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You know what they say: it\u2019s not what you know in life, but who. Or, in Arlene Phillips\u2019s case, a bit of both. She\u2019d moved from her native Manchester to London in her early 20s and began teaching at the Dance Centre. The gods were clearly smiling on her. \u201cA choreographer I knew,\u201d she says, \u201ctold me a contact of hers was looking for someone to live in, clean the house and help look after his baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
That contact turned out to be Ridley Scott who went on to direct a slew of hit films \u2013 Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator among them \u2013 but, at that point, was shooting TV adverts. She got the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he then discovered I was a dance teacher he employed me to choreograph a commercial he was making for Lyons Maid ice cream featuring Miriam Margolyes as a dancing milkmaid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arlene Phillips was on her way.<\/p>\n
Six decades later, she is sitting in a hotel in London\u2019s Swiss Cottage over a bowl of porridge and an Americano, talking about her latest project, House of Flamenka, with her customary enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
Back in the day, Arlene choreographed Scott\u2019s 1985 dark fantasy film Legend, starring a 23-year-old Tom Cruise: \u201cHe was very intense, very focused on his work. Even then you got the feeling you were working with a potential huge star.\u201d<\/p>\n
By this stage, Arlene herself had become the go-to choreographer for TV, videos and films. In the 1970s she\u2019d noticed all the dancers on TV shows were squeaky clean: \u201cAnd yet, something quite different was happening on the streets, in clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n
She assembled a group of dancers and dressed them in dyed lingerie and stretch nylon fitted dresses.<\/p>\n
And so Hot Gossip was born.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Arlene Phillips addresses ‘feud’ with Strictly co-stars<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThey were sexy, dangerous and naughty.\u201d But success took a little time coming. They danced once a week at a club in London before a TV director spotted them and put them in ITV\u2019s Kenny Everett Video Show. Their fame exploded, with TV campaigner Mary Whitehouse calling for them to be banned.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fit with Kenny could not have been better,\u201d says Arlene.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was already on the danger list when it came to saying risque things. He used to refer to Hot Gossip as the \u2018naughty bits\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cOn camera he was out there, outrageous, fearless. In private he was quite different \u2013 sweet, gentle, shy, always caring to those around him he felt he could trust. He only flaunted himself on screen.\u201d<\/p>\n As it turned out, Terry Jones was a big fan of Hot Gossip. \u201cAnd he was also pretty outrageous in his own way. He was the first person to take me to a sex club.\u201d<\/p>\n When Terry was asked to direct Monty Python film The Meaning of Life, he turned to Arlene for the choreography. \u201cHe, Eric Idle and Michael Palin were passionate about the project. Only John Cleese held back. He was perfectly polite but always rather distant.\u201d<\/p>\n She choreographed the Python crew again in 2014 when they played 10 sold-out shows at London\u2019s O2 arena. \u201cAnd I got to dance with them in the finale in front of 16,000 people. Amazing!\u201d In 1984 she was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to choreograph Starlight Express, his musical on roller skates.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d do anything for that man,\u201d says Arlene. \u201cHe\u2019s a genius who took my career to another place.\u201d<\/p>\n He famously has a short fuse.<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God! He\u2019d erupt a hundred times a day, but then he\u2019s passionate. His emotions turn on a sixpence. I became quite good at talking him down off the ledge.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> \u201cAnd no one has achieved more in the history of musical theatre.<\/p>\n \u201cThink Phantom. Cats. They\u2019ll last for ever.\u201d Starlight Express will return to the London stage next year in a new production.<\/p>\n Arlene has similar admiration for Elton John for whom she choreographed many videos. Look carefully at the dancers in the video for I\u2019m Still Standing, filmed at the Negresco Hotel in Nice, and you\u2019ll spot a youthful Bruno Tonioli.<\/p>\n She has been involved in a range of productions. Director Nicholas Hytner, for example, invited her to choreograph the music and movement scenes in Alan Bennett\u2019s play Allelujah!, set in a hospital and care home.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was an interesting challenge. I chose the Palais Glide, a dance sequence from the 30s, which made me cry it was so moving. It made Alan cry, too, but then he loves music.\u201d<\/p>\n She worked more recently with Hytner again, on the hit revival of Guys And Dolls. \u201cIt\u2019s a thrilling show. Someone said to me recently it\u2019s better than medicine. They\u2019re right \u2013 it should be on the NHS!\u201d<\/p>\n Next up is House of Flamenka\u2026 After a successful short run last year it is returning to London\u2019s Peacock Theatre. Arlene first fell in love with flamenco many years ago when she was choreographing the non-flamenco sections of a show called Matador.<\/p>\n So when producer David Shepherd asked her two decades later to devise a show based on the famous dance, she didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n This one has renowned dancer Karen Ruimy as a feisty nighxtclub owner surrounded by 16 male dancers \u2013 eight English contemporary, eight Spanish flamenco \u2013 around which the sliver of a story revolves. \u201cThis time round,\u201d says the inexhaustible Arlene, \u201cthere\u2019ll be more sass, more sex, more style. It\u2019s terribly exciting. I call it beautiful nonsense.\u201d She passes seamlessly from one project to the next, totally oblivious, it seems, to the fact she celebrated her 80th birthday in May.<\/p>\n She certainly doesn\u2019t look it: a pretty, petite woman with seemingly boundless vitality.<\/p>\n But, for all her acclaim as a choreographer, she is still best known for those years as a judge on Strictly before her controversial sacking in 2009. To this day, she says, people still stop her in the supermarket and tell her how much they minded her removal from the panel.<\/p>\n So, how does she feel about it?<\/p>\n \u201cOh, it\u2019s fine. That was then and this is now.\u201d And does she still watch the show? \u201cI dip in and out. I think Anton Du Beke has really found his feet as a judge.\u201d<\/p>\n A great sadness for Arlene, as for many, was the unexpected passing in April of Len Goodman, Strictly\u2019s former head judge.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a dear, dear friend and I still talk to his wife, Sue, a very special person.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know he was ill. Bruno knew because they worked together judging Dancing With the Stars, the American version of Strictly. So, it came as a terrible shock because he always seemed so strong and fit.\u201d<\/p>\n So, what\u2019s next? \u201cI love working. It\u2019s part of my DNA. But I\u2019m soon going to do something I haven\u2019t done for years and years.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m taking time off over Christmas to enjoy being a grandmother to my two granddaughters.\u201d<\/p>\n
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