Harry Styles had a big night on Sunday, taking home two Grammys including the coveted Album of the Year for Harry's House. Styles even got the opportunity to perform his hit "As It Was' on the Grammys stage, but the performance didn't go quite as planned.
For 10 days, the song's performers practiced and finely tuned difficult choreography that required dancing on a spinning turntable, a challenge in itself. Some dancers noted by the final day of rehearsal, all the pieces came together and the run through was "gorgeous."
Cut to Sunday night in front of a live audience and viewers at home.
Dancer Brandon Mathis shared what happened next on TikTok.
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Performers including Styles and band members took their places, but as soon as the song began panic set in.
The turntable started on cue, but it was spinning in the opposite direction!
Given their hours of practice and executing intricate footwork and balance techniques on a spinning dance floor in only one direction, the dancers and Styles had to think quickly on their feet—literally—to try to create a similarly stunning piece while in reverse.
Dancer Brandon Mathis shared:
"The moment the curtain opened, and it was time to perform, the turntable started spinning in reverse.
"Backward. Freaking all of us out on live television. And 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 [the other] way."
"And in real time, we have to troubleshoot and try to do a complete piece in reverse. Talk about professionalism."
Dancer Dexter echoed the number was flawless and beautiful, "amazing." They shared they tried to get the attention of the technician but to no avail.
In the end, Dexter revealed they were able to come together for some of the key moments and even Styles had to do his part in reverse while singing.
"Luckily, we worked together and did our best and got to one cool formation in time for the overhead shot but had to kind of change the rest, and Harry did his best to be able to walk in reverse and everything while he was singing."
WARNING: Contains NSFW language
It turns out Styles himself was subtly trying to get the attention of the technician to reverse the rotation, but like the others' attempts his also went unnoticed.
Many on Twitter applauded the dancers and Styles for their dedication to the piece and for continuing the performance while having to adjust in real time.
Cohesively nailing the choreography on a turn table is in itself a demanding undertaking, but to attempt to do it in reverse on the fly is absolutely commendable.
Several also chimed in they would love to see the performance as it was intended.
The dancers worked tirelessly to create a performance they were unable to showcase.
Kudos to all of them for their passion and dedication to their craft.
You can watch the full altered on the fly performance below.
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