Biography

Kittie spent her youth amidst books, creatures and classical music where (among other peculiar things) she was a junior ballerina touring with The Scottish Ballet Company, she was a  keen snake breeder and also a child model from age ten.  She was a bit of a nerd – an apple-polisher with an A+ report card,  chairman of the school debating team, house captain and assisted younger pupils with learning difficulties. By her mid teens, she was  spending much of her time learning about hypnosis, consciousness, folklore and ancient Egypt – and had  a mad teen crush on Paul McKenna for some unknown reason. She had also experimented with religion (the curiosity was too much) but in trying to find faith, lost self-confidence in the process of asking too many questions. However, curiosity did not kill the kittie (pad pun…).

Qualifying for university quite early at sixteen, she became a graduate of both Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities. Determined to re-ignite the spark of experimentation and self belief, by age seventeen she was modeling again becoming recognisable as a poster girl for her homeland’s (Scotland) ‘Vamp’ and alternative culture. By 20, the curiosity to revisit the power of performance had also taken nerve-wracking, stomach-churning grip. So it had to be done.

Developing an ever-increasing fascination with controversy, always wondering what might lie on the other sides of any given ‘norm’ and why she might feel comfortable with one but uncomfortable with another, lead her on a unique path of experimental adventure in both science and art.

During her under-graduate and post-graduate studies, she pursued an unconventional academic background in parapsychology focusing on ESP and a variety of anomalous experience.  She also worked as a ‘paranormal investigator’ with a research group where she made home visits to troubled ‘experiencers’ of alleged paranormal activity and was involved in holding vigils in reputedly haunted locations. Yet, perhaps the strangest aspect is that all this was paired with an unlikely sideline in physical comedy. In the evenings she’d leave the lab to perform in comedy clubs, music venues, festivals and on the alternative and fetish scenes across the UK in a bewildering set of routines, bad choreography – and over-sized ‘granny-pants’. She has come on a bit since then, though.

The novelty of these early pursuits caught the attention of the media who regarded her unusual comic sideline as a first – and she a local “heroine” or “pioneer” of sorts. They were referring of course to her spontaneous ambition to rejuvenate burlesque, whatever that was. Burlesque at this time (approximately ten years ago), was a complete anachronism in the media and generally unheard of – even a Google search revealed no results beyond a literal reference to the word ‘farce’ in a legal context. So a balance of social science and socially edgy comedy would need to be found and in her postgraduate year, the ‘art’ was funding the science, just.

However, as poignant circumstance played out with a particular peculiarity, the mission to rejuvenate burlesque increasingly consumed the hours and, following a strange and difficult string of events, Kittie went on to pursue an entertainment career full time – incidentally carving out her own niche.

In 2005, she headed for London armed with a startling model portfolio, a wealth of weird science, a growing reputation as an international pin-up and performer – and a whimsical ‘what if’ outlook. Carpe Diem. Lauded as a captain of industry and community leader her mission grew exponentially with the addition of James Malach and his web-based mastery. Now almost a decade old, the aptly named ‘Ministry of Burlesque‘ is still spearheading an evangelical craze for this wide and often misunderstood genre of bawdy antics, dancing girls and social satire.  Join the Ministry of Burlesque discussions and resources here.

Today, almost ten years on from the creation of MoB (a student hobby that took over) Kittie not only regularly supplies Britain’s theatres with ample uproarious amusement but she employs her unusual experience, skills and natural personality traits in the well being industry providing community workshops, personal coaching and lectures on positive body image, self confidence and good mental health. As such she is an artist in resident at BlueSCI cultural inclusion centre in Old Trafford and she works with a host of private clients from all ages and creative persuasions.

In her leisure time she collects Victoriana, takes photographs and experiments with handcrafts and ‘upycling’.