Arlene Phillips | |
|---|---|
 Phillips in 2009 | |
| Born | (1943-05-22)22 May 1943 (age 82) Prestwich,Lancashire, England |
| Occupation | Choreographer |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Known for |
|
| Notable work | Annie Starlight Express Saturday Night Fever Hot Gossip Loose Women Strictly Come Dancing So You Think You Can Dance We Will Rock You |
| Partner | Angus Ion (1985–present) |
| Awards | Laurence Olivier Award Carl Alan Award |
| Website | arlenephillips |
Dame Arlene PhillipsDBE (born 22 May 1943)[1] is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, former television judge, presenter, and dancer. She reached mainstream fame on television as a judge onStrictly Come Dancing (2004-2008) andSo You Think You Can Dance (2010-2011). She has also achieved success as a stage choreographer on musicals includingStarlight Express (1987),Grease (1993 and 2022),Saturday Night Fever (1998), andGuys and Dolls (2023).
Phillips was born on 22 May 1943 inPrestwich,Lancashire.[2] She has a brother, Ian and a sister, Karen. She attended Broughton Preparatory School,Cheetham Hill, Manchester;[3] Beaver Road Primary School,Didsbury;[3] andManchester Central High School for Girls[3] after passing theeleven plus exam.[3] When Phillips was 15, her mother, who had been suffering fromleukaemia, died aged 43 just before Phillips was due to take her exams.[3]
Phillips originally wanted to be a ballet dancer and began dance classes at the age of three, receiving a grant from the local council to study ballet andtap dance at the Muriel Tweedy School in Manchester after leaving school at 16.[3][4] Her mother had always expressed a desire to dance, which inspired Phillips into pursuing dance professionally.[3]
Phillips is internationally renowned as a choreographer and director of West End and Broadway musicals, but has many other professional credits.[3] In her mid-teens, Phillips moved to London.[5] where she developed her own style of jazz dance, strongly influenced byAmerican Modern Jazz dance popular in London at that time.[5] She went on to teach her style of jazz dance at The Dance Centre, later namedPineapple Dance Studios inCovent Garden,[5] and at theItalia Conti Stage School,[5] so establishing herself as a successful teacher and choreographer.[5]
Phillips was assistant choreographer on the 1982 filmAnnie[5] and the promotional video for theDuran Duran songThe Wild Boys, named Best British Video at the 1985BRIT Awards.[5] In the summer of 1996, she was stage director on the opening run ofMichael Flatley's Irish dance show,Lord of the Dance atDublin'sPoint Theatre.[6]
Phillips choreographed the2002 Commonwealth Games opening and closing ceremonies[5] alongside fellow Mancunian,David Zolkwer.[7]
From 2004 to 2008, she was a judge on theBBC One showStrictly Come Dancing,[5] and commented on the acts inEurovision: Your Country Needs You for the BBC in 2009.[5] In 2008, she created, produced, and choreographed theITV television serialBritannia High.[5]
Following Phillips's appearance onYour Country Needs You, she choreographed the performance of theUnited Kingdom in theEurovision Song Contest 2009.[8] She went on to choreographEngelbert Humperdinck's performance of the UK entry in the2012 contest in Baku.[9]
In March 2013, Arlene appeared onLet's Dance For Comic Relief in the Dance Judge Panel withGreg James andLee Mack.[10]
In Britain, Phillips first became ahousehold name as the director and choreographer ofHot Gossip, a British dance troupe which she formed in 1974.[3] The group's performances were considered risqué at the time.[11][12] Hot Gossip spent two years performing in a London night club where Phillips and her manager developed the group's dance act.[3]
Phillips was a member of the inaugural judging panel between 2004 and 2008 for theBBC television seriesStrictly Come Dancing, alongside fellow judgesLen Goodman,Craig Revel Horwood, andBruno Tonioli.[5][13]
In 2005 and 2006, Phillips was a judge for the spin-off seriesStrictly Dance Fever, which was also created by the BBC to seek dancers wishing to join the chorus of a West End musical.[5] Later in 2007, she created and judged another BBC dance series,DanceX, a show formed to find a new commercial dance act. After the initial audition process, the competitors were split into two troupes of dancers, with Phillips mentoring one troupe and the other being mentored by her fellowStrictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli. The two troupes competed live on television each week, with Tonioli's troupe being the eventual winners.[5]
After the close of the 2008 series ofStrictly Come Dancing, the BBC announced that several changes would be made to refresh the show in 2009.[14] This led to a great deal of speculation in the media that Phillips might be dropped from the judging panel, but the BBC refused to respond to reports. They finally confirmed the news at the launch of their autumn schedule on 9 July 2009:[14] she was replaced by former Strictly winnerAlesha Dixon.[14] The news led to much criticism being directed towards the BBC for its apparent discrimination against older women on television; the BBC, however, strongly denied this.[14][15]
The replacement of Phillips led to an unprecedented intervention from the thenMinister for Women and Equality,Harriet Harman.[15] During a session in theHouse of Commons, Harman responded to questions stating that she believed the decision to drop Arlene Phillips was motivated by age discrimination, and called on the BBC to ensure that she would be taking part in the new series.[15] The BBC did not formally respond to Harman's request, but repeated its comments that the decision was not due to age.[15]
In October 2009, Phillips appeared on the first episode of the 38th series of the satirical showHave I Got News for You.[13] Between April and July 2010, she made nine guest panellist appearances on ITV's flagship showLoose Women.[13]
In 2007, Phillips became the Executive Producer and Creative Director for the ITV television seriesBritannia High. The show was a fictional drama about the lives of six students at a London performing arts school. Based on an idea by Phillips and West End producerDavid Ian, the series was marketed as the UK's answer toDisney'sHigh School Musical. The show's music was created and written by hit songwriter, andTake That frontman,Gary Barlow.[6]
Phillips has also been a judge on the UK version ofSo You Think You Can Dance?. The show's original creatorNigel Lythgoe is head judge on the series, and Phillips is joined on the panel by pop singerLouise Redknapp, and dancer and choreographerSisco Gomez. Phillips's appointment as judge for the series came soon after the controversy over her departure fromStrictly Come Dancing. The first episode aired onBBC One in January 2010, and a second series in 2011.[13]
In July 2017, Phillips announced a dance gala to raise funds for those affected by theGrenfell Tower fire.[16] The Gala for Grenfell took place on 30 July 2017 at theAdelphi Theatre, London and included stars fromStrictly Come Dancing,The Royal Ballet and SirMatthew Bourne's New Adventures company. Phillips said of the dancers taking part "They’re just doing it as themselves because each of the dancers is giving a gift and I want you to see them, and that they’re doing it for the love".[17] The proceeds from the event went to the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation, the charity running the Grenfell Tower Fund.[17]
In 2017, Phillips embarked on a UK-wide spoken word tour, in conversation with Jacquie Storey.[18]
In 2017, Phillips was a presenter on theBBC One seriesHolding Back the Years.[19]
In November 2021, Phillips at the age of 78 became the oldest ever contestant to appear onITV'sI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.[20] The record was formerly held byStanley Johnson who took part in the17th series of the show at the age of 77.[20] Phillips participated inseries 21 of the show and was the first celebrity eliminated.[21]
On 20 February 2022, Phillips joinedITV'sDancing on Ice as a guest Judge for Musicals week.
On 10 October 2024, Phillips joined Toys[22] as the executive co-producer.[23] Phillips said at the time "I’ve been involved with Toys for many years, with the super talented and much missed Phil Edwards. I am delighted that Paul Morrissey and I can start the adventure of Toys coming to life and I’m thrilled to be producing this show with him." Toys only played for a short period with one reviewer writing "Although the story is a bit challenging to follow and there is lots of exposition to digest, there’s also lots of heart and thoughtful life lessons about the value of toys as therapeutic tools as well as playthings."[24]
Phillips was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2001 Birthday Honours,Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2013 New Year Honours for services to dance and charity,[25] andDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the2021 Birthday Honours for services to dance and charity.[26][27]
Phillips has been in a relationship with Angus Ion, a set builder, since 1985. The couple first met on the set of the music video for theFreddie Mercury song "I Was Born to Love You".[13]
In 2010, Phillips wrote a series of children's fiction books.Alana Dancing Star is a series of six books, in which the title character explores different genres of dance. The series coversballroom dance,samba,hip-hop,Bollywood, Broadway, andtango. In summer 2011, one of the books,Viennese Waltz, was selected to be part ofRichard and Judy's Summer Children's Reading List.[3]
| Year | Title | UK Chart Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Keep in Shape System with Arlene Phillips | No. 41[28] |
| 1984 | Keep in Shape System Volume 2 | No. 100[28] |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 41st Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Starlight Express Broadway | Nominated | [33] |
| 1994 | 1994 Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Theatre Choreographer | Grease (musical)Dominion Theatre | Nominated | [30] |
| 1999 | 1999 Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Theatre Choreographer | Saturday Night Fever (musical)London Palladium | Nominated | [30] |
| 2006 | The Theatre Carl Alan Awards | Outstanding Services Award | Career achievement | Won | [34] |
| 2023 | 2023 WhatsOnStage Awards | Best Choreography | Grease,Dominion Theatre | Won | [35] |
| 2023 | 2023 Laurence Olivier Awards | Special Recognition award | Career achievement | Won | [6][36] |
| 2024 | 2024 Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Theatre Choreographer | Guys and Dolls (2023),Bridge Theatre | Won | [32] |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |