The circus is in town in Dundee, and for one travelling performer, the city is a very special stop.
Scottish showgirl Amy Finlay has been dancing at the Manor School of Ballet in Edinburgh since she was just three years old.
Twenty years later, she ran away to join the circus and realise her dancing dreams.
And she hasn’t looked back.
Travelling from city to city, Amy shares a “very glittery” trailer with the five other girls in her Vegas showgirl troupe, who perform in the ring along with acts including Ukrainian acrobatic swing troupe Didyk, hair hangers, jugglers, and Edy the clown.
But even though the big top pops up all over Europe, Dundee’s Riverside Park is the stop that Edinburgh-born Amy is most excited for.
“I am originally from Edinburgh but I used to come here and visit my cousins in summers and at Christmas,” recalls Amy, 23, fondly.
“We’d come by the Riverside Park and play outside – just normal kid stuff.
“So being back here with the circus feels like a dream come true. It’s crazy that this is real life!”
For Amy and the other dancers, working in sync is key to their impressive – and feathery – Vegas showgirl performance.
“The trick to working in sync all the time is communication,” she explains.
“If, at the start, you see someone doing something a bit different, you have to correct them, because there’s no mirrors around you, so you have to be each other’s mirrors.”
‘There’s no magic to it – just talent’
And while it may look like all sequin and sass, Amy reveals it takes a lot of hard work to look so effortless. In fact, the whole operation has the feel of graft about it.
Even the fabulous showgirl costumes are largely designed and made by showrunner and former trapeze artist Elaine Courtney.
“I used to go to the circus when I was wee, and you always think there’s some trick to it, some magic,” Amy observes.
“But actually, there’s no magic to it, it’s just strength and flexibility and real talent.”
And though she’s excited to “spend some of my hard earned money” in Dundee’s shops, and take a long-awaited, nostalgic walk along the Tay, Amy isn’t sick of circus life yet by any stretch of the imagination.
“I would 100% recommend running away to join the circus,” she jokes. “It’s the best life to live!”
Described as “Vegas on wheels”, and from the same people behind the renowned Circus Extreme, Circus Vegas has visited Dundee yearly for as long as general manager David Fitzgerald can remember.
He’s excited for city audiences to start flooding in tonight, and endorses Amy as a “great addition” to the showgirls.
As the tents, candyfloss spinners and popcorn machines spring up around us, he smiles.
“Sure, we’re here like that,” he says, “but we’re gone just as quick!”
Circus Vegas is at Riverside Park, Dundee, until Monday June 26. For more information on ticket prices and showtimes, please visit the Circus Vegas website.
