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Polly Bennett

@pollyannabennett

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Moves. #ElvisMovie #BohemianRhapsody #TheCrown #TheGreat #saltburnfilm
(I think you should go for it)

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The work is the work is the work is the work.

Including the work of many lovely friends and collaborators of course.

NB: Stan & Ollie (Assistant Choreographer to Toby Sedgwick) by @pollyannabennett

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3 years ago

An update from Polly Bennett, Chair of the CMDN and Dance Committee! ✨

We’ve been working on developing A SHORT INDUSTRY GUIDE FOR ENGAGING CHOREOGRAPHERS AND MOVEMENT DIRECTORS working across the UK.

The terms choreographer and movement director are often used inconsistently, misunderstood or interpreted differently from one production to the next. And this isn’t just a question of semantics. These inconsistencies have real consequences for how we’re hired, what we’re expected to deliver, how we’re credited, how we’re paid and how our creative contributions are valued.

And after recognising how we are, too often, left individually explaining, negotiating and justifying what our roles actually involve we decided to make an Industry Guide of Best Practice and Terminology document for Choreographers and Movement Directors.

By establishing a clearer, shared understanding of terminology and working practices, we hope to take that responsibility away from individual practitioners and encourage greater consistency, recognition and respect across the industry.

This isn’t about putting rigid definitions around creative practice or limiting the ways we work. It’s about making sure the language used to describe our work supports us, rather than undermines us.

Because how we define our work directly impacts how our work is valued.

Check it out and use it. The more we use it the wider the understanding goes.

Link here or in the linktree:

https://www.equity.org.uk/advice-and-support/sector-specific-advice/engaging-choreographers-and-movement-directors

More exciting updates coming soon. It’s happening guys… by @pollyannabennett

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9 hours ago

LET’S GO CHOREO! Goosebumps.

An exceptional team making exceptional things with and for Queen Greta. ✨

Can’t wait for you to see!

A Universe Begins. See how Narnia was created in The Magician’s Nephew, a film by Greta Gerwig - only in theaters February 12. by @pollyannabennett

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6 days ago

She’s the canvas. The paint. And the brush.

A pleasure and a thrill to move and choreograph the icon that is Sian Clifford in the absolutely crackers film that is LADY.

I first met Sian when I movement directed “Circle Mirror Transformation” at Home in Manchester in 2018 so it was great to be called up 6 years later to help her find the character of Lady Isabella physically.

We danced and laughed, and thanked director writer @samuelabrahams for letting us play together.

Still playing at selected cinemas in UK, and it’s very very good. by @pollyannabennett

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a month ago

I spent today meeting and talking to dancers and movement artists with @sarah_perry_movement about working conditions and advocacy, and then mentored a group of choreographers and movement directors about all things theatre, film and tv and how to work to get the work.

There are things to fix and work to do for sure (a conversation for @cmdn_equity and @equitydance) but I feel proud to have been able to provide a space for us all to equalise, share information, learn from each other and reflect on our practice and our worth.

It can take a while to find your feet as a movement person - the work can be invisible so it’s hard to be seen doing it. But seeing people making moves and this community coming together really filleths my cup.

I’m really proud and excited as this community builds so many ladders for each other ❤️ by @pollyannabennett

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a month ago

The great iPhone memory chase means I’m deleting all the concept footage from when I choreographed “The Great” (@thegreathulu.)

Three years of videos of us having a riot in rehearsal has made me reflect about how beautifully dances were written into the script, rather than existing as something jolly happening in the background behind actors talking. Dance was a vital piece of the programme’s narrative, a key to characters and a way of showing the hybrid world that Tony McNamara was keen to create.

This meant I conceptualised dances with dancers, worked with dialogue and designed camera shots that told the story, before working with the final dance cast and teaching to the actors ready for filming. The great choreography/camera cross-over! This is work that many people don’t realise goes into the making of dance in TV show or films (it’s where choreographers truly are key creatives in the process) so I’m excited to show some footage of how the sausage is made.

Here’s a mix of concepts and on set rehearsals showing that choreography is movement, steps and world - and is ultimately central to storytelling.

Safe to say, I loved it and miss it. Long live “The Great.”

Dancers:
@myronavb (Also assistant)
@joshwestons
@tontoappiah
@mylesnewland
@jamesdavieswilliams
@kamildaffe
@jamesberkery
@luke.fieldwright
@tommyrosswilliams
@whatconnorsaw
@mamsurphy__
@emilyannpotter93
@daniellamaydance1
@_beckywong
@clairavaughan (Also assistant)
@missbetsyrose
@scarlettmaltman
@preetisian
@josiepocock
@kelly__chow
@sophie_obrien_xo
@serensandhamdavies
@vickileung32
@nikkitachadha

Cast members:
@florencekeithroach
@charitywakefield
@mrgwilymlee
@ellefanning
@danusiasamal
@nicholashoult
@thebelindabromilow
@phoebemercedes
@gbadamosi by @pollyannabennett

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3 months ago

I did a cool thing. I had to buy sandboots.

@warnerbros

#Dune3 #movementchoreographer by @pollyannabennett

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3 months ago

THE MOVEMENT TEAM. So this is a throwback to Feb 2025, just before filming began. Left is @miles_ley who taught me to look good when fighting (as well as taking some of the more severe, injury inducing shots himself). Centre is @pollyannabennett who helped me come up with how Trappie moved. She’s a genius. And she also was very supportive with the physical demands. I was moving a lot and as you can see had to pile on 20+kg to make him look right! Luckily prosthetics provided a nice JAW LINE AM I RIGHT!? These guys are the movement team behind Trap Jaw. by @pollyannabennett

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4 months ago

Fond memories of the friends and fashion I met movement choreographing the extraordinary @elliebamber_ on “Moss & Freud.”

From making Ellie catwalk in Selfridges for Kate Moss-like confidence, a magical pre-opening hours visit to the National Gallery and practicing swing dancing with Sir Derek Jacobi in a wardrobe - my time with the cast was divine. I have so many tales for my memoirs when I’m an old ham.

Walking like a supermodel is extremely complicated and deliciously fun. The fashion sequences are my favourite part of this film, made all the more exquisite by the incomparable @jamesbrownstyle. He taught me so much about clothes and not playing by the rules and kept us entertained and inspired at all times.

Special mention to @mumabamba who protected us as we catwalked and champagned through the city.

And of course incredible Kate Moss who is a powerhouse and smells so good, I think about it most days.

#movementchoreographer #mossandfreud by @pollyannabennett

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5 months ago

I’m not at the Oliviers but I had a nice time here

@oldfriendphotobooth by @pollyannabennett

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6 months ago

“Do our dance!”

An aggressive, challenging and thrilling time choreographing on @bbciplayer @elevenfilmltd #LordOfTheFlies.

Here’s a clip I feel very proud of. Wrangling some 30 boys, then aged between 5 and 12, into killing machines in the discipline of a dance space was hectic but look what we made. I loved seeing these kids take to movement and explore communal storytelling through the body. I loved the work.

Huge respect to director Marc Munden, who I’ve long admired, children’s acting coach Tommy and the chaperones for putting in the full nine yards. And of course wonderful Jack Thorne for always writing movement into his scripts so amazingly.

It’s an extraordinary piece of work - vital and beautifully made. I urge you to watch. Kill the pig etc etc … taken in Langkawi Island, Malaysia by @pollyannabennett

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8 months ago

I loved wuthering with this glorious gang; with Margot and Jacob we explored the space between, history and physical power play. Martin Clunes and I got drunk (only acted, of course), @officialshazadlatif and I worked with fashion and gentility, the child cast created bonds and games and with @alisonjoliver, it was character development, submission and animal work. Sometimes movement isn’t out loud; it’s integrated but perceptible… and everso fun. 🐕

#movementchoreographer by @pollyannabennett

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8 months ago