In recent weeks, millions of people around the world watched Julia, who was able to dance along to the song Lush Life flawlessly during a performance by the Swedish singer Zara Larsson. That makes Lola Beckers (30) from Middelbeers proud: she is the one who came up with the choreography. “I never expected this piece to go viral.”
Ed Sheeran, Kylie Minogue and now Zara Larsson. Choreographer and dancer Lola Beckers has been working with world-famous artists for years, but she had never experienced what happened in recent weeks.
Zara Larsson performed in the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam in mid-November. In the audience was Julia Coster, who was asked on stage to dance along to the hit Lush Life. And it turned out: Julia knew the choreography perfectly. The moment was filmed, shared on TikTok and within one day the video had more than ten million viewers.
“Many friends immediately forwarded it to me,” says Lola. “It was really bizarre to see. It was quickly picked up and within 24 hours it was in the news everywhere, not just in the Netherlands.”
Lola provides the choreography for much of Zara Larsson’s show. She is working, especially before the tour starts. Then Lola comes up with the dance steps and practices with the dancers and artist. “After that, my work is often done. Then I can kind of sit back and sometimes fine-tune the show.”
“I thought it was the most thoughtless piece of choreography in the entire show.”
But sometimes things turn out very differently than planned. “I never thought that this piece of dance would go viral. We came up with it during the rehearsal days, right at the end. We were already very tired and we were mainly having fun, swinging a bit.” Then the dance arose spontaneously. Lola laughs, “I think it’s the most thoughtless piece of choreography in the entire show.”
It’s not very difficult, says the choreographer. “That’s why my first reaction to it going viral was: no, not this piece! But afterwards I think it went down well, because it’s quite easy. Anyone can do it. Simplicity is key.”
It turns out: she now sees videos of people from Australia, Tokyo and Shanghai who are all participating. The famous actor Timothée Chalamet also danced to Lola’s choreography.
And is it still bad that it is mainly about Julia and the dance, and not about Lola? “No, it is part of my job that I am not in the spotlight. I am especially proud. I have worked hard for this and it gives me satisfaction when you see what kind of platform it gets.”
In this video you can see Julia’s dance and an interview on American TV:
