English National Ballet VIP PEOPLE


English National Ballet

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Everyone craves greatness.

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Everybody likes a winner.

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But success isn't a one-man show.

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Order! Order!

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Behind every star is a team -

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immensely talented, powerful in their own worlds,

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but invisible to us,

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until now.

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These are the stories of the stars

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and the teams who strive to make them shine.

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This is the world of the VIP People.

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DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

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This is Flawless,

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one of the best hardcore street dance crews in the world.

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MUSIC: "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Tchaikovsky

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And these are the dancers from the English National Ballet -

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the ENB - one of the greatest touring companies of Europe.

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They employ only the finest ballerinas.

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Urban dance and ballet are two separate ends of the spectrum,

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total.

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In just six weeks, their two very different worlds,

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of street dance and ballet,

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will come together, for a one-off collaboration.

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It's a massive challenge, not just for the dancers,

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but for the VIP people behind the scenes,

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who make things happen.

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And, with the first night, in front of 4,000 fans...

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..it's kind of appropriate that the show's called

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Against Time.

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Five, six, on the beat.

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There'll be tears.

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I don't really know what to say.

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There'll be fears.

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Whoops!

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We could drop a girl, and we don't want that. That can't happen.

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And there'll be strains.

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Today, in particular, pushed me almost to my limit.

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But will these two dance extremes be able pull off

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the ultimate dance performance challenge?

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I'm actually getting quite scared, now.

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-Hello!

-It's day one, and ENB

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and Flawless have come together, for the first time, to rehearse.

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-You OK?

-Yes.

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The female lead dancer

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is English National Ballet's Alison McWhinney.

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She's been dancing since the age of four,

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and has appeared in 10 shows, but never before as lead.

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Her partner is Leroy, of Flawless.

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Leroy's a former football trainee and dance graduate, who's also

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playing the starring role, for the very first time.

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For the show's stars, Leroy and Alison, to succeed,

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they'll need the support of all their VIP People,

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from the choreographers and composer,

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to the costumer supervisor,

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the Flawless Crew, ENB ballerinas

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and Head of PR.

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Every one of them will need to give 100%

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for this unique collaboration to work.

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Something looks wrong. I think it's your head, it does...

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-It looks awkward. Something about it doesn't quite look right.

-Right.

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So, I can't tell you what that is.

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Alison and I, we've got a nice duet that we're working on.

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It's a love duet. A lovey dovey dovey.

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That doesn't look right, either.

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Can you take it there, and then go back?

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Just see what that looks like.

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'I'm not trained in ballet,

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'but I did train in contemporary for three years.'

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But, for me, I'd say the most challenging part would be

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doing the partnering sequences, and stuff,

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cos it's a lot to do with working with the partner,

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and getting your hands in the right places,

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and making sure she doesn't fall down.

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# Would you make me a cup of tea

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# To open my eyes in the right way? #

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The area I'd like to improve is popping.

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It's hard to get the muscles to react,

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especially when they're so small.

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Oink oink.

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I think, Alison, you need to change. You do need to go de-dum...

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Working closely with Alison and Leroy, are the people

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who are probably under the most pressure out of everyone.

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They came up with the idea of Against Time,

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and need to create every step of every dance,

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in every minute of this performance.

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They are choreographers Jenna and Marlon.

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Their job is to work closely with Leroy and Alison,

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to create the dance moves for the ENB ballerinas

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and the Flawless street dancers,

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and push them all out of their comfort zone.

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That's it, there. Shape that one.

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26-year-old Jenna's been a ballerina

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with the English National Ballet since she was 16,

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but now, as choreographer, this is her big break.

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And for Marlon, this is a huge step up

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from his usual role as a street dancer.

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Neither of them have ever created a 90-minute show

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on this scale before.

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I think to create a show in six weeks is optimistic.

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Ready? Five, six, seven, eight.

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One.

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The first thing for this project was coming up with the script,

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and the narrative, and then you need to start thinking about

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creating movement, creating music, sounds, visuals.

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So, as much as me and Marlon are choreographing, I suppose

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we're directing the show, as well.

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'The success of the show rests on Marlon and Jenna translating

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'their ambitious vision into an incredible live show,

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-'and they've got to do it quick.'

-I think we'll bring it down.

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Right now, we are literally against time.

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Sorry, I just need to check we're in sync with what's happening here,

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could you do that once more?

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The show will flop without the right moves,

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but it's also essential that the dancers are looking good,

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and that's down to the Costume Supervisor

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at the English National Ballet,

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Wizzy Shawyer.

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Wizzy's used to dressing her ballerinas,

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but, on Against Time, she needs to create 73 costumes

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in total, for leads Leroy and Alison,

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and for the rest of Flawless.

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-We're taking a bit more, here.

-Bring it out, yeah.

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Wizzy studied Art and Design at university,

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and her job involves choosing, buying and dying fabrics,

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organising fittings, and coordinating all the costumes.

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In 15 years, she's done nearly 50 productions with the ENB.

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These are some of the costumes we already have set up.

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We've got the maids' costumes, for the maids and butler scene.

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So the ENB girls will be wearing this,

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and the boys will be wearing a kind of butler's outfit.

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We've got a tiny budget for something with this many costumes in it.

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We've still got more fabrics to buy

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and more things to get out to the makers.

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Because she's working with a small budget, hardly any helpers,

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and limited time to do it all,

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there's even greater pressure on Wizzy to create

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fantastic costumes that'll give the production the wow factor.

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Running out of time fast,

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a lot to do, but...looking forward to it,

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and hopefully it'll all be there by first night!

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Back at rehearsals,

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another challenge for the choreographers, Marlon and Jenna,

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is to teach the Flawless boys how to lift and handle the girls safely.

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It can take 12 years to train male ballet dancers to do this,

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Flawless have a tiny fraction of that to master it.

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Partnering is a very specific technique,

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that boys train for years to learn, obviously.

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And, these boys, they have to learn it really quickly.

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It just needs to be done, so that it's safe for me,

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and it's safe for them, and it looks right.

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We are a boy group, as you can see,

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so, now we're learning how to do lifts,

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and handling them, because, obviously,

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the worst-case scenario, would be that we could drop a girl.

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And we don't want that, that can't happen.

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Whoops!

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That would have been good. If we went like that.

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You know...doosh, doosh!

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You don't want that happening. You don't want that.

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Can't have that.

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I mean, if they do drop you, if you land funny,

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if you land badly on your ankle, you could break something,

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-could sprain something.

-Twist an ankle.

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Twist your knee.

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-Jar your back.

-Yeah.

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-Fall on your arm.

-Anything.

-There's a whole lot.

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My ballet teacher, it ended her career, somebody dropping her.

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What? I'm just saying...

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A 90-minute stage show needs a lot of music,

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and finding, composing, and arranging it,

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is the next of our VIP People -

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Musical Director, DJ Walde.

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He's working closely with both the cast and the choreographers,

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to craft a soundtrack which mixes Flawless's urban beats

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with the ENB's classical styles, all in just six weeks.

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# They can last around... #

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Boom, boom, boom, cut. Yeah?

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Classically trained musician and bass player, DJ Walde,

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is a long time collaborator with Flawless,

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but this is his first time working with ballet dancers.

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There's lots of commercial music,

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there's lots of classical music,

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and it's a mix between the two, really.

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We use the music to heighten the drama in the show.

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One of DJ's tracks is for a scene in which three statues come to life,

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but the music has to fit

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Allan, Marlon and Paul's dance moves perfectly,

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so he's mixing it live.

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MUSIC THUDS MECHANICALLY

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He's actually watching what we're doing,

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-and creating it, to make it sound as...precise, as one.

-Yeah.

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MECHANICAL THUDS

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I can't really lie, it's pretty cool.

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Pretty cool, but with time running out, DJ is struggling

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to deliver an amazing soundtrack in time for the first show.

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Meanwhile, the lead pair, Alison and Leroy

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are sussing out each other's dance styles.

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Leroy is really supporting me in doing the hip-hop side

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of the ballet, and, hopefully, I'm helping him out.

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Doing hip-hop, and learning a new style

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has been very hard,

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and my body doesn't want to do it,

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-but I'm trying.

-Awww.

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The rest of the ballet girls

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have a challenge of their own to deal with.

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We're putting our trainers on, now.

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I think we're going to do

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some drills, or something.

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We never wear trainers. We wear...

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these things.

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They're quite different from trainers.

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DUBSTEP MUSIC PLAYS

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The boys really have to break it down

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into, like, baby steps, at a time.

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MUSIC ROBOTICALLY WHIRS

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They'll show us at the beginning what we're going to do today.

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Because they break it down for us,

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bit by bit by bit, it's amazing -

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all the girls are actually doing what they said

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we were going to do, at the beginning.

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-We're getting through it.

-We're getting there.

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With three weeks to go,

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the show is unrehearsed, still changing,

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and they need to sell nearly 60,000 tickets for 33 shows.

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And this is what's worrying Head of PR, Rachel Branton.

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Rachel has to ensure the British public know about

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the unique collaboration

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between Flawless and the English National Ballet,

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and that they want to buy tickets for the 33-date tour.

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I shall e-mail you, as well. OK, thanks, bye.

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Rachel studied music at uni,

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and has been with the ENB for seven years.

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She's good at writing and communication, and started out

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as a marketing assistant,

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before landing her current job in PR.

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Publicity comes in all sorts of different forms.

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You've got print media, so newspapers, television,

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and then there's the radio.

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Our budget's not huge,

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so we can't afford things like side of buses,

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and huge billboards.

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You might think, "Why don't you just get a big billboard

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"outside Waterloo station?"

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Well, it's very, very expensive. We can't afford that.

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So we have to become more creative.

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Hi, Sara, it's Rachel.

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Just wondering if you have a technical schedule yet

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for Flawless.

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The dancers' hard work will have been a complete waste of time

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if no-one turns up for the tour, so the pressure's on Rachel,

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to get the word out about the show.

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At this stage, ticket sales could be better.

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Put it that way, they could be better.

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A week later, and luck seems to be on Rachel's side.

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After loads of e-mailing and phone bashing, she's pulled off

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a massive publicity coup,

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managing to get a big London glossy magazine

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to run a colour feature about the tour.

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It'll be three pages in the magazine,

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and alongside it, there'll be an interview as well.

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It's basically a big feature about the show, to promote it,

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which is great. I'm very excited.

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The light, right here, that will be brought up. Don't worry.

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All the detail's there.

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No, it's fine, honestly.

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Now!

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Doing this is such a good cause, cos they'll just help, you know...

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help the sales and get the awareness out there,

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so everyone knows about this tour.

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And Nathan is also giving up his body for the cause,

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and giving it some extra shine.

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I have to get some oiling. Oh, great.

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It's important, because the light

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needs to catch the body, right?

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Six, seven, eight, one!

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Everyone seems happy, but will the shots be enough

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to get those vital bums on seats?

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With just three weeks to go,

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all the VIP People are battling hard,

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to deliver the music, costumes, choreography and publicity.

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Coming up, Jenna and Marlon get to star on national telly.

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From the outside, looking in, it looks like it might be easy.

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And costume designer, Wizzy, has a major problem on first night.

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They've forgot to book the dressers.

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-Ah!

-That bit might be a problem but we won't worry.

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Wizzy has headed to rehearsals for the crucial first fitting.

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I love it.

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I feel like Neo from The Matrix right now.

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I'm going to have a lot of fun with this jacket onstage.

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I feel a sense of authority.

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Wizzy is disappointed to discover that several of the outfits still

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need more work, and she has little time now to sort out the problems.

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We thought we'd fitted and bought all the varsity jackets for the boys,

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and then today they decided one of them was too tight,

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so we've got to try and send that back and get one in the right size,

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when we'd labelled it up and thought we were there.

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A few little challenges like that.

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Just when you think you've got something sorted

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and then you find a problem and need to change something.

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While Wizzy has new worries to deal with,

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back in Kensington, Rachel heads out to the news stands

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to see if her photo-shoot has made it into the magazine.

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I hope it's in there!

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Wow! That's a very beautiful photo.

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I feel really, really happy. It's exactly what I would have hoped.

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Hopefully people will see it and book some tickets.

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With just 11 days to go,

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the dancers head to a bigger rehearsal space in Kent.

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On the journey there, choreographer Jenna reveals that she's really

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feeling the pressure with the clock ticking down to the first show.

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I think the closer we get, the more problems you get.

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We get into the theatre, some of the set won't work,

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the lighting cues won't be on time

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and hat is part of it as well,

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but it's nerve wracking.

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With so little time left before the first night,

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the pressure is starting to get to the choreographers.

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Five, six, seven, eight.

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DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS

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Ohhh!

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Gave that note, no-one's listening.

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One, two, three, four. Yes, you need to be here by four.

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Sometimes you're a bit late.

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I think that's what throws it. Once more.

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MUSIC: "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

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Everyone's looking happy with the book. It's not meant to be happy.

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It's meant to be more shocking. Let's pass the message on anyway.

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Don't ever call me love.

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Can we try and keep on centre? It's a bit weird, but... Happy?

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And then we exit.

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-They need to retain what we did. Or I'll kill someone.

-Yeah!

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If you pass that note directly on, I will literally kill someone.

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So you've gone, you've flipped back, you've come forward.

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But at least Alison and Leroy's lead partnership

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is showing signs of improvement.

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We're less than two weeks away now so it feels very close,

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feels very...

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I'm always thinking about something about it,

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I can't get my mind off it.

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Four, five, six, seven, eight.

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One, two, three, four, five.

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It's nice to see she's learned so much and she's developed so much.

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It's good of you to say so, Leroy, but what about her street cred?

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Yeah, she's got a bit of street cred now.

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She's getting there, she's getting there.

0:18:520:18:54

Much better than when I first met you.

0:18:540:18:58

It looked a little bit sloppy then and didn't read quite so well.

0:18:580:19:01

Eight, nine, ten.

0:19:010:19:04

I was on the wrong count though, still.

0:19:060:19:09

ALL LAUGH

0:19:090:19:11

-Sometimes our position is a little bit difficult, isn't it?

-Yeah.

0:19:150:19:17

It's great, the connections

0:19:170:19:19

that Flawless and the English National Ballet have made.

0:19:190:19:23

I suppose we have to be the ones sending the discipline sometimes

0:19:230:19:26

and stop the partying.

0:19:260:19:28

-It feels... It's a hard position to be in.

-It's tricky.

0:19:280:19:32

The time that we have for the show is pretty tight.

0:19:320:19:37

-A show like this that we are trying to create is...

-In six weeks.

0:19:370:19:41

In six weeks, it's very tight, yeah.

0:19:410:19:43

So, Gem, you should be on the crack, come further back.

0:19:430:19:46

Back in London, Head of Costume Wizzy is dealing with a new problem.

0:19:500:19:54

Some of the clothes that have been designed for the boys

0:19:540:19:58

aren't suitable for their highly energetic performances.

0:19:580:20:01

The challenges we're facing are they are not really giving enough where they need to,

0:20:010:20:05

because obviously these guys have got very extensive movements

0:20:050:20:08

they've got to achieve.

0:20:080:20:10

HIP HOP MUSIC PLAYS

0:20:100:20:14

Kind of doing incredible body popping

0:20:170:20:19

and head spins and all sorts of incredible things.

0:20:190:20:22

And they just need to have full flexibility of movement.

0:20:240:20:29

There's still a lot to be done.

0:20:290:20:30

I was hoping we'd be a little bit further on by now than we are.

0:20:300:20:34

Struggling to meet the deadline to get one track in particular finished for the show,

0:20:490:20:53

DJ has taken his work home with him.

0:20:530:20:57

This is one of those tracks that it's taking more time than you thought it would take.

0:20:570:21:02

DJ wants every track to be perfect and hates a "make do"

0:21:020:21:05

but this track is complex, so he's adding layers,

0:21:050:21:08

playing with the tempo and refining his beats on the computer

0:21:080:21:11

to try and crack it.

0:21:110:21:12

It's trying to create a track which will reveal the statues as they come to life

0:21:120:21:18

and making a track that they can also dance to as statues.

0:21:180:21:23

With tickets sales still disappointing and time running out,

0:21:270:21:30

PR girl Rachel has another success

0:21:300:21:32

when she books Marlon and Jenna onto Channel 4 News

0:21:320:21:37

and on BBC's Breakfast programme to promote Against Time.

0:21:370:21:39

It's been literally a collaboration,

0:21:390:21:42

so you wouldn't see Flawless on one side

0:21:420:21:44

and English National Ballet on the other,

0:21:440:21:46

we literally fuse the styles together.

0:21:460:21:48

I thought my heart was going to come out of my chest.

0:21:510:21:53

Yeah, that was really scary.

0:21:530:21:55

Yeah, one of them is enough, thanks.

0:21:550:21:57

Let's get back to the dress rehearsal!

0:21:570:22:00

Job done, but will it help with sales?

0:22:000:22:04

-CHRIS MOYLES: Hi, there. It's...

-Friday.

0:22:040:22:06

Sing it, kids!

0:22:060:22:07

LITTLE KID SINGS: # International Radio One. #

0:22:070:22:10

MUSIC: Down With The Trumpets by Rizzle Kicks

0:22:100:22:12

CHRIS MOYLES: Rizzle Kicks, the song number one today.

0:22:120:22:15

It's the day of the first show

0:22:150:22:17

and the dancers arrive at the venue, London's Hammersmith Apollo.

0:22:170:22:20

-Hello.

-It's massive, isn't it, at the front?

0:22:200:22:23

There's a lot of seats to fill.

0:22:230:22:25

# Yo, you might hear me make a racket like Wilson

0:22:250:22:29

# Cos I love summer No Rachel Bilson, yes... #

0:22:290:22:31

The whole kind of realisation's setting in.

0:22:310:22:34

-Yeah.

-That this is actually happening.

0:22:340:22:35

# We're bangin'

0:22:350:22:37

# Chase her boyfriend Let's have him... #

0:22:370:22:39

I'm really excited. I can't even put it into words right now.

0:22:390:22:44

I've got butterflies.

0:22:440:22:45

It's been hard, but, yeah, the day has come.

0:22:450:22:50

# ..My trainers Um, I know a few guys hate us

0:22:500:22:54

# They're as compelling as Neighbours... #

0:22:540:22:55

It's feeling very real now.

0:22:550:22:57

It's lovely to get on stage and see the auditorium.

0:22:570:23:00

Yeah, scared but excited.

0:23:000:23:03

ALARM BELL RINGS

0:23:030:23:06

The last-minute television appearances

0:23:060:23:08

and the glossy magazine article organised by Head of PR Rachel

0:23:080:23:13

have paid off and given a boost to ticket sales,

0:23:130:23:15

so the dancers will perform to a packed house tonight.

0:23:150:23:19

We've seen a real jump in sales

0:23:190:23:22

following the Channel 4 News and BBC Breakfast.

0:23:220:23:26

Two really meaty national news stories.

0:23:260:23:28

I think at least 500 seats have been sold.

0:23:280:23:33

You can't say it's just publicity,

0:23:330:23:35

but I think it has made a big difference.

0:23:350:23:37

Well, that's the tickets sorted,

0:23:390:23:40

but with just hours to go before the curtain goes up,

0:23:400:23:43

costume supervisor Wizzy discovers that nobody has been booked

0:23:430:23:47

to help the dancers switch outfits during the show.

0:23:470:23:51

We've got no dressers, they forgot to book the dressers.

0:23:510:23:55

So it's a little bit nerve wracking but I'm hoping that...

0:23:550:23:58

My girls have stepped in to help out and I'm sure it'll be fine.

0:23:580:24:02

But we'll just have to see how it goes.

0:24:020:24:04

It's just a bit scary to not be able to do a dry run

0:24:040:24:07

before opening night, that's all.

0:24:070:24:09

Today in particular has pushed me almost to my limit.

0:24:090:24:12

It's almost time for the show to begin

0:24:150:24:17

and the cast are trying hard to keep the last-minute nerves at bay.

0:24:170:24:22

Every dancer is definitely soldiering through right now.

0:24:220:24:25

So you've got that pressure.

0:24:250:24:27

Everyone wants the make the show the best it can be.

0:24:270:24:30

I think the most exciting part is when the curtain goes up.

0:24:300:24:32

Definitely the most excitement and the most nervous, everything.

0:24:320:24:37

I want to come out. I just want to get on stage now and just do it.

0:24:370:24:40

For Alison and Leroy, six weeks of hard work

0:24:400:24:43

and the support of their VIP People,

0:24:430:24:46

from the ENB and Flawless dancers to the choreographers,

0:24:460:24:50

the musical director, the costume supervisor and the Head of PR,

0:24:500:24:55

all comes down to this...

0:24:550:24:57

Show time!

0:24:570:24:59

MUSIC PLAYS

0:25:020:25:04

It's amazing because we're not used to that sort of audience,

0:25:150:25:18

cheering while you're dancing.

0:25:180:25:20

Created on a tight budget, Wizzy's collection of amazing costumes

0:25:300:25:35

really impresses the crowd.

0:25:350:25:37

I've been wanting to burst into tears all day

0:25:370:25:39

and I want to burst into tears.

0:25:390:25:41

But, no, really pleased.

0:25:410:25:42

DJ's music score, blends perfectly

0:25:490:25:52

with Marlon and Jenna's inventive choreography.

0:25:520:25:56

I feel relief, joy, exhaustion...

0:25:560:25:59

# Maybe I'm just in love when you wake me... #

0:25:590:26:05

So far the show has gone down a storm with the audience

0:26:050:26:08

but what will they make of Alison and Leroy's romantic pairing?

0:26:080:26:13

# Maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up. #

0:26:130:26:18

They've come a long way since their nervous beginnings,

0:26:200:26:22

just six weeks ago, but through dedication, hard graft

0:26:220:26:27

and the support of their VIP People,

0:26:270:26:29

Alison and Leroy pull off brilliant performances.

0:26:290:26:33

There was a lot of emotions, happiness...

0:26:330:26:36

just being really overwhelmed, really.

0:26:360:26:38

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:26:380:26:40

All the hard work we've put into it, since the beginning,

0:26:550:26:57

it's all paid off.

0:26:570:26:59

Oh... I don't really know what to say.

0:27:030:27:07

-We did it. We did it.

-I know, it was...

0:27:180:27:21

Magical. Yeah, yeah.

0:27:210:27:23

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0:27:470:27:50

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