Pans People. The famous dance troupe of the 70s
In the late sixties and early seventies, British all-female dance troupe Pans People were a regular fixture on the BBC’s pop chart show Top of the Pops each week.
Who were Pans People? The Pans People Members & when they were famous
Pan’s People were a dance troupe formed in 1966. The female dancers were grouped together initially by Felicity Colby, Barbara ‘Babs’ Lord and Patricia ‘Dee Dee’ Wilde. These three dancers had initially worked together as part of the dance group Beat Girls and had appeared on television in the UK and the Netherlands. Following a dispute with their management, the three dancers branched off on their own to form Pans People. Two other members of Beat Girls, Lorrelly Harris and Penelope ‘Penny’ Fergusson also later joined them. The final member to join them in December of 1966 was Felicity Balfour. And so, the initial line-up was complete.
The members of Pans People did change here and there over the years. In fact, by the time they first appeared on Top of the Pops, the lineup was as follows:
- Louise Clarke
- Flick Colby
- Babs Lord (later known as Babs Powell after marrying Robert Powell)
- Ruth Pearson
- Andrea Rutherford
- Dee Dee Wilde
This list is often referred to as the original lineup of Pans People, as this is how they were first seen on Top of the Pops. Ruth Pearson was actually the only dancer to remain in the group throughout their lifetime.
Other members included Cherry Gillespie (later known as Cherry Dickins), Mary Corpe, Lee Ward and Sue Menhenick.
Between 1968 and 1970, two male dancers often appeared alongside the group. These were Adrian Le Peltier and Gary Downie. The two men appeared on the Bobbie Gentry Show and Top of the Pops.
From January 1970, Pans People began to appear weekly on Top of the Pops replacing the dance group The Go-Jos who appeared on the popular show for four years previously. Pans People became a permanent, regular feature and they were even included in the credits each week as you can see in this clip.
Flick Colby eventually decided to focus solely on choreographing the group’s routines and performed with them for the final time in February 1972. Flick Colby was never replaced, so the group then dropped to five members.
Where did the name Pans People come from?
The dance troupe considered a number of different names for themselves, including Dionysus’s Darlings before settling on the name Pan’s People. The name came from the Greek God Pan, the god of dance, music and debauchery.
What did Pan’s People do?
These days, if you were to watch a show live Top of the Pops, you would see the music videos produced by the artists. But Top of the Pops would usually show the artist performing live. Sometimes though, artists weren’t available or were based abroad and so it was then that Pan’s People would take over the stage to perform a dance routine for viewers to watch whilst they listened to the music.
In this video clip, you can see how they used the theme of the song Silver Star by The Four Seasons to influence their costumes and their dance routines. This was actually their final ever performance on Top of the Pops on 29th April 1976.
Pans People performed to music from some of the world’s most famous musicians during their time on Top of the Pops, including a number of performers to music by David Bowie.
As well as appearing regularly on Top of the Pops, Pans People would also regularly appear on other TV shows too. Their appearances included The Frankie Howerd Show, The Two Ronnies and Morecambe & Wise.
Where are they now?
Pans People stopped appearing on Top of the Pops in 1976. They were soon replaced by dance troupe Ruby Flipper, a mixed-sex dance troupe who appeared on the show for just a short time. Cherry Gillespie was one of the female dancers along with Lulu Cartwright, Sue Menhenick, Patti Hammond, Phillip Haigh (also known as Phillip Steggles), Floyd Pearce and Gavin Trace.
Ruby Flipper didn’t last long though, and for undeclared reasons were soon replaced by the dance troupe Legs & Co. who performed on more than 300 episodes of the show before their final performance in 1981. Some of their most famous performances were to the music of Elvis Presley during the last seventies.
Even after Pans People were no longer appearing on Top of the Pops, the group was still highly sought after. Dee Dee Wilde continued to work using the name Pan’s People with a new group of dancers. Dee Dee Wilde herself both managed and danced in the group alongside Abigail Higgins, Francesca Whitburn, Pauline Crawford, Sarah Wollett and Patricia McSherry. Future Hot Gossip members Sarah Brightman and Carol Fletcher also joined the group for a short period of time.
So what happened to the female dancers who formed Pans People?
Babs Lord
Babs Lord married actor Robert Powell, taking his last name and thereafter being known as Babs Powell. The couple had two children, Barney born in 1977 and daughter Kate in 1979. After her dancing days, Babs became an amateur yachtswoman and world explorer! She spent a lot of her life raising funds. She featured on an episode of This Is Your Life in November of 2001 and was also present at the final weekly episode of Top of the Pops in 2006.
Cherry Gillespie
Cherry Gillespie went on to appear in a 007 movie. She appeared with Roger Moore in Octopussy in 1983. She also featured in the TV series The Hot Shoe Show, a British TV dance show hosted by Wayne Sleep.
Dee Dee Wilde
Dee Dee Wilde married musician and composer Henry Marsh. Together then ran a video production company called WM Productions.
Flick Colby
After her time with Pans People, Flick Colby eventually settled in Clinton, New York where she ran her gift shop called Paddywacks. Sadly, Flick Colby died of bronchial pneumonia caused by cancer in 2011.
Louise Clark
Louise Clark died of heart failure on 24th August 2012, she was 62 years old.
Andrea Rutherford
Andi Rutherford died in December 2015 following a long battle with illness.
Ruth Pearson
Ruth Pearson died at the age of 70 in 2017 following a long battle with cancer.
Autobiography
In November 2013, some of the original members of Pans People released an autobiography sharing their life in the famous female dance troupe. The book was written by Babs Powell, Ruth Pearson, Dee Dee Wilde, and Cherry Gillespie with the help of writer Simon Barnard. Published by Signum Books, the book was called Pan’s People: Our Story and was released to celebrate the female dancers’ upcoming 50th anniversary.
