Interview: Arlene Phillips

2:09pm Friday 29th August 2008

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THE original dance musical, Flashdance, is coming to Manchester next week, and who better to choreograph it than dance’s queen of mean Arlene Phillips.

LONG before Arlene Phillips made her name as the acid-tongued judge on Strictly Come Dancing, she was herself a dancer and a much-respected choreographer in the field.

And she’s getting back to her roots with a role choreographing a new production of Flashdance, coming to Manchester’s Palace Theatre from September 8.

“Flashdance was brilliant to choreograph,” said Arlene. “It’s all Eighties’ dance moves, which of course I know a lot about.

“As well as having all of the original songs to choreograph we had a lot of new music as well which was just fantastic. It was about re-creating the original dance from the film and updating it with a lot of new stuff as well.”

Stars of the show include Bruno Langley (Coronation Street), Bernie Nolan (The Bill, Brookside), Noel Sullivan (Hear’Say) and Victoria Hamilton-Barrit as Alex.

Although Bruno and Noel are not trained dancers, Arlene said it wasn’t a problem.

“Bruno has a big musical number and he has a fantastic voice but it’s done like a music video with him singing and the dancers performing behind him so he doesn’t dance.

“Noel’s role does not require him to dance either. A lot of the dancing is done by Alex, the main character, and by the ensemble in the street. Even if Noel and Bruno were trained dancers their roles wouldn’t actually require them to dance so it’s worked out well.”

Arlene was responsible for all the dance and movement on the stage.

“The way I work is to go into a room with the music and work through it coming up with ideas. Sometimes I look at magazines for ideas but mostly they come from my head.”

She believes Flashdance is so popular because it’s about triumph against adversity.

“It’s about achieving success when everything is against you,” said Arlene. “People are drawn to it because it’s a musical about overcoming adversity and about living the dream.”

After Flashdance Arlene’s next big project is the new series of Strictly Come Dancing, coming to our screens soon.

“I’m looking forward to the new series so much,” said Arlene. I can’t wait.

“Every year I look forward to it more and more. It’s like a big family that has a yearly reunion. There’s no question that the show has made more people interested in dancing; watching dancing, studying dance and going to dance lessons. It has put dancing on the map.”

But she won’t be drawn to comment on the contestants for the 2008 show.

But one thing she is sure of is that she’s going to give as good as she gets if her male co-hosts get cheeky.

“I’m the only woman judge on the show, which is fun. Len can be a bit rude sometimes. He’s definitely the classic unreconstructed male. I’m going to teach him a thing or two this time though.”

l Flashdance: The Musical at Manchester Palace Theatre from Monday to Saturday, September 8 to 13. For tickets call 0844 847 2275.