of life’s greatest treasures.

I am always happiest at the beach and more specifically the Bahamas. The Caribbean suits my soul.

Love, peace and everything the 60’s stood for makes me happy. Courage, Integrity, vision and artistically repurposing history with the sensibilities of today light me up.

Pricing:

• https://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/product/The-Last-Real-Showgirl/

Contact Info:

• Website: http;//www.thelastrealshowgirl.com
• Instagram: the_last_real_showgirl
• Facebook: Diane Christiansen
• Youtube: WWDBTV.COM/showgirlconnection
• Yelp: The Christiansen Acting Academy
• Other: http;//www.christiansenactingacademy.com

Image Credits
Suzi Singstock