By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
June 25, 2000
Sure, Britney, Christina, ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys look pretty cool dancing around onstage at their concerts. But let’s face it–so could you if you had a personal choreographer showing you how to position every part of your body.
For boy bands and their female counterparts who have been dominating the pop charts for the past couple of years, dance is an integral part of the packaging. They make music you can dance to. And they’re expected to show off at their gigs and in their videos the moves that teenagers will want to copy.
So sit back and meet three of the hottest choreographers since Paula Abdul propelled the Laker Girls to fame.
Name: Fatima
Age: 28
Clients: Backstreet Boys, Aaliyah, Brandy, Michael Jackson, Will Smith, Whitney Houston, Mya, Mary J. Blige, Jessica Simpson.
Training: “As a little kid, I liked anything with rhythm and movement,” Fatima says. “I liked dancing and played double dutch. I never took any dance lessons. I always watched music videos and tried to duplicate the dance steps that I saw. I get kids telling me all the time that they learned to dance watching a Backstreet Boys video or whatever. That makes me feel really good.”
Extracurricular activities: Released an instructional dance video called “Go Fatima!” available on Buena Vista Home Video. Choreographed the Gap “khaki soul” commercial.
Spill it: So, do the Backstreet Boys actually have any rhythm? “They were a little unsure of themselves when I first started working with them six years ago,” she says diplomatically. “To make five people who aren’t dancers move all as one takes some time, but they’re amazing now. I go in and show them once and it’s done. They’ve improved 150 percent.”
Kudos: Aaliyah, on the other hand, is a natural dancer, Fatima says, adding, “She is an amazing dancer. Certain artists really like to dance, so they’ll do special things in their songs–like including a musical segment with no lyrics so that we can choreograph their routines a little more. When you don’t have that luxury, you have to really concentrate on where to put the choreography into a certain song, because you have to keep in mind that the artist will be out of breath singing otherwise.”
Signature moves: Fluid arms and smooth transitions.
Name: Wade Robson
Age: 17
Clients: ‘N Sync, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson.
Training: Robson taught himself to dance watching music videos. At 5, he joined a dance troupe in his native Australia and took some classes there.
Extracurricular activities: Producing songs for the likes of Spears, ‘N Sync and Mandy Moore. Acting in films such as “EdTV” and TV shows including “Picket Fences” and “Full House.”
You’re the teacher? “I started teaching dance classes at 12,” he says. “The dance studios knew me because I was choreographing my own rap duo Quo at the time. They would have me sub in for other instructors on the weekends and I got in that way. I had some trouble getting respect at first ’cause I was so young. Some people would come into class and see this little white boy and they’d just leave before they’d give me a chance. When I was asked to choreograph Britney’s tour last year, no one knew how old I was. They talked to my mother on the phone and assumed she was my wife. When Britney finally met me, she pulled me aside and said, `You’re a baby! What’re you doing?’ ”
Spill it: Did ‘N Sync shoot you any ‘tude when you were showing them how to dance? “It was a strange first couple of days, and after that it was wonderful,” Robson says. “When we first met, there was a slight problem and clash of personalities. Most of the time it would work out, but everything took a little longer ’cause they have five different opinions, and each is in a position of power. But they can dance.”
I will never do: “. . . a how-to video. I find them kind of funny.”
Signature moves: High-energy, syncopated steps.
Name: Tina Landon
Age: 34
Clients: Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony.
Training: Started dance lessons at age 3. As a teen, she was told by her instructor that she didn’t have the body type for dancing. Became a Laker Girl.
Extracurricular activities: Accepting choreography awards for videos such as Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ la Vida Loca” and Michael and Janet Jackson’s “Scream.”
Spill it: Is Aguilera the little diva everyone suspects she is? “No, not at all,” Landon said in Controversy magazine. “For somebody like Christina, who is belting out these tough songs, I’m not going to have her running back and forth and rolling around on the stage. Christina really knows how to move, and she’s really good at being sexy. So I can give her a bunch of sexy things to do and know it’s going to look good.”
Kudos:”With Janet, she doesn’t just keep her dancers in the background,” says Landon, who has toured with Jackson. “A lot of celebrities are intimidated by having either talented or good-looking people around them. With Janet, it only makes her that much more confident. We’re both tomboys. I could understand certain things that would make her feel uncomfortable. She also trusted me enough to know I wasn’t gonna let her go out there looking foolish.”
Signature move: Sexy gyrations and undulatons: See Ricky Martin shake his bon bons and guess who taught him.
Utilize a choreographer, that is. Their publicist didn’t know. And the boys have said all along that dancing isn’t a big component of their shows.
“I’ve heard interviews by other groups, and they were talking about what fans could expect at their concerts–dancing, lights and just all that stuff,” band member Drew Lachey told the Sun-Times last year. “But they never mentioned good music or great vocals.
“For us, it’s all about the music. We don’t dance around that much and we’re the first to say that that’s not our strength. Our strength is our vocals.”
That was then. This is now. Backstreet Boys’ choreographer Fatima–who also works with Jessica Simpson, girlfriend of Drew’s older brother and bandmate Nick Lachey, says, “They did ask me to refer a choreographer to them. I couldn’t do it myself ’cause it’s a conflict of interest for me.”
