BEYONCE SINGLE LADIES SHOES MOD

Gatson had introduced Fosse’s work into Beyoncé’s repertoire before “Single Ladies”: The “Get Me Bodied” video is a direct tribute to the mod “Rich Man’s Frug” scene from Sweet Charity, and shades of the musical’s stand-out “Big Spender” number made it into her live show as well. The white, panoramic field initially intended for “If I Were A Boy” found a home on the second video shoot set, which would focus on putting a modern twist on Bob Fosse’s choreography. Though their experiences differ, they’re unanimous on two points: that Beyoncé is a genius, and that “Single Ladies” is a testament to not just that genius, but also her ability to cultivate it. Billboard also spoke to Ebony Williams, the dancer who completed the trio with Beyoncé and Everett Lorraine Schwartz, the designer behind Beyoncé’s bionic glove and Bobby Moynihan, who wrote and performed in one of the most affectionate (and hilarious) tributes to the song on Saturday Night Live. Perhaps most importantly, it set the precedent for an artist who’d go back to the drawing board, only to flip it over and stun her fans, long before setting the titanium standard for the visual album as a format.īelow, Nava, Gatson and Knight all speak on “Single Ladies,” their contributions to the visionary visual and its lasting imprint on pop as we know it. It showcased a pop star wielding the music video as a revolutionary medium on a level her peers couldn’t touch while reviving the form during a low point of relevance in the process. It served as the jumping-off point for some of her most formative creative partnerships. “If I Were A Boy” is a standout in her videography and puts her acting chops to work, but the seismic impact of “Single Ladies” went on to dwarf it as a cultural phenomenon. Premiered alongside “Boy” on MTV’s Total Request Live in October 2008, “Ladies” cemented Beyoncé’s status as a triple-threat who can marry the grace of a ballerina and the formidable bombast of a J-setting dance corps with a body roll. Either way, it's no wonder Bey has to catch her breath at the end of the take.The 100 Greatest Music Videos of the 21st Century: Critics' Picks Gatson remembers it took eight hours, while Bey herself once said the shoot lasted 12 hours. It's why the 3-minute, 18-second video took somewhere between eight and 12 hours to shoot. So instead of breaking the song up into parts, which is how music videos are typically shot, the dancers performed the entire dance at least 50 times all the way through, Gatson estimates.

Beyoncé wanted the video to feel like one single shot. On set, t he dancers performed the 'Single Ladies' routine at least 50 times in its entirety. According to Gatson: 'She kind of turned her heel over a little bit, but when we went over to give her ice, she said, 'Nobody's going to stop me from doing a Beyoncé video.'' (And they didn't.)ġ0. About 25 takes in, Ebony nearly injured her ankle - and kept on dancing. One of the backup dancers had an accident halfway through the shoot.

'It was funky, but the ballet training made the technique and the alliance look incredible.'ĩ. 'I think there's something about their ballet training that brought a different class to ,' Gatson says. Unlike Beyoncé herself, Ebony and Ashley were both trained heavily in ballet.

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