BWW Interviews: DIRTY DANCING Associate Choreographer Glenn Wilkinson

Dirty Dancing steps back into the limelight at the Piccadilly Theatre this month after a two-year absence from London.

Associate choreographer Glenn Wilkinson, who's been associated with the show for around five years, says the new West End version will be different from the tour.

"It's a chance to re-look at it and re-invent it, in many ways," he says, "and hopefully make it better, which I think we've managed to do - it's much smoother, much tighter, more clear, and more theatrical."

It's an interesting observation, because Dirty Dancing is such a well-loved movie, doesn't taking away some of the filmic qualities make it less what audiences want to see?

"When you've got a movie camera, that can direct the action and show you what you want to see. Trying to do that in a theatre is a very different process. We certainly try to direct your eye more and focus on the story," he says.

"Our audience is fanatical - they LOVE Dirty Dancing. There are some classic moments in the movie, when she's in the water, when they're on the log, you can't change that - you can't get away from that. All the famous stuff is still in there - we've not disappointed anybody on the tour so far!"

Wilkinson's proud of the power and cachet the show's name has to attract new people into the theatre, and is relaxed about the necessarily high standards of choreography he needs to maintain.

"If you watch the movie, you don't see a lot of dancing - you see a lot of close-ups and get a sense of a lot of dancing," he explains. "You need to make it into a huge picture - you can't create the sort of intimacy they have in the film. So I try my best!"

He's very complimentary about Paul Michael Jones (Johnny), a trained ballroom dancer ("fantastic"), and Jill Winternitz (Baby).

"She has that lovely sense of naivety about her when Johnny tries to teach her to dance," he says, recalling other casts where he's had to help leading ladies out of their good dancing habits to play the novice performer.

"Some of the covers are professionally-trained dancers, just because of the make-up of the show. That's difficult - you need to have this progression of seeing someone learn to do things and get better, otherwise the last scene isn't exciting. It's actually much harder than getting someone who isn't a natural dancer and working with them!"

He enjoys that challenge. "It's interesting, and exciting. How do I make this person understand it? I can't use dance language. I have to find new ways to explain it. It's a completely different way of working with somebody."

And he and the rest of the company are excited to return to London.

"There are a couple of dance shows leaving town in the next few months, so it's a great time for another dance-orientated show to be coming back. It'll be a great time."

Dirty Dancing opens on July 13.

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