Master of movement

10:26am Friday 6th June 2008

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THEY say good things come in threes - and that's certainly the case for leading stage choreographer Chris Hocking. Having waited years for just one touring show to stop in his home town of High Wycombe, Chris will now see three of his productions arrive in a matter of months.

Fiddler On The Roof, South Pacific and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers all open at the Wycombe Swan in the next few weeks as part of UK-wide tours.

"Both are great, classical musicals which haven’t toured for many years, so it’s really a great opportunity for people to come along and see them."

Chris Hocking

The happy coincidence is something of a dream come true for the 42-year-old dancer-turned-choreographer, whose story actually resembles that of the award-winning film Billy Elliot.

Chris, who was "born, bred and raised" in High Wycombe, first became interested in dancing after watching his sister take ballet lessons at the Chiltern Academy of Dance.

Even then, the 11-year-old youngster showed a talent for choreography and would often point out to his sister where her moves had gone wrong.

Chris remembers: "I tried to help her and show her how the moves should actually be done.

"Finally the teachers just came up to me and said Well, you seem to know what you're doing, so why don't you join the class?' "It still took a while, but finally they coaxed me into the lessons and I took to it like a duck to water."

Within the confines of the dance studio, Chris seldom minded being the only boy in the class. But while he was at school, his new-found passion remained a close secret.

The former Royal Grammar School pupil tells me: "I went to an all-boy school and was really scared the others would bully me if I told them about my dancing. At my age now I couldn't care less what others think, but back then I was determined to keep it quiet."

So whenever Chris entered competitions - and subsequently won - he would always ask for a pseudonym to be printed in any newspaper reports instead of his real name.

"I think the Bucks Free Press had me down as Christine Hockley quite a few times," laughs Chris.

It was only when he finished his O levels that his secret was finally revealed to his fellow students and teachers.

Chris says: "I ended up doing quite well in my exams and I remember the teachers coming up to me and saying they presumed I would do A levels. It was then that I turned round and said well, actually no, I'm going off to ballet school!' And that was that, my secret life was out."

Chris went on to win a scholarship at the renowned Nesta Brooking School of Ballet and specialised in ballet, modern tap and jazz.

On graduating, he landed various jobs directing and choreographing pantomimes around the country, which led to yet another strange resonance to the Billy Elliot story.

Chris tells me: "We needed some youngsters for a show and this one guy came along and auditioned. He really impressed us, even though he'd had only four weeks' worth of dancing lessons at the time.

"It turns out that was Jamie Bell, the young lad who went on to star in the film Billy Elliot. He's a huge star now, but I can always say I gave him his first professional job!"

Since then, Chris' own career has gone from strength to strength, both as a choreographer and a performer in a number of West End and touring shows, including Chicago, Carousel, and The King And I.

Now his wish to see his work on stage in High Wycombe has finally come true, with Fiddler On The Roof opening this week, South Pacific arriving next month and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers stopping off later in the year.

Chris tells me: "What I always try to do is create a sense of excitement and dynamics on stage with my choreography.

"With Fiddler, there's obviously plenty of Russian dancing, which has been really great fun to choreograph. The audience always seems to go wild for the song, To Life, as well as the wedding sequence.

"South Pacific has less dancing, but there are some really huge numbers, so we've added in loads of tumbling tricks and things, especially in There's Nothing Like A Dame."

Chris adds: "Both are great, classical musicals which haven't toured for many years, so it's really a great opportunity for people to come along and see them. And aside from that, I'm just so excited they've finally come to High Wycombe."

Fiddler On The Roof runs from Tuesday, June 10 to Saturday, June 14 and South Pacific runs from Tuesday, July 8 to Saturday, July 12, at Wycombe Swan. Tickets: 01494 512000 or www.wycombeswan.co.uk