Levanna McLean (born between 1996 and 1998)[1][2][3] known as the 'Northern Soul Girl', is a British disc jockey and dancer.
Life and career edit
McLean became a YouTube star after uploading numerous videos of her dancing to northern soul music.[1] The videos were filmed by her mother, Eve Arslett, and both were stunned by the popularity of the videos, some garnering nearly a quarter of a million views.[4] In 2013, she danced to Pharrell Williams' song "Happy" in one of those music videos and in 2014 she co-starred with him at the BRIT Awards, broadcast live from the O2 Arena in London. Williams had previously sourced dancers for the performance and personally contacted McLean on Twitter.[3] She has since been involved in promoting the British Northern soul scene.[2][5] In 2015, McLean compiled the track selection for the compilation Express Your Soul.[6] She is featured on the cover and inside of the 2015 compilation Move On Up – The Very Best of Northern Soul.[7] For the second edition Move On Up Volume Two – The Very Best of Northern Soul, released in 2016, she contributed a text for the CD case and can be seen again on the cover and inside.[8]
Levanna McLean is based in Bristol but has been a disc jockey at concerts throughout Europe, among others at the music festival Baltic Soul Weekender.
Discography edit
Compilations edit
- Express Your Soul (2015)
- Move On Up Volume Two – The Very Best of Northern Soul (2016)
References edit
- ^ a b Waring, Charles (4 March 2015). "Northern Soul Girl – Levanna McLean, the new face of Northern Soul, talks!". Soul&Jazz&Funk. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ a b Howick, Alexander (28 November 2021). "The 25-year-old getting young people into Northern Soul". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ a b Womack, Alexandra (22 February 2014). "Winterbourne student dances with Pharrell Williams at the BRIT awards". Gazette. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Levanna McLean". SHOWstudio – The Home of Fashion Film. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "BBC Radio 6 Music – The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show – Northern Soul Girl Levanna McLean". BBC Radio 6 Music. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Various – Express Your Soul". Discogs. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Various – Move On Up – The Very Best Of Northern Soul". Discogs. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Various – Move On Up Volume Two – The Very Best Of Northern Soul". Discogs. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2022.