Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Muppets creator Jim Henson’s classic fantasy film Labyrinth, Lighthouse shows the film on Saturday 28 February and hosts a special ‘in concert’ screening on Thursday 30 April accompanied by a live band in an unashamedly nostalgic experience for generations of fans. But for one member of the audience, it will be especially memorable…
It was a cold morning in early 1984, and professional dancer Janis Mackintosh found herself at The Dance Centre in Covent Garden ready to audition for a job she knew little about.
A member of the storied Norman Maen Dancers in the 1960s and 1970s, at the top of her profession for nearly 20 years Janis regularly performed on stage and screen alongside the biggest stars of the day – from Tom Jones, Bruce Forsyth, Gene Kelly, and Bing Crosby; to Peter Sellers, Julie Andrews, Sacha Distel and Olivia Newton John.
“They were wonderful times – I was fortunate enough to enjoy regular work that was interesting, demanding and amazingly enjoyable,” she says.
“It was the excitement of creating a new era of dance with a choreographer we revered and admired and I was privileged to be his assistant for 12 years. He was one of my dearest and closest friends – he died in 2008 and is greatly missed.”
Things change though and, like all freelance performers, by the 1980s Janis was facing a thin patch and putting out feelers for the next job.
“We’d been working in Holland with American star Mike Burstyn and as that job was coming to an end, a colleague, Roy Jones – who was assistant to Gillian Lynne – told me about partnering him in a tango for an Esso commercial. That didn’t happen, but he tipped me off about the audition at The Dance Centre – Jim Henson wanted to see some dancers.”
Sure enough, Muppets creator Jim Henson and puppeteer/actor Frank Oz met the dancers and directed them to line up with men on one side of the room and women on the other.
“They wanted to see our powers of seduction at work so each of us was asked to entice one guy on the other side of the room and get that person to come over, but we weren’t allowed to say anything.
“Then some of us were sent to wait downstairs in the coffee bar. They left us there for an hour and a half before they came and told us the job was Labyrinth, a film with David Bowie. They said it wouldn’t start for three months, but that we had to commit to it right away and keep the time clear as they were going to spend a lot of money on costumes for us.
“That turned out well – we were paid each time we went for a costume fitting!”
Janis and the other dancers had been hired to appear in the pivotal masquerade ball scene near the end of the film in which the Goblin King (David Bowie) dances with the film’s main character Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) who is on a quest to rescue her brother. It was a week’s work at Elstree, nearly all of it in costume.
“Canadian choreographer Cheryl McFadden had the most difficult job and she tried out several potential dance figures to ensure that the star couple was always central to the action. This meant putting the 16 dance couples into four lines and creating a combination of travelling steps with turning dance figures.
“As Cheryl had to look at various camera shots and give the dancers their instructions without the help of an assistant on the floor, she appointed certain couples like my partner Barry and I to lead the direction of the travelling and turning combinations to ensure that the star couple was always the central focus.
“Then, Cheryl, Jim Henson and Frank Oz could look at six or seven versions with David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly as well as the extras and stunt people to decide on what they wanted performed to David Bowie’s specially written song in 4/4 time. The effect using mirrors in a ballroom filled with a multitude of masked dancers created a wonderful finale to the quest with the shattering of the magic bubble.”
As ever in rehearsals, actors and dancers bonded during the lengthy periods of waiting.
“We were called at 6am for makeup and to get into costume, and of course all of us wore masks and wigs, but we weren’t allowed to sit down in our costumes, so they brought in metal frames for us to lean on between takes! David was ever so funny, keeping everyone’s spirits up, quipping and telling stories.”
The day the final scene was filmed happened to be the day that Janis was due to sit her German A-level. Filming couldn’t be delayed, but neither could the exam. Remarkably, Janis got permission to bring her German tutor with her to the set before finally sitting the exam late that evening at the tutor’s house.
“Oh, she was absolutely fascinated. Of course, for the dancers and crew, it was simply what we did for a living, but my tutor was very taken with what was going on. It was quite a day though… and I passed the exam!”
The story is typical of the talent and determination that have driven Janis from the age of four when she decided she had to be a dancer.
“I grew up in the industrial town of Clydebank in the harsh years of the post war 1950s yet I enjoyed an idyllic childhood in a wonderful family and as an only child, I was encouraged to follow my ambition.”
Which led to the invitation to join Norman Maen’s handpicked group at ATV in London where he developed new forms of jazz dance based on a strong classical technique that would change the quality of dance on television in the UK.
Now living in Dorchester, Janis has a treasure trove of memories and keepsakes, not only of her dancing days, but also as a choreographer, director, teacher and academic.
“Yes, I’ve enjoyed a full and wonderful life with many highlights, so it will be lovely to be reminded of some of them at the screening of Labyrinth.”
:: Labyrinth (40th Anniversary) (U), Saturday 28 February, 7pm, Cinema
:: Labyrinth In Concert, Thursday 30 April, 7.30pm, Concert Hall
:: Tickets on sale now at https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/ and on 01202 280000.
(NC)
