ent001699-002

This item has not been digitized in its entirety. The original item is available for research and handling at the UNLV University Libraries. Additional digitization is available upon request. Please contact Special Collections to request additional digitization or with any questions regarding access at special.collections@unlv.edu. FLUFF AS NAILS An old-time hoofer, Fluff Le Coque knows all the moves?╟÷and all the excuses 1 came up through the rank^|,ays FfolliottEhorlton j 1 ?╟úFluff?╟╓ Le Coque (pronounced uluh-k(Mflighting her Virginia Slims 120 and looking a visitor Jjaight in thebye. Fh^pllpl anything over on me.?╟Ñ Fluff is speaking of the 79 femaleHnd 24 male dancers she overs^ek as company manager for the Bally?╟╓s;?½ sino shot Jubilee?╟÷a dancing spectacular in the old vaude-villian sense of the word. Fluff knows aboil danc^g she?╟╓s been one for most of her 67 ye^S-the laS28 of which she?╟╓s liye^L in lliKfegas. ?╟úI?╟╓m alwaSopenfc talk, and lots of [the troupe] tell me Jlonfidentialjfiings I dcSt repeat,WluffsaS ?╟úIf they <isk for my opinion, I give it. Otherwise, I don?╟╓t. There?╟╓s a big generation gpfp bet||igri the girls and me.?╟Ñ FlufB who :acqflH| the nickname after a pet mt she had K a child, is sitting in the small cubicle that is her offic||She?╟╓s an atftcfiye woman with perfectly coifed red hair. .Ylji might imagine more gliB from a former showgirl, litit?╟╓ijbt thBe. Poise with a shading of no-nonsense prevail^gShe?╟╓s dressed conservatively in a high-collared blouse and a flowing skirt. Cherry-red lipstick and nails punctuate the subtljjshaded makeup she wea||. Fluff picks up a mi|rophon^Jo page aBancer. ?╟úLori Tierne|| pleW Fluff slfepftlyBLoiHBerney.?╟Ñ: Fluff grew up in Kittle and attended thMUni^gity of Washington, where she studied drama and dance. Shortly after World War II, she went to work in Paris. She came to stay in Las Vegas as a singer in 1947, when the town?╟╓s Bademarl?½as mlowdy, pardnejf howdy|M TiernWmes in and flops down in a chair. A dancer is Bek, and one of female gift members has failed to show and hasn?╟╓t;called inftp say why?╟÷a serious no-no. Other dancers have to cover for them, and Fluff ha?║;to figuif^out who is where. She relayll changes in tonight?╟╓s show to Bierney in a matter-of-fact voice: ?╟úYou?╟╓re doing Katherine, and Kathepnejs doing Susan.Marlene?╟╓s doing Nikki, and Traci?╟╓s doing herself.?╟Ñ 5"?╟╓ Besides managing daMers, this grande dame of Vegas auditions them B welE-following them f|om photo^and resume xo basic darge combinations andRru-Bnizing their figures. ?╟úI look at e^ffihing frog their teeth fpJhei^Hrs,?╟Ñ Fluff says. ?╟úAt aBertain point in the auditionB ask who is willing to go topless, and then I go up and look at them to decide. Too large or too small. Notflveryone has a perfeH bospm. Same thingfl?½fe?·or the boM They haye to bring a dancB belt or a bikini to audition. We?╟╓re running a business Arnold Arnold has written for GQ, Self, and Amerpi Wayfl Fluff Le Coque (seen here with some of Bally's dancers) says it's becoming difficult to keep track of all the hoofers in Vegas. "At one time almost everybody in town had worked for me," she says. "Over the years it's been thousands. But not anymore. Vegas is too big."