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a Sunday, May 23, 1993/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Sun/5D ' ?√ß' ' Las Vegas SUN Ex-dancer?╟╓s life a jubilee LeCoque?╟╓s entertainment career isn?╟╓t just a lot of fluff By Bob Shemeligian US VEGAS SUN Soon after Fluff LeCoque learned to walk she knew she would be a dancer. And she went on to dance or work with dancers for most of her life. Today, LeCoque is company manager of ?╟úJubilee?╟Ñ at Bally?╟╓s, continuing a professional relationship with show creator Don Arden that has lasted 40 years. As company manager, she oversees the quality of the show, choreography and performances. IiWHI Eg In the early ?╟╓70s, Arden hired LeCoque as company manager of ?╟úHallelujah Hollywood?╟Ñ at the BBBL___ old MGM Grand Hotel. In 1983, mA regular feature when ?╟úJubilee?╟Ñ began, LeCoque in the Sunday stayed on. L&s Vegas SUN. ?╟úOh, my God, I?╟╓ve been there eveiy night for the past 12 years,?╟Ñ LeCoque said. ?╟úI try to watch at least one show a night.?╟Ñ LeCoque is easy to recognize. Look for a woman with friendly, intelligent eyes and striking red hair. It was the hair that earned LeCoque her nickname in her hometown of Butte, Mont. That and the difficulty in pronouncing her real first name, Ffolliott. ?╟úI got my nickname because as a child I had a terrible temper, and a woman next door had a cat with red fur named Fluff, and this cat was the holy terror of the neighborhood,?╟Ñ LeCoque said. From then on, she was Fluff. She started taking dance lessons at 5, and by the time she was a drama major at the University of Washington in Seattle, LeCoque acted and danced in local productions nearly eveiy night. LeCoque eventually moved to Las Vegas. It was an exciting time in Southern Nevada. Bugsy Siegel was building the Flamingo. Stars like Jimmy Durante and Betty Grable were headlining at the El Rancho Vegas and thq Last Frontier. Also at the Last Frontier, an attractive, red-haired singer named Fluff LeCoque sang during dinner dances; ?╟úIt was light stuff,?╟Ñ LeCoque said. ?╟úI was really a decoration.?╟Ñ ^ Over the years, LeCoque danced in many Las Vegas shows. As a young girl she had been trained in ballet, tap and jazz steps and could work in any show. Her favorite was ?╟úHello America,?╟Ñ a Don Arden show at the Desert Inn in the 1960s. ?╟úThere were different vignettes and numbers from different eras in America,?╟Ñ LeCoque said. ?╟úThe costumes were elegant. It was a real crowd-pleaser.?╟Ñ In all that time, LeCoque never worked topless. Not that she?╟╓s against it - as long as it?╟╓s done right. ?╟úIt?╟╓s here to stay, like in my shows, but it?╟╓s done tastefully. I tiy to make sure the girls?╟╓ bodies are slim and perfect. Otherwise, I don?╟╓t let them go topless.?╟Ñ Another thing that?╟╓s here to stay is taped music. LeCoque, like many in show business, has mixed feelings about it. ?╟úWe all miss (live music) because it?╟╓s more spontaneous and it generates more emotion. It?╟╓s communicative. Whereas with a tape it?╟╓s always exactly the same tempo. Sometimes you get so you don?╟╓t even listen to it... but we have to accept changes, as much as we disagree with it.?╟Ñ But while some things have changed a great deal, others have not. Dancers still arrive for work when many people are knocking off for the day, and don?╟╓t leave until the early-morning hours. In a typical work day, the dancers might go through a dozen costume changes and twice that many routines. LeCoque works the same schedule she has since her dancing days. But instead of a dance costume, LeCoque carries a briefcase. Fluff Lecoque ?√ß AGE - Tm not saying. Use your imagination.?╟Ñ ?√ß EDUCATION - Studied drama for four years at University of Washington. Left school before graduation to pursue a dance career. ?√ß LOCAL BACKGROUND - Danced in shows at nearly every major Las Vegas hotel since the days when the Strip was a dirt road. ?√ß FAVORITE ACTIVITIES - Gardening, walking, playing with her neighbor?╟╓s mischievous German shepherd and watching good films, although she says there are very few good films today. ?√ß QUOTE - ?╟úIf I had to do it over again, I would choose the same field, definitely. It?╟╓s something that?╟╓s in me. I?╟╓ve known ever since I couldn?╟╓t say a word that I wanted to be a dancer.?╟Ñ ?╟úI have a lot of paperwork,?╟Ñ LeCoque said. ?╟úTime and attendance forms, accident reports, you name it.?╟Ñ When she?╟╓s not doing paperwork, LeCoque often studies the show from the audience. ?╟úIf you give yourself to the audience, you have to make them believe in what you?╟╓re doing,?╟Ñ LeCoque said. ?╟úYou have to create emotion.?╟Ñ From her vantage point in the audience, LeCoque also has learned a great deal about how soipe people react to the show. ?╟úMost people don?╟╓t see live entertainment. They only see entertainment on television, and it?╟╓s interesting to note that when they see a show like ?╟ Jubilee,?╟╓ they talk during performances. It?╟╓s as though they?╟╓re watching television.?╟Ñ As for LeCoque, she watches little TV and few films. BY TONY BLEI / STAFF FLUFF LECOQUE was a veteran Las Vegas dancer before becoming company manager of ?╟ Jubilee.?╟Ñ ?╟úI?╟╓m not interested in most of them. I just think they?╟╓ve gone overboard with all the violence and explicit language. I mean, you have to leave something to the imagination.?╟Ñ As a young dancer, LeCoque once screen-tested in Hollywood, ?╟úbut I was a little camera shy. I never like the way I photographed.?╟Ñ So she came back to Las Vegas. She has no regrets, except perhaps that things came a little too easily in her life. ?╟úIt was too easy for me to get work,?╟Ñ LeCoque said. ?╟úI never had to audition. Although I loved to dance, I didn?╟╓t have to suffer that much for it. Anyway, that?╟╓s the way I see it, as I look back oh it.?╟Ñ