A big part of the appeal of Beyoncé’s Formation World tour has been her crew of dancers. More than just Bey’s back ups, for this tour in particular they’ve been brought to the forefront as part of an overall message of women joining together in strength and unity.
In a series of three videos sponsored by American Express, we get a back stage look at life as a dancer on the tour. In the first, titled “Kimmie + Ashley,” we meet Ashley Everett, who started dancing for Beyoncé in 2007 as a 17-year old, and became the dance captain is 2009. Next up is Kimmie Gee, Bey’s co-captain (imagine letting a stranger know that’s your job title!), who’s been dancing with Beyoncé since 2009.
In the video, Everett explained a typical day of work consists of at least “12 hours of non-stop physical dancing.” Also, check for Bey putting in work just like everyone else at 00:48!
In “Beyoncé: Tour Life” the dancers talked about the ups and downs of traveling on a tour bus and how on the one hand it creates challenges for resting between shows, but also serves as a literal vehicle for bonding. They also discussed using their days off to explore the cities they’re in.
“Show Day” opened with Gee, who doubles as a fit model for Beyoncé. They explained how they sometimes come in early when there are dance or costume changes and how the dancers gather before the performance and are joined by Bey, who says a group prayer.
In this video, we see Beyoncé meet in with her dancers in a circle just before show time. “Inhale love and energy, exhale doubt and negativity,” she says. “Father, mother, god, we thank you for everyone standing in the circle. We thank you for every obstacle in our lives. We thank you for tonight and ask that you give us strength and bless all our bodies, our muscles, our joints…..”
Phew! Oh the stories this crew will tell their grand kids one day!
Check out the videos below.
