5 things you should know about Lindsay Kemp

One of the UK’s greatest creative artists is the original creator of one of our new productions happening at Riverside Studios this summer! 

Variété was originally written, directed and performed by Lindsay Kemp, and is being re-imagined with the help of director Kinny Gardener and Chilean composer Carlos Miranda.

Let’s have a look at some of the things you should probably know about him!

1. He inspired Ziggy Stardust

David Bowie was a student of Kemp whilst he operated a dance and mime company that he opened in the 70s, and a lot of Bowie’s image choices were inspired directly by Kemp. Lindsay also starred in Bowie’s music video for his single “John, I’m only Dancing”. So in turn, the countless musicians and artists influenced by Bowie have also been influenced by Kemp too!

2. He’s a true Northerner

Kemp was born “up north” in the coastal town of South Shields which isn’t far from Newcastle upon Tyne.  His mum seemed to think he didn’t quite fit in with other lads his age… "I'd dance on the kitchen table to entertain the neighbours. I mean, it was a novelty in South Shields to see a little boy in full make-up dancing on pointe. Finally it got a bit too much for my mother, and she decided to send me to boarding school at the age of eight, hoping that it would knock some sense into me."

3. He taught Kate Bush too!

Wuthering Heights singer Kate Bush was also one of Kemp’s students, and in return he supported her in a short film she directed and starred in. The Line, the Cross and the Curve is based on the tale played out in Bush’s music video for the song The Red Shoes. The story follows a dancer, possessed by her art, who can’t get rid of the red shoes and find harmony.

4. He starred in the old version of spooky thriller The Wicker Man

The original horror film made in 1973 stars Kemp as Alder MacGregor, a creepy pub landlord. The plot follows a police sergeant who is sent to a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, the twist is the townsfolk claim she never existed… 

5. He was told he wasn’t meant to be a dancer

Kemp was informed whilst he was training, by a very important dance teacher at a very important school in London, that he was “temperamentally and physically unsuited to be a dancer". Guess she was wrong.... There’s hope for the most un-coordinated of us out there then!

Written by Heather Welsh. Photo Credit: Michael Farley