Meet The Team

A woman with light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes wearing elaborate headwear with red feathers and beaded accessories. She has makeup with red lipstick and eye makeup, and is looking directly at the camera.
A woman standing outdoors with her arms extended, wearing a golden dress and large yellow butterfly wings.

Claire Victoria Phipps

Claire Victoria Phipps is a Bristol-based dancer, choreographer, and creative director celebrated for her flair, passion, and dedication to the art of performance. She is the founder of The Showgirl Academy, one of the UK’s leading schools for burlesque, cabaret, and vintage dance, and the visionary behind The Flaming Feathers, an award-winning professional showgirl troupe known for their glamour, precision, and show-stopping energy.

With over a decade of experience in dance and stage production, Claire has built a reputation for empowering performers of all backgrounds to find confidence, creativity, and joy through movement. Her classes and choreography blend classic showgirl elegance with a modern sense of inclusivity and body positivity, creating spaces where everyone can shine.

From intimate cabaret venues to grand theatre stages, Claire’s work celebrates self-expression, sisterhood, and the timeless allure of performance. Through The Showgirl Academy and The Flaming Feathers, she continues to share her love of dance with audiences and students across the UK, inspiring a new generation of showgirls to step into the spotlight with confidence and grace.

A man in a black jacket with red cuffs and collar, white shirt, sitting on a chair, holding a phone to his ear, with a serious expression.

Lee Brain

Lee Brain is the legendary, almost mythical co-founder of The Flaming Feathers—a man whose name might not appear on the stage, but whose fingerprints are literally everywhere else. While the dancers leap, spin, and dazzle audiences, Lee is backstage, orchestrating the circus that makes it all possible. Manager, chauffeur, lighting engineer, sound engineer, costume designer, bodyguard… Lee does it all. If there’s a role that exists backstage, there’s a 99% chance Lee is doing it, and probably doing it better than anyone else could.

He’s the calm in the pre-show chaos, the wizard making sure every feather, sequin, and pirouette lands perfectly. Late-night costume emergencies? Lee sews like a superhero. Microphone issues? He fixes them with one hand while simultaneously directing a lighting cue with the other. Overexcited audience member tries to storm the stage? Lee handles it with the poise of a secret agent.

Lee is the glue holding The Flaming Feathers together, the invisible engine powering their every twirl, jump, and flourish. He makes the impossible look effortless—turning what could be backstage chaos into seamless spectacle. If the troupe shines on stage, it’s because Lee Brain made sure they had wings, lights, music, and maybe even a little magic.

In short, Lee is the backstage superhero nobody sees but everyone depends on, a master of every skill you didn’t even know a person could have, and the reason The Flaming Feathers can dance like fire without ever burning out.

Just don’t ask him to Perform!