A visit to a dance studio invariably conjures images of ballet buns, leg warmers and the kind of perfect posture that most of us will never achieve. Dance Attic Studios in west London on a Monday morning in early summer doesn’t disappoint. Dancers cluster outside smoking and chatting, wearing a mix of sportswear and crop tops. Inside, they practically float between the different studio spaces.
The main studio is a particular hive of activity, thanks to rehearsals for Fashion Freak Show, the musical revue based on the life of the former fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, opening at the Roundhouse in Camden Town, north London, this month. Choreographer Marion Motin, wearing a Manchester United tracksuit top, mismatched trackies and an in-the-zone expression, is walking a group of dancers through a scene in the show. Taking place in a reconstructed version of Le Palace – a nightclub often called the Studio 54 of Paris – it features music by Prince, Chic, Grace Jones, Divine and (slightly anachronistically) Amy Winehouse. If the dancers at first seem gangly and out of sync with each other, after less than half an hour, they’re looking good on the dancefloor. A man on rollerblades, with a tray of plastic cocktails, only adds to the mood.
