Kanye West brought one surprise after another when he appeared at the VMAs on Sunday night. First, he freely talked for seven minutes (though he was only allotted four) when he took the stage, and even made a few digs at Taylor Swift. Then, when he finally revealed his new music video, there were a few shocks in that, too: an insanely toned Teyana Taylor starred as its featured dancer, her fiancé, Iman Shumpert of the Cleveland Cavaliers, made an appearance, and the closing scene showed Taylor with a cat face. Like many of West's works, "Fade" left the audience asking questions. Luckily the video's choreographer and artistic director Jae Blaze spoke to Pitchfork to explain a few things.
Apparently West, whom Blaze calls "a creative genius," had a very particular approach to creating the video. "When he came in, he told us, 'I like this particular move, but I want to take it to the next level. Show me what you can do on top of this move.' He has something specific on his mind, as a visionary. And we have to translate that onto Teyana's body," she said.
As Taylor's routine shows, the choreography incorporated a variety of styles from hip-hop to dancehall to waacking. And even though all that dancing—mixed in with the sweaty, hazy gym setting—yielded comparisons to Flashdance, that probably wasn't even intentional.
"You know what the funny thing is? Everyone is just referencing Flashdance, and that is a great conversation to be in because the movie was epic. I mean, she just took Flashdance to 2016, if you want to put it like that. She brought it to a generation of some people who many not have even seen the movie before! She made it relevant and current right now. Her body is amazing. Her dancing was amazing. She's just a beast," Blaze said.
And as for the cat face, Blaze likens the feline motif to Taylor herself. "I think the vision behind that was how amazing Teyana is, and how she's been on the rise, and how she's working, and you are now seeing her blossom into this fierce lioness, this fierce cat," she said. "She has a beautiful daughter. You know, the lioness always protects her baby," she added. "I think it really is about her coming into her fierceness."
Subscribers can watch the full video on Tidal.
