User:Wizkid333/Persephone Rex

Perspehone Rex is a burlesque dancer based in London and Manchester. Her style of 'geek pop culture meets fetish burlesque' has become popular among London sub-cultures and the general student population of London and North-West England.

Origins
Perspehone Rex was born Francesca Natalie Balchin in 1989 in Leigh, Greater Manchester. Her father is a BAFTA-nominated BBC cinematographer and her mother works in Human Resources. After gaining a passion for the arts during her teenage years, she enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama in 2008, gaining a degree in BA (Hons) Theatre Practice in 2011. . Through mentoring by renowned burlesque artist Kiki Kaboom and Jo King, she has gained popularity from clubs with performances on specialist Burlesque nights and private functions. In 2011 she took a sabbatical from burlesque performances to concentrate on her undergraduate thesis and start her Master's degree at Queen Mary, University of London in Film.

Performances
Her debut performance was an appearance in Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera at Trinity Buoy Wharf (directed by Cressida Brown); her debut role being Pirate Jenny. This routine was directed by Kiki Kaboom. Following this, the first club to hire Persephone Rex was The Cellar (Oxford), as part of the Oxford University Rock Society. She built on this success by appearing at the inaugural Theatre Practice Cabaret Night at her university; the first time the night has ever been performed. Subsequently she has performed for events such as Club RUB at Fire Nightlcub, Vauxhall and Satan's Hollow, Manchester. In 2010 she entered the Tournament of Tease at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club.

Off-stage, Persephone Rex works for Chaz Royal's burlesque productions backstage, notably Forbidden Cabaret, and London Burlesque Festival next year's World Burlesque Games. She has also gained a starring role online as 'December 21st' in Coffee, Cake and Kink's 2010[Advent Calendar]].