The Nancy Wright Hardy Papers (1967-2025) consist of materials documenting the career of Las Vegas dancer and showgirl, Nancy Hardy. The collection includes photographs, showroom ephemera, contracts, correspondence, show programs and scripts, press clippings, and audiovisual material. The materials encompass the Las Vegas production shows Lido de Paris, Folies Bergère, and Jubilee!, as well as Hardy’s early dance career and role as a cast member at Star Trek: The Experience. The materials detail large production operations, including rehearsals, performances, and labor relations from the perspective of a cast member. Audiovisual materials include rehearsal cassette tapes of the soundtracks from the three production shows, as well as VHS tapes of Lido performers appearing in two Siegfried and Roy television specials and in the film Lookin' to Get Out.
The Nancy Wright Hardy Papers (1967-2025) consist of materials documenting the career of Las Vegas dancer and showgirl, Nancy Hardy. The collection includes photographs, showroom ephemera, contracts, correspondence, show programs and scripts, press clippings, and audiovisual material. The materials encompass the Las Vegas production shows Lido de Paris, Folies Bergère, and Jubilee!, as well as Hardy’s early dance career and role as a cast member at Star Trek: The Experience. The materials detail large production operations, including rehearsals, performances, and labor relations from the perspective of a cast member.
Audiovisual materials include rehearsal cassette tapes of the soundtracks from the three production shows, as well as VHS tapes of Lido performers appearing in two Siegfried and Roy television specials and in the film Lookin' to Get Out.
Collection is open for research. Advanced notice is required for access to audiovisual materials. Please contact Special Collections and Archives for more information.
This material is made available to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. Material in this collection may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other interests not owned by UNLV. Users are responsible for determining whether permissions are necessary from rights owners for any intended use and for obtaining all required permissions. Please contact UNLV Special Collections and Archives (special.collections@unlv.edu) for additional information.
Materials are arranged by topic.
Born November 22, 1955 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Nancy Kay Wright Hardy performed as a dancer and showgirl in Las Vegas productions for more than 20 years, including the Lido de Paris at the Stardust Hotel and Casino, the Folies Bergère at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino, and Jubilee! at Bally’s Hotel and Casino. Hardy also worked as a dancer in the 20th Century Foxes cabaret revue at Harvey’s Hotel and Casino in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and as an actor at Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Hardy grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico, near White Sands Missile Range, where her father was a quality control engineer. She studied ballet from childhood and received a Ford Foundation scholarship to the San Francisco Ballet School in 1971. After growing too tall and aging out of the training program, Hardy moved to Las Vegas in 1977 to accept work as a Bluebell Girl in the Stardust Hotel’s newest edition of the Lido de Paris. In the Lido, she served as girls’ line captain and swing, teaching show choreography to new performers, and filling in onstage for the 30 female dancers’ nights off and vacations.
In 1986, Hardy took a year-long hiatus from the Lido de Paris to perform in the 20th Century Foxes revue in Lake Tahoe. After finishing her contract, she embarked on a six-week bicycle trip from Seattle to Tijuana with fellow dancer, and later husband, David Hardy. She then returned to the Lido for two more years before auditioning and being hired for the Folies Bergère at the Tropicana. Hardy performed for a time as a showgirl, then transitioned to the dancing line in the show to take on new artistic and physical challenges.
During the 1980s, Hardy spent free time dancing in the Las Vegas Civic Ballet, Opus Dance Ensemble, and in student dance concerts at UNLV and throughout the community. Hardy and husband David worked as volunteer dancers and photographers for Golden Rainbow, a Strip performer-organized fundraising group in support of victims of AIDS in Southern Nevada.
When director Jerry Jackson was asked to revamp the Folies Bergère in 1997, Hardy decided the time might be right to retire from dancing professionally. She worked briefly as a performer and production assistant at the MGM Grand Adventures theme park before auditioning for the new Star Trek: The Experience production at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1998. A year later, she was recommended to the Jubilee! company manager at Bally’s Las Vegas to replace a showgirl in the cast. Despite being quite a bit older than the average dancer, Hardy was hired and continued her dancing career for four more years. After an injury, Hardy was transferred to the Paris Hotel and Casino in 2003 as an entertainment manager for the atmosphere performers. When the program disbanded in 2004, she returned to the Hilton for an expansion of Star Trek: The Experience, entitled Borg Invasion 4-D.
From 1997 onward, Hardy performed as a showgirl and in various character roles for Elvis and other themed weddings at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, owned by former Folies Bergère performers, Ron DeCar and Jamie Richards. Hardy worked as a blogger for the chapel for many years and wrote articles for Callback News, a local entertainment newspaper.
From 2006 to 2019, Hardy taught ballroom dance and costumed theatrical productions at the College of Southern Nevada. She also worked as a standardized acting patient for Touro University Nevada, and was a volunteer tour guide for the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Although now retired from dancing, Hardy continues to engage in volunteer activities and to perform at the wedding chapel.
Source:
Hardy, Nancy. “Nancy Hardy Bio.” Collection file, Nancy Wright Hardy Papers, 1967-2025. MS-01229. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Nancy Wright Hardy Papers, 1967-2025. MS-01229. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Materials were donated in 2026 by Nancy Hardy; accession number 2026-011.
In 2026, Landon Paljusaj accessioned the collection, rehoused the materials, and wrote the finding aid in ArchivesSpace.
Administrative Information
Acquired by Su Kim Chung, curator, as part of UNLV Special Collections and Archives holdings on entertainment in Las Vegas. All material that formed the original gift has been retained.