Award-winning dancer from Maidenhead ‘comes full circle’ in new Wicked film

A dancer from Maidenhead is on the big screen playing a Munchkin in the new hit musical film Wicked. Clarissa Hagan’s hip-hop dance career has spanned more than 20 years, having performed in the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony and as a backup dancer for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. She was on a break from the stage due to injury so Clarissa was hesitant when a choreographic assistant from the Wicked film camp remembered her from her ‘heyday’. “I didn’t think that happens in real life, that only happens in films right?,” Clarissa told the Advertiser. “She was younger [than me] when I was at the top of my game years ago and remembered me in the hip-hop world. “I was in two minds because it had been so long since I had done a big dance gig. “I was a bit rusty. I was nervous and had to think long and hard before saying yes.” But Clarissa now has no regrets about signing on for the Hollywood blockbuster and said, ‘the fact she remembered my accolades from back in the day was a real honour’. “It was so worth it – it was a leap of faith because...