Donni aims to be big in the States (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Donni aims to be big in the States

Donni as she is todayA FORMER Swindon go-go dancer and entertainer is hitting it big in the USA.

Donni-Jay De-Ville, formerly Jay Eden-Winn was a familiar face in the town during the late 1970s as the resident professional dancer at several local clubs.

Now 56, Donni-Jay has moved to the United States and says she is enjoying new-found fame in the deep south city of Nashville, Tennessee.

"Swindon played a big part in my life. I used to move around a lot but I lived in the town from when I was 10 until I was 17 and then when I danced at the clubs and I have many fond memories.

"I have a childhood friend, Tony Lawrence there, who I still keep in touch with, but I don't even know if the clubs are still there. But he tells me there are still people keen to find out what has happened to me.

"I have had a very fast life, so much has happened that you don't think to stop and count the years.

"I might be 56 but it doesn't show I still feel like I'm 28 and dancing back at those clubs."

At the height of her Swindon career, the former Savernake Hospital nurse was the resident professional dancer at the Birds Nest, and then stayed on with the change over to the Affair Club in Wyvern Square.

She was famous for her ability to literally bend over backwards during her dance routine.

However one day, she went a step too far, leaving the curvy dancer floored by a hernia, which prevented her from dancing for three months.

At the time she said: "I was really surprised when it happened. I've always believed I was so supple that I could make my body do anything. When I come back I intend to really make a big splash."

And in March 1978 she did just that when she was booked at the lead dancer in the Discomania record adverts just a week after returning to dancing from her injuries.

The Adver also revealed how Jay had become an unlikely charity worker after going to a meeting led by evangelist Sam Salter, after which she gave away six weeks worth of dancing wages to elderly and children's charities.

She also spoke about her loneliness and a struggle to retain her then 37-24-35 figure.

Over the years she has been married four times, but now she is firmly settled in the hot climate of Nashville, having started a southern rock-blues band, as well as an entertainment and publishing company and she even has plans to sing at the Grand Ole Opry the world's longest running live radio programme.

She is married to Rocky, 48 a financial controller for a big corporation, he is also a weightlifter and boxer in his spare time.

He said: "She has led an incredibly eventful life, and the amazing thing is that she does not age.

"Everywhere we go, men stop in the street, and I have to literally fight them off.

"It's hard to go to a restaurant without men lining up to get her autograph.

"She still looks around 30 years of age, although she is now 56 years."

Donni-Jay is now writing her autobiography, and both she and Rocky hope this might one day be turned into a movie and there is even a website claiming Donni-Jay to be the female equivalent of Elvis and have the animal magnetism of Tina Turner which has had almost 100,000 hits.

She said: "I have lived the kind of life that might have driven some people crazy. I have moved house 118 times.

"Starting afresh in so many different towns and mostly by myself, will be understandable once the book is published."

Donni-Jay is keen to hear from any old friends or fans that remember her during her dancing days.

The best way to contact her is through her website at www.donni-jay.com

Anthony Osborne