Gillian Lynne

Series

Series Name: The Pacemakers

Issue

Issue No.

Date Released

1969

Stories in this Issue:

1Gillian Lynne

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 1

Summary

COI synopsis: Gillian Lynne is a choreographer, she designs movements to music. Trained in classical ballet, she became a star of the prestigious Royal Ballet, but felt that the disciplines of classical technique were too limiting. So she launched out into dancing in stage musicals, revues, and films, and it wasn’t long before her restless energy was getting her commissions in choreography too. Today she is a 40 year old who looks as if she’s going on 28, who can still outdance most of her dancers. She works across the dance barriers, barriers which she ignores as being irrelevant. Classical, modern classical television work, feature films (Half a Sixpence for instance), Gillian Lynne works in them all, one of the few who do. Our film shows Gillian Lynne preparing a serious ballet with a score by jazz composer Dudley Moore, for a television performance. Through the course of the day she drives her dancers, changes her mind, demonstrates, cajoles, directs cameras. We see the grinding hard work that makes up the world of a successful choreographer.

Keywords

Performing arts; Television

Written sources

COI Catalogue Cards [BFI National Archive]
Viewing Copy - BFI National Archive
COI Microfilm Roll 16 [BFI National Archive] Used for synopsis

COI Reference

MI 1461/2

Credits:

Sponsor: Central Office of Information (COI)
Sponsor: Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Director: Robert Morgan

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name: British Film Institute (BFI)
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Notes: The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).
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Record Stats