A choreographer and dance instructor who trained Kate and worked on the Tour of Life in 1979, Van Laast also appears in the videos for the songs Hammer Horror and The Wedding List, and — apparently — as the back of Harry Houdini on the cover of the album The Dreaming.

Anthony Van Laast was born in Sussex, UK. He received dance training at the London School of Contemporary Dance, and both performed and choreographed with the Company. In 1979, he left the company to pursue a career as a freelance choreographer and teacher. He worked with Kate Bush on the Tour of Life in 1979. He appeared in the music videos for Hammer Horror and The Wedding List. He was also (apparently) the back of Harry Houdini on the cover of the album The Dreaming.

Among his prominent stage works as a choreographer are the musicals Song & Dance (1982, West End), Annie Get Your Gun (1986, West End), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1993), Mamma Mia! (2001), Bombay Dreams (2004 and Sister Act (2009 in the West End and 2011 in Broadway).

His television and film work includes the concert Sarah Brightman: Symphony in Vienna (2008) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010). He has choreographed for Holiday on Ice, including ‘Extravaganza’ in 1997, ‘Hollywood’ (2002), and he is the artistic director for ‘Mystery’ (2009).

Van Laast was awarded the MBE for Services to Dance and Choreography in 1999.