DANCE

Jude Harrison, 2nd Assistant Director says . . .

I recently worked as 2nd Assistant Director on the film “Joe Maddison’s War” in Newcastle – the film is set in 1945 and I had the rather daunting task of finding dancers for two key days of filming. This would involve about 40 dancers to cover a number of scenes and dance styles including Swing, Waltz + Foxtrot.
I was fortunate to discover  the “Lindy Jazz” group on the internet and made contact with dance teacher Joo - Lee Stock who invited me to one of their dance rehearsals.  Joo – Lee was incredibly helpful and supportive of the proposed filming and along with her dance partner, Andy, was obviously a very talented teacher.

I signed up some dancers that evening – but I had so many restrictions with regard to hair length and colour because this was a period piece! Unfortunately, because of this, I had to reject many talented and enthusiastic dancers. However, Joo – Lee assured me that she would be able to find more dancers to fit the profile.

As the filming dates drew nearer, Joo – Lee and I were in frequent contact with each other, making all the necessary arrangements (which is rarely straight forward in the filming world) At one point we had everything sorted and then the filming schedule changed and all the dates were altered!

Prior to the filming Joo - Lee rehearsed her dancers (in their own time) with the music we provided, and then the day before the shoot we held an official rehearsal day which involved the Lindy Jazz dancers and also other supporting artistes from the film. Along with our main choreographer, Joo – Lee and the Lindy Jazz dancers rehearsed all the numbers and taught the relevant dance steps to the other supporting artistes.

The filming days were a triumph and the director was very happy with the result of all the hard work and preparation.  I certainly hope to have an opportunity to work again with Joo – Lee Stock and her fantastic dance team. I was very impressed with the professionalism of the service they provided, from the initial meeting through to the day of filming. I can highly recommend Joo – Lee Stock and Lindy Jazz to anyone seeking to recreate the dance styles of that period.  I can’t thank them enough for their huge contribution to our film.