Paul Harris(IX)
- Choreographer
- Dance Director
- Movement Coach
Paul Harris is a leading Choreographer, Dance Teacher and Movement Director in Film Television and Theatre. The majority of his work is Dance in the context of Drama, but his most famous works to date, are the laser scenes for Catherine Zeta-Jones in Entrapment and the wand combat sequences in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as well as creating the physical language for the use of the wand for the Harry Potter film franchise. An interactive mirror, containing the image of Paul Harris image, has been a feature of the Warner Bros Studio Tour - The Making of Harry Potter, in both London and Hollywood. He has coached and choreographed Oscar, BAFTA and Emmy award winning actors including: Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Helena Bonham-Carter, Sam Neill, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sean Connery. Film credits also include: The Other Boleyn Girl, Inkheart, Mister Lonely, The Tichborne Claimant, the Disney movie musical Cheetah Girls 2, directed by Kenny Ortega, Far From The Madding Crowd, Patrick the Pug, Crooked House with Glenn Close, Blithe Spirit with Judi Dench, People Just Do Nothing - Big in Japan and the Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning, Living starring Bill Nighy.
Extensive television credits include 2 BAFTA winning series, Bleak House and The Way We Live Now, as well as Great Expectations, Little Dorrit, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Miss Austen Regrets, Jane Eyre, South Riding, The Paradise, Desperate Romantics, The Sins, My Family, Call The Midwife and His Dark Materials, all for the BBC, as well as Lost in Austen, Poirot, Marple, A Touch of Frost, William and Mary The Quest 2, The Great Fire, Thanks for the Memories and The Halcyon, all for ITV. He also choreographed the live serpent banquet scene in Da Vinci's Demons for Starz Network America, Why Didn't They Ask Evans, directed by Hugh Laurie, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, starring Lucy Boynton and Mary and George for Starz US/Sky, starring Julianne Moore.
In the theatre he was the Choreographer and Movement Director on the 50th anniversary production of The Entertainer at the Old Vic starring Robert Lindsay and the Movement Coach on Gaslight with Rosamund Pike, also at the Old Vic. He choreographed Liberty and Dido Queen of Carthage at Shakespeare's Globe and he was guest Dance tutor on Two Gentleman of Verona for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Other theatre credits include Flight of the Swan at The Royal Opera House, A Family Affair and The Importance of Being Earnest for the Theatre Royal, Bath, the UK National Tour of Wallflowering. Tommy for The Royal Academy of Music, Romeo and Juliet for Oxford Shakespeare Company, Tick tick, Boom and the UK premieres of Thrill Me, Plaid Tidings, Miracle on 34th Street and Another Night Before Christmas. He did the Musical Staging for John and Jen, starring Rachel Tucker at Southwark Playhouse, which won 2 OFFIEs and Mariupol at the Edinburgh Festival 2025.
As a Dance Teacher, he was an Actors Centre Dance Tutor for 10 years and he has devised Dance content for BA and MA Acting courses for (and taught at), the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. He has coached and choreographed for World Champions in Showdance, Ballroom Dancing, Salsa, Argentine Tango, Latin American dancing and has taught several of the Professional Dancers on 'Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing With The Stars). He was the main Mentor in the Kick Boxer to Dancer episode of Channel 4's multi-award winning series, Faking It.
Paul Harris has made a significant contribution to the development of Salsa in the UK, as he is is the author of 'Salsa and Merengue - The Essential Step by Step Guide'. His book, which was the first published notation of Salsa, forms the basis of the standard technique book for study for Professional Dance Teacher examinations in Merengue, Salsa and Mambo for the UKA, the BATD, the NATD and for 20 years, the IDTA. He also wrote the course guide for BA (Hons) Acting 19th Century Social Dance & 20th Century Dance for the UKA (United Kingdom Alliance of Professional Teachers of Dancing) of which he is a Fellow and Examiner with expertise in Historical Dance, Tango, Period Dance, Salsa, Swing Dance, Ballroom and Latin American, Ballet, Theatre Jazz, Musical Staging and Movement Direction.
The body of work of Paul Harris is a natural combination of his dual backgrounds of Acting and Dance. He studied Acting at Drama School and on graduating worked extensively as an Actor in theatre and television including national tours of three West End productions, playing the roles of Dill in To Kill A Mockingbird, A-Rab in West Side Story, Scranton Slim in Guys and Dolls directed by John Doyle and William H Bonney in Billy The Kid. Prior to studying Jazz, Ballet, Historical Dance and ultimately Acting, he began dancing at the age of eight and he was one of the most successful Juvenile and Junior competitors ever to compete in Ballroom dancing. He won the British Open Championships at the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival in both Ballroom and Latin American dancing, as well as becoming 3 times English Champion, United Kingdom, International and West European Champion and placing in the first 3 of every major competition, including the World Championship as an adult.
Extensive television credits include 2 BAFTA winning series, Bleak House and The Way We Live Now, as well as Great Expectations, Little Dorrit, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Miss Austen Regrets, Jane Eyre, South Riding, The Paradise, Desperate Romantics, The Sins, My Family, Call The Midwife and His Dark Materials, all for the BBC, as well as Lost in Austen, Poirot, Marple, A Touch of Frost, William and Mary The Quest 2, The Great Fire, Thanks for the Memories and The Halcyon, all for ITV. He also choreographed the live serpent banquet scene in Da Vinci's Demons for Starz Network America, Why Didn't They Ask Evans, directed by Hugh Laurie, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, starring Lucy Boynton and Mary and George for Starz US/Sky, starring Julianne Moore.
In the theatre he was the Choreographer and Movement Director on the 50th anniversary production of The Entertainer at the Old Vic starring Robert Lindsay and the Movement Coach on Gaslight with Rosamund Pike, also at the Old Vic. He choreographed Liberty and Dido Queen of Carthage at Shakespeare's Globe and he was guest Dance tutor on Two Gentleman of Verona for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Other theatre credits include Flight of the Swan at The Royal Opera House, A Family Affair and The Importance of Being Earnest for the Theatre Royal, Bath, the UK National Tour of Wallflowering. Tommy for The Royal Academy of Music, Romeo and Juliet for Oxford Shakespeare Company, Tick tick, Boom and the UK premieres of Thrill Me, Plaid Tidings, Miracle on 34th Street and Another Night Before Christmas. He did the Musical Staging for John and Jen, starring Rachel Tucker at Southwark Playhouse, which won 2 OFFIEs and Mariupol at the Edinburgh Festival 2025.
As a Dance Teacher, he was an Actors Centre Dance Tutor for 10 years and he has devised Dance content for BA and MA Acting courses for (and taught at), the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. He has coached and choreographed for World Champions in Showdance, Ballroom Dancing, Salsa, Argentine Tango, Latin American dancing and has taught several of the Professional Dancers on 'Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing With The Stars). He was the main Mentor in the Kick Boxer to Dancer episode of Channel 4's multi-award winning series, Faking It.
Paul Harris has made a significant contribution to the development of Salsa in the UK, as he is is the author of 'Salsa and Merengue - The Essential Step by Step Guide'. His book, which was the first published notation of Salsa, forms the basis of the standard technique book for study for Professional Dance Teacher examinations in Merengue, Salsa and Mambo for the UKA, the BATD, the NATD and for 20 years, the IDTA. He also wrote the course guide for BA (Hons) Acting 19th Century Social Dance & 20th Century Dance for the UKA (United Kingdom Alliance of Professional Teachers of Dancing) of which he is a Fellow and Examiner with expertise in Historical Dance, Tango, Period Dance, Salsa, Swing Dance, Ballroom and Latin American, Ballet, Theatre Jazz, Musical Staging and Movement Direction.
The body of work of Paul Harris is a natural combination of his dual backgrounds of Acting and Dance. He studied Acting at Drama School and on graduating worked extensively as an Actor in theatre and television including national tours of three West End productions, playing the roles of Dill in To Kill A Mockingbird, A-Rab in West Side Story, Scranton Slim in Guys and Dolls directed by John Doyle and William H Bonney in Billy The Kid. Prior to studying Jazz, Ballet, Historical Dance and ultimately Acting, he began dancing at the age of eight and he was one of the most successful Juvenile and Junior competitors ever to compete in Ballroom dancing. He won the British Open Championships at the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival in both Ballroom and Latin American dancing, as well as becoming 3 times English Champion, United Kingdom, International and West European Champion and placing in the first 3 of every major competition, including the World Championship as an adult.
