Harry Styles has been the talk of the 2023 Grammy Awards between his album of the year win for “Harry’s House” and his performance of “As It Was.”
If things looked off to you during the performance, it’s because it was, according to the dancers.
Dancer Brandon Mathis revealed on his Instagram Story earlier this week that the stage “started spinning in reverse” from the direction everyone had rehearsed.
“There was nothing we could do to stop it. So, after a week of rehearsing this piece perfectly going this way, the moment it’s time to perform, it starts going this way. And in real time, we have to troubleshoot and try to do a complete piece in reverse,” he added.
USA TODAY has reached out to reps for Styles and the Recording Academy.
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Choreographer Dexter Da Rocha also said in a since-deleted TikTok that they initially practiced for 10 days with the turntable “counter-clockwise” and had gotten the routine “spotless and beautiful,” per Vulture and Variety.
“When the turntable went the opposite direction, dancers tried to subtly get the technician’s attention to no avail. “So, to switch all those patterns on the spot, having not even walked in that direction … like it sounds it’d be easy to walk, it’s like a treadmill, but I swear to god, since it’s circular, it pulls you in different directions and it’s such a special type of balance,” Da Rocha said.
The choreographer praised fellow dancers for working together to get “one cool formation,” adding, “Harry did his best to walk and reverse everything while he was singing and reverse his entire duet which is incredible.”
Styles received two Grammys Sunday, including album of the year and best pop vocal album for “Harry’s House.”
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In a brutally honest review of the singer’s performance, USA TODAY’s Patrick Ryan placed it second-to-last at No.11. “Styles swapped his eye-popping jumpsuit from the red carpet for a frilly, metallic ensemble, hopping and darting across a giant turntable with his street clothes-clad backup dancers,” Ryan wrote.
He added, “The crooner sounded understandably tired, given his rigorous tour schedule this past year, and was further saddled by sound issues.”
Story Credit: usatoday.com