Early life
While Knox was born and schooled in York Region north of Toronto, she would spend several months out of the year in her childhood in Northern Ontario and call it home. Known for her intelligence and sense of adventure, she could be found catching creatures or walking into the wilderness. By the age of three, Knox was placed in ballet classes, and her love for dance and its training would quickly flourish. By age 6, she enrolled at The Stouffville DanceCentre under the tutelage of Michele Green (the co-founder of Saskatchewan Dance Theatre) with focuses on RAD syllabus ballet, Graham technique and tap.
Pre-Professional training
As Knox entered high school, Michele Green would sell The DanceCentre to Deborah Radbourne, where Knox would continue her studies and begin training in jazz, musical theatre and hip hop. She would also start teaching children at The DanceCentre at this time.
Knox would successfully audition for the Arts York Dance Program at Unionville High School, studying ballet and modern dance under Gabrielle Blair (London Ballet), Wendy Chiles (School of Toronto Dance Theatre), Laurie Marks and Deborah Radbourne. During her time in Arts York, take part not only in student and faculty choreographed works, but would perform choreography by Robert McCollum (“Ballet Bob”, Canada’s National Ballet School), Sharon B. Moore, Motus O Dance Theatre and Roberto Campanella.
Upon graduating high school, Knox would continue her training at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) in their performance dance program. Knox would endure extensive study under program director and former National Ballet of Canada principle Nadia Potts. Other notable instructors and choreographers Knox has the honour of working with included Karen Duplisea, Kenny Pearl, Christopher House, Louis Laberge-Cote, Allen Kaeja, Robert Glumbek, Johanna Bergfeldt, Darryl Tracy, Vicki St. Denys, Derek Sangster, Robin Calvert and Stelio Calagias. Knox would complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and graduate in 2008.
Early Career
Knox would hit the ground running after undergrad and begin auditioning, doing 3-7 auditions a week for nearly 2 years. Her first stage appearances would be doing musicals with Curtain Call Players in Toronto and regular touring with Motus O Dance Theatre based in Stouffville. In 2009, Knox was recruited by Laura Furtado, and began doing corporate entertainment in clubs, lounges and at high profile events as a cabaret dancer with Furtado’s company DivaGirl Entertainment. Additionally, Knox would continue developing her teaching career at studios such as Ovation Performance Arts Academy, City Dance Corps, Metro Movement, Millennium Dance Complex (Toronto location), as well as within the Toronto District School Board with dance organizations like Kaeja d’Dance and through the City of Toronto.
Like many young and emerging artists, Knox was hungry for any and every experience as a working dancer. This was a period of frequent rejection, as is the nature of the industry. But when an offer was made, Knox seldom said “no” to a job. This led her to be involved in a diverse variety of projects and begin gaining a broad spectrum of experiences outside the title of “dancer”.
“I would audition well in the room, but it took me years to truly figure out why I didn’t get booked for some jobs. I know in hindsight it was because I stood out too much and had the potential to upstage as part of an ensemble. But I was also a quick study who knew how to adapt my movement to suit someone’s style. I wasn’t always the first hire, but I was often the final hire after someone got injured or had to leave a project.”
This dependability and ability to adapt would ensure regular work for Knox, and teach her many of the skills that would position her in more administrative and productions roles as her performance career progressed. This became especially prevalent in her extensive work in event entertainment. As she began to take on more responsibility outside the role of talent, Knox began seeing herself in more management and leadership positions off stage.
Burlesque
She happened upon burlesque by accident when she auditioned for Sophie Luxton and was taken on to do shows at Second City in Toronto in 2009. Not only would Knox be onboarded by DivaGirl for event entertainment, but she would be recruited by international showgirl Coco Framboise, who Knox would view as a mentor.
After winning a competition to become one of Carla Catherwood's "Bombshell Beauties" in 2011, Knox met Pastel Supernova and became one of the original members of Love Letters Cabaret from 2012 to 2017. It was at this time the persona of Knox Harter would finally be developed as a burlesque artist. Knox began searching for work as a burlesque performer. One of the first producers Knox would work with was Red Herring, making appearances as kitten and debuting new acts on stages like Reveal Me at the Rivoli. Once learning about her teaching experience, Red would collaborate with Knox to help found the Toronto School of Burlesque and build out the studio’s programming. (Knox would leave the school 9 months later due to a toxic work environment).
Knox approached her burlesque career the same as she did her dance career, which she was still pursuing in tandem. She took every opportunity afforded, making her way through every corner of the burlesque community both locally and abroad. Knox has worked with Great Canadian Burlesque, Peepshow TO, Nerd Girls Burlesque, The Lovers Cabaret, Platinum Productions, The Femme Rebelles, Nuvo Burlesque/Army of Sass, and performed in Montreal, Vancouver, England and Germany. She has performed in numerous festivals including the London Burlesque Festival (UK), Ottawa Burlesque Festival, Capital Tease Expo, Montreal Bagel Expo, Montreal Burlesque Festival and the Toronto Burlesque Festival. In 2018, Knox was the producer and curator for one of the Toronto Burlesque Festival's shows called "Spellbound", with audiences praising Knox’s unique and memorable approach to the show’s curation.
High Society Cabaret was founded by co-artistic director Belle Epoque in July of 2012 at Jezebel (last known as Ballet on Ossington in Toronto). Belle’s goal was to create a cabaret company that would perform regularly in venues and for clients in the decadence of vintage aesthetics. In High Society Cabaret’s second season, Knox, who had been dancing with the company since its creation, became artistic director and resident choreographer. With Knox on board, High Society Cabaret deviated from a variety show cabaret format to incorporate story arcs and specific themes into their one hour productions housed at Parlour on at Adelaide and John. As shows became too big for their home venue, High Society Cabaret began working with Revival Nightclub in the heart of Little Italy, performing their first scripted full length production, written by Knox in November 2016. Knox has written, choreographed, directed and produced 7 full length, multidisciplinary productions between 2016 and 2019. The only vintage cabaret of its kind in Toronto, High Society Cabaret aims to provide top tier entertainment. Performances are designed to stimulate the senses from every angle. The dancers move through the crowd, selecting guests to participate in the action on stage, creating an interactive and immersive atmosphere. The high energy, inspiring performances aim for the authenticity of any era, modernised for a current audience.
Mayfly Creative Prodcutions
Like many artists and event creators, Knox’s work came to a screeching halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, unlike many artists, she saw this as an opportunity to re-start her career fresh. Knox began rediscovering her creativity in burlesque through Onlyfans and Patreon account, diving into her artistry with vintage aesthetics and stripteases, while learning the finer points of content creation, marketing and sales. As the pandemic began to lift, Knox decided to go back to school for Event and Venue Management at the Trebas Institute, graduating in 2023 with an academic achievement award.
During her time at Trebas, Knox began building the groundwork for Mayfly Creative Productions. Mayfly would soft launch in November 2023 with their regular first booking at My House in the Junction. By the following March, Mayfly would begin monthly shows at Super Wonder Gallery, including the bi-monthly episodic series The Menagerie. By October 2025, Mayfly would begin transitioning to their current location out of Two of Hearts Wedding Chapel.
Currently...
Not only is Knox the owner and artistic director of Mayfly Creative Productions, but she is the Toronto location manager and lead instructor at Rouge Studio of Dance. Additionally, Knox has started The Unwritten Stage - a documentation project centred around the history and legacy of burlesque in Toronto.
Knox continues to advocate and build for burlesque in Toronto, striving to welcome as many people as possible into the artform she loves, whether as a performer, an advocate, an administrator or a patron. Knox believes burlesque is an artform for everyone and labours to build a thriving and sustainable ecosystem.
