“It was the best first job we could have asked for”: LIPA Dance students star in new Blossoms music video

Four LIPA dance students perform in Joke About Divorce, the new music video from Blossoms, choreographed by LIPA graduate Rosie Terry Toogood.

Millie Norval, Keira Peoples, Celia Watson and Kiki Wilcock were selected after Rosie approached LIPA looking for dancers for the project. Following the submission of headshots, CVs and dance reels, the students were invited to take part in the production.

The dancers learned the choreography during an afternoon rehearsal before heading into an intensive day of filming at Chads Theatre in Cheadle.

“It was a long day, but it was so much fun and really hands-on,” says Keira. Kiki agrees: “You could tell everyone on set respected and appreciated each other. It really felt like a team effort.”

The dancers credit their training at LIPA with helping them to adapt to the demands of a professional shoot. Keira cites the first-year project module as particularly important in helping them feel “natural working in front of a camera”. Celia also highlights the special opportunity to work with a LIPA graduate: Rosie was “incredibly professional, collaborative and lovely throughout”, and it was reassuring “to have a connection with Rosie and to work with someone who’d been in our position as a fellow LIPA student.”

For Millie, the experience had added impact as a long-time fan of the band: “I’ve loved Blossoms for years, so working with them was surreal. They were genuinely lovely, and it was such a positive environment on set”. The others agree, crediting the band for creating such a relaxed and casual atmosphere in rehearsals and on set.

Sworn to secrecy until the song’s official release earlier this week, the dancers were thrilled to finally see how all the different elements of the production came together.

Summing up the experience, Kiki says: “It was the best first job we could have asked for. We learned so much in such a friendly, comfortable and supportive environment.”

Millie, in her final year, is excited to graduate, reflecting that “this final year, all my training has fallen into place and I feel confident to move into industry”. Keira, Celia and Kiki, in their second year, are busy rehearsing for This Life is Wild, their upcoming production in the Paul McCartney Auditorium at the end of May.