Features

It’s not every day that a man dislocates his shoulder for your viewing pleasure. However, that’s what happened scarcely ten minutes ago when we asked one of Leona Lewis’ backup dancers, Shuan Capewell, to show us his favourite dance move. He and his colleagues will be dancing up a storm around Leona during her hit Bleeding Love.

His fave move is called Voguing where you pop out your shoulder sockets! It was popularized by Maddona and born in Harlem, New York, he told us. Harlem born dance moves were favoured by the trio of her more than a dozen dancers. The Lindy Hop, a swing-dancing hybrid is dancer Ryan Chappell’s move of choice. He’s been dancing professionally for 10 years. Filippo Calvagno prefers to dance in a Latin style, he learned it in Germany of all places and has been salsa-ing since he was seven.

It’s good that Leona’s dancers have an interest and skill in such a variety of moves, because they’ll be using them all. The troupe will be doing what they call “Commercial,” dancing, “Its basically what ever is in the public eye right now, hip hop, jazz a mix,” says Capewell. The black-clad dancers will surround Leona as she prefroms. “It’s about her, the performance. We’re just creating an image. It’s more about creating a picture around her, and environment and drama.” Expect loads of lifts, the dancers have been practicing them in the spaces between the spa booths and the stage all afternoon.

You’d think they’d be flat out after all the throwing each other about in the air, but Capewell insists he’s not fatigued, “It doesn’t matter what size the girl you’re lifting is. It just depends upon how she carries herself. If the skinniest girl holds herself like a sack of potatoes, that’s what it will feel like.”