She was a runway model in Paris.
A dancer behind French pop stars.
A jazz singer performing at the iconic Sunside-Sunset.
And today, she’s stepping into yet another chapter.
On this episode of La Vie Creative, I sat down with Kay Bourgine — a woman who embodies what it truly means to live creatively across seasons of life.
A Franco-American Childhood Rooted in Creativity
Kay was born in Boston to a French mother and an American father of Lithuanian origin. Raised in a bicultural household, creativity wasn’t an extracurricular — it was a way of life.
Her mother founded a bilingual school in Boston when Kay was just three years old. Every Friday night, Kay and her brother performed puppet shows or improvised piano concerts for their grandparents before dinner at their favorite Chinese restaurant. There was a costume chest. There were dance classes starting at age five. There were stories written about digging tunnels to China.
Creativity was constant. Play was normal.
Looking back, it’s no surprise that Kay would live so many artistic lives.
Discipline, Dance & the Seeds of Confidence
Kay trained seriously in ballet under a teacher who later became ballet mistress at Boston Ballet. The rigor, discipline, and kindness of that training shaped her deeply.
She practiced in front of mirrors for hours.
She developed technique.
She built resilience.
That early foundation would carry her across oceans.
Paris: The Runway Years
After college, a broken heart and a night at a roller skating rink changed everything. Kay began performing on roller skates in New York — and her first runway show was on skates.
Soon after, she moved to Paris “for six months.”
That was over 40 years ago.
She worked as a runway model for couture houses including Jean Patou, where she became a house model for six years under designer Christian Lacroix. There, fashion wasn’t just presentation — it was collaboration. Garments were created on her body. Designers knew her personally. She was part of the creative process.
At the same time, she danced behind major French pop stars on television — living between haute couture and glittering variety shows.
But modeling also required thick skin. One day you’re celebrated. The next day you’re dismissed. Kay was grateful she entered the industry as an adult, emotionally grounded enough to withstand its fluctuations.
Through it all, she built a life in Paris.
Motherhood & the Quiet Years
Like many creative women, Kay stepped away from the spotlight for over a decade to raise her children. She drove them to school, music lessons, sports practices — living a life that looked very different from runway shows and jazz clubs.
And yet, creativity never disappeared.
It simply waited.
Finding Her Voice in Her 40s
In her mid-forties, Kay attended a jazz workshop almost by accident. She had always believed she wasn’t “a singer.” She could dance. She could act. But singing felt out of reach.
That weekend changed everything.
She realized she didn’t have to be Ella Fitzgerald to sing.
She began studying jazz seriously. She formed a band. She performed in small bars and restaurants. Eventually, she wrote her own songs — something she once believed was “rocket science.”
Her music, inspired by Joni Mitchell, blended folk and jazz. Improvisation became central to her artistic expression.
And one day, she performed her own songs at the legendary Sunside-Sunset jazz club in Paris.
A dream she never imagined became reality.
Kay describes the evolution beautifully:
At first, she only heard the piano.
Later, she could hear the bass.
Then the drums.
Creativity unfolds in layers. So does confidence.
The Power of Connection
When asked why creatives do what they do, Kay’s answer was simple:
It’s for the moments of connection.
When someone says a song moved them to tears.
When a story resonates.
When art reflects something deeply human.
Part of creativity is compulsion — we can’t not create.
But part of it is connection.
And that is what makes it sacred.
Reinvention, Again
Later in life, after health challenges and chronic pain from scoliosis, Kay discovered the Feldenkrais method — a somatic practice centered on awareness through movement.
It transformed her relationship with her body.
Today, she facilitates groups, coaches individuals, and leads collaborative vocal improvisation through her project Circle Songs Paris. Her work now blends movement, voice, experiential learning, and grounded presence.
She works with executives, professors, political refugees, sex workers, students — across vastly different contexts — helping people reconnect to their bodies and voices.
Her advice for anyone wanting to reconnect to their voice?
Breathe out.
Not in — out.
Ground yourself. Feel your feet. Feel the chair beneath you. Slow down enough for your nervous system to catch up.
Presence is power.
It’s Never Too Late
Kay has reinvented herself roughly every ten years.
Model.
Dancer.
Actor.
Mother.
Jazz singer.
Facilitator.
Her message is clear:
It is never, ever, ever too late.
You can begin again in your 40s.
You can reinvent yourself in your 50s.
You can pause for a decade and return stronger.
Life is not linear. Creativity is not a single path.
It’s a series of chapters — and you get to write them.
🎧 Listen to the full episode of La Vie Creative wherever you stream podcasts.
And if this conversation resonated, share it with a creative woman who might need the reminder:
It’s not too late.
Not even close. ✨
