Rihanna’s Super Bowl LVII halftime show performance still has the world talking (including radio pundit Howard Stern). Whether the public is raving about her pregnancy reveal, the clothes she wore (inspired by the late fashion icon André Leon Talley), the high-energy ASL performer that translated for her, or making memes about her floating set design, the “Work” singer is a trending topic across the internet — not just Spotify’s music charts.
Now, the Oscar nominee’s featured background dancers during Super Bowl LVII are providing fans with a behind-the-scenes look at how they prepared for the elaborate moving set design. One dancer by the name of Siah Helise, took to social media to share raw rehearsal footage with a lengthy caption outlining her personal journal as a dancer as well as how she and others were prepped for Rihanna’s set.
“Week one, I was learning these steps on the ground, and the next week I was told I would be dancing 60 ft in the motherf*cking air on a platform,” wrote the dancer, adding, “This footage is super rough this is one of the first couple of days of being on the platforms. This ish was NOT easy.” Ultimately, Helise was unable to perform at the Super Bowl due to COVID, but she wanted viewers of the big game to know how much work went into the 13-minute mini-concert.
Helise wasn’t the only performer sharing clips. The choreographer Parris Goebel, who’s worked with Rihanna in the past for her annual Fenty Fashion Show, also uploaded clips of rehearsal, thanking Rihanna for tapping her once again for such a major career milestone.
The Kansas City Chief players may not have been banned from watching Rihanna’s set live, but they now have both the full performance clip and behind-the-scenes teasers to look back on.