> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.gtv.blue/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Naked Men Talking: Ebony Rose Dark - URL: https://www.gtv.blue/fringe-spotlight-extant/ - Published: 2026-08-10T23:01:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-11T14:41:42.000Z - Description: In the conversation, we talk cabaret, visual impairment, and the allure of an accent. - Author: Gareth Johnson - Tags: Naked Men Talking For our podcast, [Naked Men Talking](https://www.gtv.blue/naked-men-talking/), I caught up with [Ebony Rose Dark](https://www.instagram.com/ebony%5Frose%5Fdark/?ref=gtv.blue) who is performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as part of the [Extant](https://extant.org.uk/?ref=gtv.blue) showcase. In the conversation, we talk cabaret, visual impairment, and the allure of an accent. [Listen to the episode](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2watKjkRxkJDzrdWVrIfIB?si=GW7LZnkAR-ic8%5FFqb7p7eA&ref=gtv.blue) **How did you discover and start to explore that being on stage and performing was something that you were passionate about?** I started discovering my passion for performing when I was a child. When I became visionally impaired at the age of five, I kind of got interrupted. I continued performing in school plays, then got to college and discovered that I wanted to dance and perform. From the age of sixteen I was able to really focus on performance only. **How did you end up becoming part of Bar Wotever?** That came quite a while afterwards. Before Bar Wotever, I had been in dance training. I performed quite a bit. Bar Wotever came at a time when I wasn't feeling that connected with the dance scene. My dance teacher at the time introduced me to Bar Wotever. I asked to perform, they said yes, and I grabbed the opportunity with with two hands. It was amazing. Bar Wotever is the one of the biggest nights of cabaret - it includes burlesque, boylesque, lip-sync, dance, poetry, and everything. It's creating an open platform for every kind of LGBTQI+ artist, and that's the beauty of it. It gives you the space to be who you want to be. **How did that help you find where you were in terms of your artistic expression and your performance style?** After performing there on and off, they gave me a residency. That allowed me to explore bringing my dance background together with cabaret - sometimes doing jazzy numbers, sometimes doing contemporary numbers, sometimes avant-garde. It also enabled me to meet other artists and build connections. It's had a huge impact on my creative development. **You're performing as part of the Extant showcase at Edinburgh Fringe. Why was this showcase something you wanted to be part of?** I wanted to have a have an opportunity to share a piece of what I'm working on at the moment. It's only 10 minutes. I'm presenting a piece of the work that I'm currently developing, Growing Nostalgia. **What's your intention that you're taking into that performance? What are you trying to convey to the audience? What are you trying to get them to feel?** I'm giving them insight into where I'm at with my cabaret right now, where I want to go, but also I want to connect with them on my journey. **Can you talk a little bit about the Growing Nostalgia? What's the direction that you're taking with that show?** It's delving into where I'm at, where I've come from, and what I want to focus on now and for the future. It's about my search for something more meaningful, something more rooted in my culture - which is Caribbean. It's about what it means to bring that to the stage - with some sprinkles of contemporary movement and all the other stuff that I've got in my movement vocabulary. **In this reflection that you're doing as part of the development for Growing Nostalgia, how is that evolving your perception of yourself or your relationship with your body?** London is part of that nostalgia - that's where I found my queer friend-circle, when I moved to London in 2004\. I was about 19. I'd just dropped out of university. A dance company was running a course for disabled dancers and I got on a scholarship, so I moved to London. I lived with loads of visually-impaired people in a six-bedroom house, which was magic - the best-case scenario for someone who was visually impaired moving to London. I was going to dance classes, doing my scholarship, joining lots of different companies. There were a lot of club nights - dancing with random people. That made me feel more comfortable in my body, more confident on stage, and more confident to be who I am today. **Where were you at with your sexuality at that point?** I'd already come out. I went to a residential college for visually impaired people in Hereford. I had an amazing counsellor who directed me to the West Midlands Gay Switchboard. I dated a lot when I was at university. **Can you talk about the intersection of visual impairment with dating - how was that experience for you?** That was very difficult. Dating is very visual. Eye-contact is not something I can do - I wouldn't know if anyone's looking at me unless someone tells me they are. I'm very much an at-the-bar person because at the bar is where there's no space for anyone to be hide - you can turn to the person next to you and say hello. I don't see anything in detail. I might get that you're wearing a sparkly top but I'm not going to get smiles or winks. **In terms of connecting with guys and your in-person encounters, are your other senses heightened? Are you relying on smell or touch?** Tone of voice is a big thing for me - as well as energy and vibe. Accents as well. **Given the journey that you've been on, are there any lessons or insights that you wish that you'd learned earlier? Anything that you wish that you could tell your younger self?** I remember there was a statement which a dance artist said many years ago - in future years, a dancer will need to be a business person as well as an artist. The word business is like swearing at me. I just like to be in the studio, creating, performing. I would have told myself, be prepared for the other stuff. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e8/3f/e83f7e76-af4a-4e9f-a171-931e3df7b588/content/images/2026/08/Ebony-Rose-Dark_Mickel-Smithen_Red-Bower_Bar-Wotever.JPG) Ebony Rose Dark. Photo: Bar Wotever [Naked Men Talking: The PodcastExploring naturism and the power of getting your clothes off.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e8/3f/e83f7e76-af4a-4e9f-a171-931e3df7b588/content/images/icon/favicon-614de51e-5d87-4c90-93ad-637ee866527b.ico)Naked Men TalkingGareth Johnson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e8/3f/e83f7e76-af4a-4e9f-a171-931e3df7b588/content/images/thumbnail/AdobeStock_6338611761-ffd01362-82f0-410f-add3-b3022df2c6b3.jpg)](https://www.gtv.blue/naked-men-talking/)