09 DREAM GIRLS

THE CSE dancers are, of course, a vital part of any CSE variety show and you can trace their heritage back to the Second World War. But today’s dancers are a little more feisty. Ruth Trantor, a former CSE dancer herself, now head of Underwraps Dance Agency, remembers a precious moment.
“During a tour to the Falklands we were taken out to the ranges in our downtime. The rain was coming down in stair rods – you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face and you certainly couldn’t see soldiers.
“This really pompous sergeant stood with us bellowing instructions at the soldiers on the ground. We all had to stand there – miserable and freezing – whilst he humiliated the soldiers for various things, obviously playing up to us as his audience.
“At the end he turned to our group and asked if we had any questions. At the back of the group, a beautiful dancer raised her hand.
“The sergeant puffed up and said: ‘Yes love, what is it you want to know?’
“The dancer’s reply? ‘What’s the biggest animal in the world?’.”