If I hadn’t been in the Blackpool Tower Ballet, I may have never danced around the world

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A woman who danced around the world says it wouldn’t have been possible without the Blackpool Tower.

Blackpool born-and-bred Maxine Cunliffe, 67, started dancing at nine years old, tagging along to a dance class with the daughter of one of her mother’s old friends.

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Quick to learn and with obvious talent, her dance teacher took a liking to her and allowed her to attend classes for free.

Blackpool born-and-bred Maxine Cunliffe, 67, started dancing at nine years old,Blackpool born-and-bred Maxine Cunliffe, 67, started dancing at nine years old,
Blackpool born-and-bred Maxine Cunliffe, 67, started dancing at nine years old, | Contributed

Within just a few years Maxine was dancing professionally, performing at hotels across Blackpool.

At the age of 13 she joined the Blackpool Tower ballet - an experience which sparked the adventure of a lifetime.

Maxine said: “It all started in Blackpool.

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“If I hadn’t been in the Blackpool Tower Ballet, I may have never been a Bluebell Girl or danced around the world!”

Maxine said she loved her time at the Tower, performing two shows a day in summer and dancing in the streets on a tap board when she wasn’t on stage. 

But Maxine had ambition, and at the age of 15 she wrote to Margaret Kelly - better known as Miss Bluebell - expressing her desire to join the world-famous Bluebell Girls.

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She was one of few dancers selected and travelled to Paris shortly after her 16th birthday.

“I don’t know how I did it” Maxine said.

“I had never left Blackpool, and yet there I was at 16, getting a train to Victoria to get a boat to Paris all on my own.

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“I still remember walking up the Champs-Élysées in these high platforms my mum had bought and a blue-grey miniskirt, suitcase in hand.

“I must have been quite the sight!”

Maxine spent just under a year as a Bluebell Girl in Paris, living in a bedsit above the Lido on the Champs-Élysées with the other dancers, many of whom she is still in contact with today.

She said: “I have so many amazing memories, and I love catching up with the people I met while dancing because often they remember things I’d forgotten about!”

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After Paris, she set out on a six-month tour of Italy, but it was cut short around four months in when a law change meant Maxine and a couple of other dancers could no longer work in the country due to their age.

However, she wasn’t back in Blackpool for long, as a new contract in Argentina came up just a few weeks later.

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Maxine said: “The 24-hour flight to Buenos Aires was the best flight I’ve been on in my life,”

“We were with the Argentinian football team, and it was just such an amazing experience.”

Just four months later, Maxine’s time as a dancer in Argentina came to a terrifyingly abrupt end.

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There was a revolution breaking out, and her dance troupe were escorted out of the country, packing what they could in the middle of the night.

“It was terrifying. There were cars on fire in the streets and we were held at gunpoint as we packed our things,” Maxine said.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget how scared we all were.”

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Once again, Maxine wasn’t back in Blackpool for long before Miss Bluebell got in contact to see if she would be interested in dancing in Hong Kong.

From there the list of destinations Maxine danced in goes on.

From Tokyo to Vegas, Damascus to Jordan and then on to Barcelona where she modelled alongside her dancing career, her talent has taken her across the world.

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She decided to return to her hometown of Blackpool upon falling pregnant with her daughter, Karima.

Maxine said: “Karima was my mum’s first grandchild, and I couldn’t imagine taking that away from her, so I decided to come home.

“I had never wanted to still be dancing at 30, and I had always wanted a little girl, so it was a dream come true for me.”

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Now 67, Maxine still lives in Blackpool, and has two grown up children, Karima and Lewis who now has a daughter of his own.

She remains in touch with many of the friends she made along the way while dancing all over the world.

“I have had so many amazing experiences and met some wonderful people,” she added.

“When I see the Blackpool Tower now, I think of where it all began, and the years I spent dancing there that led to me dancing around the world!”

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