List of Top of the Pops dance troupes

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This is a list of Top of the Pops dance troupes.

Chronology

January to October 1964 – no dance troupes

In the era before promotional videos were routinely produced for every charting single, the BBC would frequently have neither the band themselves nor alternative footage available for a song selected for the programme. In the first few months of the show in 1964, the director would just scan across the audience dancing in the absence of any other footage, but by October 1964 a decision was made to at least occasionally bring in a dance troupe with a choreographed routine to some of the tracks.[1]

November 1964 to April 1968 – The Go-Jos

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". An initial candidate troupe was the existing BBC TV Beat Girls, but an ex-dancer from the Beat Girls, Jo Cook, was eventually engaged to create a troupe, the all-female Go-Jos,[2][3] with Cook as choreographer. The Go-Jos also worked outside of Top of the Pops, notably for two years on the Val Doonican show [4] – Doonican said in 1968 “I thought the Gojos were fabulous, something really new. When I got my own television series I just had to have them with me.” [5]

They were initially a three-piece (Pat Hughes for the first edition only, Linda Hotchkin and Jane Bartlett), but their number eventually grew to six (Hotchkin, Bartlett, Lesley Larbey, Wendy Hilhouse, Barbara van der Heyde and Thelma Bignell) with Cook as full-time choreographer. Lulu remembered of their costumes "They mostly wore white boots to the knee and short skirts and the camera would go up the skirt and it was all very risqué."[6]

Cook herself said of working on the Doonican show (of which she was dance director) comparing to Top of the Pops, “Pop steps are limited...With Val we have more scope, and we can work to get more of the feel of ballet into our numbers.”[5]

May to June 1968 – Go-Jos/Pan's People transition

In April 1968, a Top of the Pops choreographer, Virginia Mason,[7] auditioned for dancers for a routine on Top of The Pops (Simon Says by the 1910 Fruitgum Company); two of whom that were successful (Ruth Pearson and Patricia "Dee Dee" Wilde) were part of the existing six-female dance troupe, Pan's People.[8] Like the Go-Jos, this group was also partly drawn from ex-members of the Beat Girls.[9] Although this routine did not make it onto the programme itself, in subsequent weeks, members of Pan's People (Louise Clarke, Felicity "Flick" Colby, Barbara "Babs" Lord, Pearson, Andrea "Andi" Rutherford and Wilde) started to appear on the programme separately to the Go-Jos. Pan's People were then selected by the BBC over the Go-Jos when they chose a group to be the resident troupe.[10] The Go-Jos' final Top Of The Pops performance was in June 1968 dancing to Jumping Jack Flash by The Rolling Stones.

July 1968 to April 1976 – Pan's People

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". As with the Go-Jos, in the first eighteen months of the Pan's People era the dancers were not a weekly fixture on the programme.[11] However, due to group fan mail and good viewing figures, by 1970 the group was on nearly every week.[12] Pay was not high, they were paid the minimum equity rate of £56 per week.[13] One of the original Pan's People dancers, Colby, became full-time choreographer in 1971.[14] Colby spoke of the dancing – "They weren't Broadway-standard routines...we were definitely doing watercolours, not oil paintings."[15]

May to October 1976 – Ruby Flipper

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

In early 1976, the last remaining of the early members of Pan's People, Ruth Pearson announced her retirement, leaving just four members all of whom who had joined within the last four years; Cherry Gillespie, Mary Corpe, Lee Ward and Sue Menhenick. Rather than continue with this line up or add additional members, it was decided by Colby and BBC production staff to replace this group[16] with a male and female group created for the programme, Ruby Flipper, choreographed by Colby and managed by Colby with Pearson. Lee Ward left shortly after this decision was made, reportedly saying regarding the change "It's a big mistake. Men rush home to watch sexy ladies. They do not want to see other men.".[17]

Rehearsals for this new group started in March 1976, and the group began appearing on Top Of The Pops in May 1976. Whilst producers were aware of the switch to the new group, Bill Cotton, the then head of the light entertainment unit of which Top Of The Pops was part, was not. This group started as a seven-piece with three men (Gavin Trace, Floyd Pearce and Phil Steggles) and four women (Menhenick, Gillespie, Patti Hammond and Lulu Cartwright). Corpe was not invited to join the new troupe. Trace, Pearce, Steggles and Cartwright joined following open auditions, Hammond, an established dancer, was invited to join to complete the "look" following a later individual audition.[18] Colby viewed this gender-mixed group as an opportunity to develop more physical routines including lifts.,[19] more duets and generally not have the whole group at each performance.

However, by August the BBC had decided to terminate the group due to perceived unpopularity and being "... out of step with viewers".[20] Their final appearance was in October 1976 (by this time Trace and Gillespie had already left, reducing Ruby Flipper to five members), with the senior management insisting on a replacement all-female grouping. Flick Colby recalled of this time “Bill Cotton called me in and said the British public didn’t want to see black men dancing with white women...I argued, but he told me to form another all-girl group or I was out."Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

November 1976 to October 1981 – Legs & Co

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The group created to replace Ruby Flipper was Legs & Co, reverting to an all-female line-up, and once more choreographed by Colby. Three of the six in the initial line-up (Menhenick, Cartwight and Hammond) were taken from Ruby Flipper.[21] with Rosie Hetherington, Gill Clarke and Pauline Peters making up the six. Despite being an all-female group, on occasion one or more male dancers were brought in, notably Pearce several times.

During their run the group covered the transition from Disco to Punk, Electronic and Modern Romantic music. Notably, they danced to two Sex Pistols tracks, as the Sex Pistols never did a studio performance in this period.[22]

December 1981 to September 1983 – Zoo

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". By late 1981, Legs & Co (by this time Anita Chellamah had replaced Peters) had become more integrated into the studio audience, rather than performing set-piece routines, as a result of the 'party atmosphere' brought in by Michael Hurll. Also by this time Colby was particularly keen to work once more with male dancers; feeling it time for a change, Legs & Co's stint was ended, and a twenty-member dance troupe (ten male, ten female), named Zoo was created, with a set of performers drawn from the pool of twenty each week.[23] Colby was now credited as "Dance Director".[19] Three members of previous troupes, Menhenick, Corpe and Chellamah, made at least one appearance each during the Zoo period. The dancers now chose their own clothes, moving away from the synchronised appearance of previous troupes.[24]

October 1983 to 2006 – After Zoo

By the early 1980s, record companies were offering the BBC free promotional videos, meaning dance troupes no longer fulfilled their original purpose.[25] Zoo's run ended in 1983, and with it the use of dance troupes on Top Of The Pops.

After the demise of Zoo, the audience took a more active role, often dancing in more prominent areas such as behind performing acts on the back of the stage, and on podiums. However, in addition the show also employed so-called cheerleaders to lead the dancing.

Dance Troupe chronology

Go-Jos' first performance: 19 November 1964 – Dancing to Baby Love by The Supremes[26]

Pan's People first performance (three of the dancers, independently contracted): April 1968 – Dancing to Young Girl by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap[27] or Respect by Aretha Franklin[28]

Pan's People's first performance (as the six-piece group of early 1968): 30 May 1968 – Dancing to U.S. Male by Elvis Presley[28]

Go-Jos' final performance: 27 June 1968 – Dancing to Jumping Jack Flash by The Rolling Stones[29]

Pan's People's final performance: 29 April 1976 – Dancing to Silver Star by The Four Seasons[30]

Ruby Flipper's first performance: 6 May 1976 – Dancing to Can't Help Falling In Love by The Stylistics[31]

Ruby Flipper's final performance: 14 October 1976 – Dancing to Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry

Legs & Co's first performance (credited as ??????): 21 October 1976 – Dancing to Queen Of My Soul by Average White Band[32]

Legs & Co's first performance (credited as Legs & Co): 11 November 1976 – Dancing to Spinning Rock Boogie by Hank C. Burnette

Legs & Co's final performance: 29 October 1981 – Dancing to Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) by Haircut 100

Sue Menhenik of Legs & Co's final performance credited as part of Zoo December 1981 - Dancing to Finding My Way Home by Jon and Vangelis. The last person associated to Pans People.

Zoo's first performance: 5 November 1981 – Dancing to Twilight by E.L.O.

Zoo's final performance: 29 September 1983 – Dancing to What I Got Is What You Need by Unique

The full-height vertical lines indicate the last performance of each troupe.

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Colors = 

id:GoJos         value:yellow          legend:GoJos
id:Pans_People         value:red          legend:Pans_People
id:Ruby_Flipper    value:blue        legend:Ruby_Flipper
id:Legs  value:green        legend:Legs_&_Co
id:Zoo  value:orange        legend:Zoo
id:Perf  value:purple        legend:Performer
id:Accom  value:gray(0.5)        legend:Accompanying_dancer

id:bars           value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData= 

at:06/20/1968  color:yellow  layer:back
at:04/29/1976  color:red  layer:back
at:10/14/1976  color:blue    layer:back
at:10/29/1981  color:green    layer:back
at:09/29/1983  color:orange    layer:back

BarData = 

bar:Jane    text: Jane Bartlett
bar:Linda   text: Linda Hotchkin
bar:Pat     text: Pat Hughes
bar:Jo      text: Jo Cook
bar:Barbara     text: Barbara von der Heyde
bar:Thelma   text:Thelma Bignell
bar:LesleyL   text:Lesley Larbey
bar:Wendy   text:Wendy Hilhouse
bar:Dolores   text:Dolores Bourne
bar:Flick   text:Flick Colby
bar:Babs   text:Babs Lord
bar:Dee   text:Dee Dee Wilde
bar:Andi: text: Andi Rutherford
bar:Louise  text:Louise Clarke
bar:Ruth   text:Ruth Pearson
bar:Cherry     text:Cherry Gillespie
bar:Sue      text:Sue Menhenick
bar:Mary    text:Mary Corpe
bar:Lee     text:Lee Ward
bar:Lesley     text:Lesley Judd
bar:Patti    text:Patti Hammond
bar:Lulu     text:Lulu Cartwright
bar:Phil     text:Phil Haigh
bar:Floid     text:Floid Pearce
bar:Gavin      text:Gavin Trace
bar:Gill     text:Gill Clarke
bar:Rosie    text:Rosie Hetherington
bar:Pauline     text:Pauline Peters
bar:Anita     text:Anita Chellamah 
bar:Alex      text:Alex
bar:Jeremy     text:Jeremy
bar:Others      text:Others

PlotData= 

 width:15 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(15.-4)
 bar: Pat from:11/19/1964        till:03/25/1965        color:GoJos
 bar: Jo from:05/20/1965        till:08/12/1965        color:GoJos
 bar: Jane from:11/19/1964        till:08/12/1965        color:GoJos
 bar: Jane from:02/02/1967        till:06/20/1968        color:GoJos
 bar: Linda from:11/19/1964        till:06/20/1968        color:GoJos
 bar: Barbara from:01/06/1966      till:06/20/1968        color:GoJos
 bar: Thelma from:12/26/1967      till:06/20/1968        color:GoJos
 bar: LesleyL from:12/26/1967      till:06/20/1968        color:GoJos
 bar: Wendy from:12/25/1967      till:06/20/1968        color:GoJos
 bar: Dolores from:06/20/1968      till:06/20/1968        color:GoJos
 bar: Babs from:05/30/1968        till:09/09/1975        color:Pans_People
 bar: Dee from:04/18/1968        till:04/18/1968        color:Pans_People
 bar: Dee from:05/30/1968        till:10/30/1975        color:Pans_People
 bar: Flick from:04/18/1968        till:04/18/1968        color:Pans_People
 bar: Flick from:05/30/1968        till:04/01/1972        color:Pans_People
 bar: Louise from:05/30/1968        till:05/16/1974        color:Pans_People
 bar: Andi from:05/30/1968        till:11/01/1974        color:Pans_People
 bar: Ruth from:04/18/1968        till:04/18/1968        color:Pans_People
 bar: Ruth from:05/30/1968        till:04/29/1976        color:Pans_People
 bar: Ruth from:07/22/1976        till:07/22/1976        color:Accom
 bar:Sue from:06/06/1974        till:04/29/1976        color:Pans_People
 bar:Sue from:05/06/1976      till:10/14/1976        color:Ruby_Flipper
 bar:Sue from:12/17/1981      till:12/17/1981        color:Zoo
 bar:Sue from:12/31/1981      till:12/31/1981        color:Legs
 bar:Lesley    from:02/12/1976 till:02/12/1976 color:Pans_People
 bar:Sue from:10/21/1976 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs
 bar:Cherry from:12/17/1972        till:04/29/1976        color:Pans_People
 bar:Cherry    from:05/06/1976      till:09/30/1976        color:Ruby_Flipper
 bar:Patti    from:05/06/1976      till:10/14/1976        color:Ruby_Flipper
 bar:Patti    from:10/21/1976 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs
 bar:Patti from:12/31/1981      till:12/31/1981        color:Legs
 bar:Lulu from:05/06/1976      till:10/14/1976        color:Ruby_Flipper
 bar:Lulu from:10/21/1976 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs
 bar:Lulu from:12/31/1981      till:12/31/1981        color:Legs
 bar:Lee    from:09/25/1975        till:04/01/1976        color:Pans_People
 bar:Mary   from:09/25/1975        till:04/28/1976        color:Pans_People
 bar:Mary   from:01/14/1982        till:01/14/1982        color:Zoo
 bar:Mary   from:01/21/1982        till:01/21/1982        color:Zoo
 bar:Gavin     from:05/06/1976      till:07/15/1976        color:Ruby_Flipper
 bar:Phil    from:05/06/1976      till:10/14/1976        color:Ruby_Flipper
 bar:Floid    from:05/06/1976      till:10/14/1976        color:Ruby_Flipper
 bar:Floid    from:12/23/1976      till:12/23/1976        color:Accom
 bar:Floid    from:04/14/1977      till:04/14/1977        color:Accom
 bar:Floid    from:06/16/1977      till:06/16/1977        color:Accom
 bar:Floid    from:08/11/1977      till:08/11/1977        color:Accom
 bar:Floid    from:12/25/1977      till:12/25/1977        color:Accom
 bar:Floid    from:05/25/1978      till:05/25/1978        color:Accom
 bar:Floid    from:05/25/1978      till:05/25/1978        color:Accom
 bar:Floid    from:09/21/1978      till:09/21/1978        color:Accom
 bar:Floid    from:12/25/1978      till:12/25/1978        color:Accom
 bar:Others    from:12/25/1978      till:12/25/1978        color:Accom
 bar:Others    from:12/25/1976      till:12/25/1976        color:Accom
 bar:Rosie   from:10/21/1976 till:10/15/1981 color:Legs
 bar:Rosie from:12/31/1981      till:12/31/1981        color:Legs
 bar:Gill from:10/21/1976 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs
 bar:Gill from:12/31/1981      till:12/31/1981        color:Legs
 bar:Pauline    from:10/21/1976 till:03/19/1981 color:Legs
 bar:Anita    from:05/28/1981 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs
 bar:Anita    from:11/05/1981 till:11/05/1981 color:Zoo
 bar:Anita    from:12/24/1981 till:12/24/1981 color:Zoo
 bar:Anita    from:12/25/1981 till:12/25/1981 color:Zoo
 bar:Anita from:12/31/1981      till:12/31/1981  color:Legs
 bar:Anita    from:02/25/1982 till:02/25/1982 color:Zoo
 bar:Anita    from:08/12/1982 till:08/12/1982 color:Perf
 bar:Alex    from:08/13/1981 till:08/13/1981 color:legs
 bar:Jeremy    from:09/24/1981 till:09/24/1981 color:legs

</timeline>

References

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