Emma Blowers was doing high kicks at the world-famous Moulin Rouge for more than a decade.

She left the spiritual home of the French can-can in Paris to pursue other things, including being an extra on Coronation Street in a scene with Raquel and Curly – the one-time golden couple on the TV soap.

Emma performed in several pantomimes in her home town of Southport before taking a short break from the limelight for a secretarial career.

But she found it hard to give up the hobby she’d had since she first pulled on her ballet shoes when she was four. She is now passing on the expertise she has gained on stage and screen to pupils aged three to 18 at the dance school, Act 1 Theatre School, which she launched at Shibden Head Primary in Queensbury in March last year.

The mother-of-two is currently preparing for the school’s debut show, featuring singing and dancing from musicals and shows, at Bingley Arts Centre on July 17 and 18.

“When you have been doing something for so long, it is part of what you do,” Emma says.

Her mother wanted her to go to ballet when she was young. “I continued with it... I always enjoyed it,” she says.

Emma wanted a career in dancing and, after taking her A-levels, passed an audition in London and joined the Arts Educational School to take a musical theatre course.

Emma spent three years pursuing her art. “It is very hard to get into it, because there are so many people wanting to do it. It’s about getting that lucky break,” she says.

“It was very intense and gruelling training for three years, full-time. We were doing dancing lessons for four and five hours a day, with singing in the afternoon and drama classes as well.”

While at the school, Emma attended an audition for a place performing the can-can at the Moulin Rouge.

The cabaret, close to Montmartre in Paris, has played host to some of the most high-profile performers, including Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Edith Piaf and Ella Fitzgerald.

Emma believes her height helped in her being picked to perform there, as well as her dancing ability.

Emma and her fellow dancers spent six weeks rehearsing for the shows, which run seven nights a week. They performed twice daily during the summer.

“It was a bit surreal,” she admits. “But I had worked really hard for three years at college. I’d sweated blood and tears with my dancing. I was very focused and I enjoyed it so much.

“Performing in front of a crowd is amazing. It’s a real thrill to be on that stage.”

When she left the Moulin Rouge to return to Southport, she began treading the boards in pantomime and landed extra roles in the television soaps Brookside and Coronation Street.

But she says her greatest satisfaction from all her work has been seeing the smiling faces of the youngsters she is now teaching.

“When they walk in, they haven’t got a lot of confidence, but they come into class and you see them develop, come out of themselves and get confidence. It’s also putting a bit back into the community,” says Emma.

For more information about a career in performing arts, contact Bradford College on (01274) 433333.