Francesca Jaynes (born 12 October 1958) is an English choreographer and movement director who works in many disciplines within the entertainment industry, including feature films, theatre and commercials.

Early career

Jaynes trained at the Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts, and danced professionally for several years before suffering a serious injury that led to a transition into choreography. Following several years choreographing musical stage acts, she began working in UK television in 1982 and a career in film began in 1999 with Mike Leigh's

Topsy-Turvy ''Topsy-Turvy'' is a 1999 British musical period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert and Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. T ...

, earning her a nomination in the

American Choreography Awards The American Choreography Awards was a ceremony and show that honored outstanding choreographers in the fields of feature film, television, music videos, and commercials. They were first known as the L.A. Dance Awards (1994–95), then as Bob Fos ...

Film and television

Jaynes' work in feature film covers a period of three decades and multiple genres, including costume drama ( The Duchess,

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

), family (

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy Comedy drama, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film i ...

Muppets Most Wanted ''Muppets Most Wanted'' is a 2014 American musical crime comedy film directed by James Bobin, produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, and written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films, it is ...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. The story was origina ...

), science fiction (

Gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

A.I. Artificial Intelligence ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' (or simply ''A.I.'') is a 2001 American science fiction drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. The screenplay by Spielberg and screen story by Ian Watson are loosely based on the 1969 short story " Supertoy ...

), fantasy ( Avengers: Age of Ultron, Clash of the Titans), and music-based drama (

De-Lovely ''De-Lovely'' is a 2004 American musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with his wife, Linda Le ...

). Her television credits include work with

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...

and

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

Esio Trot ''Esio Trot'' is a 1990 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The title is an anadrome of "tortoise". It was the last of Dahl's books to be published in his lifetime; he died just two months later. Unlike other Dahl works (which ofte ...

for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, as well as programmes such as

Quiz A quiz is a form of mind sport in which people attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief Educational assessment, assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abil ...

by James Graham,

Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...

Agatha Christie's Marple ''Agatha Christie's Marple'' (or simply ''Marple'') is a British ITV television programme loosely based on books and short stories by British crime novelist Agatha Christie. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first t ...

, The Virgin Queen, and

Tipping the Velvet ''Tipping the Velvet'' is a 1998 debut novel by Welsh novelist Sarah Waters. A historical fiction, historical novel set in England during the 1890s, it tells a coming-of-age story about a young woman named Nan who falls in love with a Cross-dr ...

Film and television credits

Theatre

Jaynes began choreographing for theatre in the late 1980s, and continues to work regularly in this discipline. In 2015 it was announced that she would be working with

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

on ''

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 3 ...

'' for the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

. Her work has been created for a wide range of theatres including the

New Wolsey Theatre The New Wolsey Theatre is a producing theatre with a café & bar in Ipswich, Suffolk. It is a midsized regional theatre, with a seating capacity of 400. History It replaced The Arts Theatre, the town's much loved and respected Repertory Theat ...

(Ipswich),

Salisbury Playhouse Salisbury Playhouse is a theatre in the English city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Built in 1976, it comprises the 517-seat Main House and the 149-seat Salberg Studio, a rehearsal room, a daytime café, and a community and education space. It is pa ...

Birmingham Rep Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

, Holland Park Opera, Stafford Festival Shakespeare,

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

(London) and The National Theatre (London). Jaynes has collaborated for more than 20 years with Director Peter Rowe on shows including ''

Blues in the Night "Blues in the Night" is a popular blues song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun wi ...

'', ''

Little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors may refer to: * '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...

'', ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

'', and '' It's a Wonderful Life''.

Theatre credits

Commercials

Jaynes' choreographic and movement work has been seen in commercials for numerous major brands, both national and international. The 2018 "Back to the Fuchsia" campaign for

Ted Baker Ted Baker is a British clothing brand founded in 1988 in Glasgow, Scotland, which traded in shops under the Ted Baker name until falling into administration in March 2024. It was relaunched online in November 2024. The brand is styled as 'Ted B ...

was choreographed by Jaynes, inspired by the song Think Pink from the musical

Funny Face ''Funny Face'' is a 1957 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen and written by Leonard Gershe, containing assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Although having the same title as the 1927 Broadway musical ''Funny ...

. In 2014, she choreographed a sequence in "The Gentleman's Wager", a six-minute ad for

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

Blue Label starring

Jude Law David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He began his career in theatre before landing small roles in various British television productions and feature films. Law gained international recognition for his role in An ...

and

Giancarlo Giannini Giancarlo Giannini (; born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beaut ...

which premiered at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

. SmartWater, Lynx, Sainsbury's, and Scottish Widows are amongst the other brands whose commercials have featured her work.

Short films

In addition to her work as a choreographer and movement director, Jaynes has also created work as a writer/director of short films. Her first film, For George, was completed in 2012, and was an Official Selection at the United Film Festival (London, UK), Festival Filmets (Badalona, Spain), and Best Actors Film Festival (San Francisco, USA), where it won the award for "Best Ensemble Cast in a Short Drama". Her second short film, Gnomeland, was completed in 2013, and was chosen as an Official Selection at the Two Short Nights Film Festival (Exeter, UK) and the Deep Fried Film Festival (Lanarkshire, UK).

References

External links

Official Website
*
Francesca Jaynes
at

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Movies and TV {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaynes, Francesca 1958 births Living people English women choreographers