Depending on who you ask, Dougherty was either a determined young adult or suffered from delusions of grandeur…
He only saw his future in mythic proportions. He was going to be the iconic success story – school failure turned CEO. However, Dougherty did not want to have to travel far to get to work, so this dream would have to be achieved within the convenience of his local Coles. He joined the supermarket as a shelf-stacker because, in his words, the position was both “ripe with upwards mobility and within walking distance.”
To his credit, he was actually correct. Coles was going to be the birthplace of his success, but a success beyond what he could have ever dream. Since it was there, he discovered his talent for dance.
“It started as just like a twitch. I would instinctively just move to the radio. A little head nod, a bop or two. Nothing crazy… you know, just feeling out the rhythm. Innocent enough. But little did I known, I was infected.. infected with the jitter bug.
The longer I worked… the greater spread of the infection … the more my routines evolved.
Before long I was busting out the Macarena in the salsa sections, whipping out a Nutbush in the savoury snacks section and flexing a sprinkler in the hose sections. It was so natural… so real. I just couldn’t help myself. I had to dance.”
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Then came the turning point, when dance went from just a hobby to a very real and legitimate future – an epiphany ushered in by the voice of Celine Dion.
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“On that shift, I was touched by an angel… knighted by a Canadian Queen… sung to by Miss Celine Dion. Her voice triggered something within in me. Something deep. Something primal. I lost control of my own body. I was just a vessel for her bidding. I loved it. I loved her.
The dance I performed was nothing short of perfect. It was a hand jazzing, feet tapping, ass twerking work of poetry. Never has, or will, an interpretative dance look so good.
I distinctly remember turning around to my co-workers once the song had finished. I expected looks of annoyance, what I got was tears of joy. There was not a dry eye in the house. Either someone had just cut the world’s biggest onion or I had just done something incredible. It was at that point I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to move people with my moves.”
Edward Royle 