‘Working with Tina was one of my best ever experiences’
Choreographer Arlene remembers ‘empowered’ pop legend
ARLENE Phillips has revealed how dancing and singing fired-up Tina Turner – giving her a high “like nothing else”.
“What came across when you met her is that she had emotion in every pore of her body,” said the choreographer and former Strictly Come Dancing judge.
“And yet she was empowered. I knew her as a woman who was taking charge.”
The pair met in 1984 when Tina, who died last week aged 83, filmed a video for Private Dancer in South East London. Dame Arlene, 80, was choreographing the routines for the single.
Dame Arlene said: “She was talking about her love of dance and music. How it fired her up, the singing and dancing together. She said it was a high like nothing else.
“She was talking about Private Dancer, how women can make the decisions on the things that they want to do, and feel empowered by making their own choices.”
Private Dancer was from an album of the same name and released when the star was 42 and trying to make a comeback. A lot was riding on it.
A few years previously, in July 1976, she’d managed to escape her abusive husband, Ike, by slipping out of their hotel room while he was sleeping. Her white trouser suit was covered in blood and one eye was closed from his last beating. The Private Dancer album – which included the hit What’s Love Got To Do With It – was a huge success. Tina was back. Arlene, left, recalls of the video shoot: “She sat with the dancers and she chatted, she laughed, and there was something so special about her. “Working with Tina was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with an artist, with a star, ever.”