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Was it difficult to get Rihanna to dance super sexy? Not at all! Rihanna is amazing and she's naturally not afraid of her body and her sexuality. We were there till 4AM each day and call times were at 10AM. On-set experience: It was a very very long, two-day shoot. Then a few months later, when they decided to shoot the video, I just came on board. Then they though of this song and were like, "Oth'than you'd be perfect to choreograph this record." So I came in and choreographed "Pour It Up" for the tour. Performance: Fanny Pak dance crew, 2008 to present for Hozier Missy Elliott Ellen DeGeneres Primetime Emmy Awardsīoth photos by Rob Daly, courtesy of Lawsonĭon’t miss a single issue of Dance Teacher.Casting story: creative director gave me a call when they were getting ready for the Diamonds tour. In the end, I found a group of friends to work with and that became more rewarding than dancing behind an artist or on an awards show.” DTĮducation: Dance Spectrum studio in Calgary, Canada Triple Threat Dance Convention, under Carolina Lancaster and Kelly and Dorie Konno Trying to learn over a sea of girls in lingerie, I felt like, ‘One of these things is not like the other.’ I didn’t understand at that time the advice that I give now, to be unique and individual. I thought I should be taking certain classes and auditioning for certain jobs.
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I think a lot of young dancers feel this-small fish, big pond. “I suffered from a major identity crisis when I moved to Los Angeles. And it’s the evolution and the collaboration with her that is the beautiful thing of where the piece ends up.”įiguring out her place in L.A. I’m not going to get it perfect the first time. But I realized, ‘No, no, no,’ that I needed to be unattached to things being a certain way. Lawson, posing for a creative photography sessionĬhoreographing for Madonna “In the beginning, if she didn’t like something, I would take it very personally. Open-mindedness and versatility are two other very important Madonna-dancer qualities.” She wants people who are strong in both body and mind. With Madonna, she doesn’t need you to be beautiful or shaped a certain way. I love when someone walks into an audition, not trying to impress me or give me what they think I want, but just showing me who they are. On casting dancers “I always look for unique, confident individuals. “We’ll work on it together until we find it.” It’s a far cry from her humble studio upbringing in Canada, but Lawson says she’s not intimidated by working for such a megastar: “Like any job, I want to execute what the client has asked for or the artist wants,” she explains. And today, she’s choreographing Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour, which kicked off in September. Soon, Lawson was teaching the same combo to dancers auditioning for a weeklong workshop, at the Material Girl’s request.
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“My friend and I made up a little combination to ‘Skin,’ and that combo made it to Madonna’s eyeballs, on her computer,” says the Los Angeles–based choreographer. Four years after the fact, Megan Lawson still sounds a little incredulous when she explains how Madonna discovered her: on YouTube.