Lady Gaga‘s “Abracadabra” saw the singer return to the dark themes and pristine choreography of her early eras — and she’s show fans how she made it come to life. On Thursday, the pop star released a full video of herself and her over 40 dancers rehearsing the “Abracadabra” choreography.
Backed by the studio track, Gaga tackles the dance moves by Parris Goebel with ease, opening the performance dressed in a black latex bodysuit and wearing a white cape as she dances through her crew of dancers, before being joined by ballroom icon Honey Balenciaga early in the video.
“To me, this is how the magic is made. We set up each shot frame by frame,” Gaga wrote on Instagram with a clip. “Using the choreography, performance, and the way it was shot to tell the story.”
The new rehearsal gives a closer look at Gaga’s choreography, which spawned a TikTok trend of fans learning Gaga’s high-octane moves. (Gaga partnered with Mastercard on a dance contest for the song.)
The video splices clips of Gaga’s dancers doing backflips and somersaults while surrounding Gaga, before a cane choreography late in the song. The video seven shows Gaga wearing different hairstyles as preparation.
“We even rehearsed different wigs, makeup, and wardrobe to see how everything would move and what we needed to do to make the piece as impactful and clear as possible,” Gaga said on Instagram. “Working with Parris, our combined teams, and these amazing dancers was a beautiful experience and we put our heart and soul into it!”
Gaga recently broke down the meaning of “Abracadabra” and how she learned the choreography from Goebel, who helped her tackle the idea of a battling “inner dialogue” between Gaga’s good and evil sides in her moves.
“There’s this dance battle that’s led by the light and the dark sides of me. I can’t initiate or receive the challenge without my community and the community is so strong,” she told Elle UK. “We were a family, trying to find something really honest together. It’s wild to me watching the video now, this many weeks into the year because something that we made a good few months ago about resilience is coming out now, when we need it most.”
The new rehearsal video comes just a few days after Gaga unveiled the track list for Mayhem, out March 7, which includes songs such as “Killah” with Gesaffelstein, “Garden of Eden,” “Shadow of a Man,” and “Blade of Grass.” Gaga is also set to perform on Saturday Night Live the day after the album’s release.
From Rolling Stone US
