Parkour Generations and Matilda the Musical!
Did you know that Parkour featured extensively in the dance routines of Matilda the Musical? We heard from Dan Edwardes, Founder of Parkour Generations about working on the film.
“Parkour Generations was brought on to Matilda by Netflix and Working Title to inject the explosive style of parkour into some already-intense and fast-paced dance choreography scenes. Nothing like this had ever been done, and lead choreographer Ellen Kane wanted the scenes to feel as if a tidal wave of kids was pouring through the school grounds, bouncing off walls, diving, flipping, vaulting and swinging in a chaotic manner.
Of course, choreography is anything but chaotic, and with hundreds of kids in each shot we had to be incredibly meticulous with regards to timing, positioning, movements, and the very architecture of each set to make it all work.
Our first priority, of course, is always the safety of everyone involved, so we cast ten incredible young parkour athletes over a period of weeks at our London gym, then our performance team had a couple of months to choreograph the routines which those kids would then have to learn to perfection over a few further months of rehearsals. We then had to introduce the parkour choreography into the wider dance choreography that Ellen and her amazing team were creating for the hundred-plus young dancers.
Of course we also had to make all of this work within the most stringent restrictions of shooting on a Covid-19 set, as the entire production process happened during the pandemic.
I'm incredibly proud of how hard our team worked and how dedicated and professional those ten young athletes were. Working with Ellen Kane and her dance team was a real pleasure, and seeing how they managed and organised swarms of kids every day on set was something to behold. The results speak for themselves, I think: the signature 'We're Revolting' dance number which features many parkour elements has been the lead trailer for the film, and has grabbed attention all over the world, and the film launched to absolute rave reviews.
I can't speak highly enough of everyone involved in the production, from the Covid-19 officers on set doing our swabs each morning all the way through to the director and producers who kept it all on track. An incredible and (hopefully) utterly unique production to be part of at a very difficult time for the whole world! Just goes to show what can be achieved with the right attitude and approach.”
Dan Edwardes - Founder of Parkour Generations
