Famed choreographer Fatimah Robinson will soon be choreographing a whole new routine, maneuvering around cameras to capture her life for a new NBC dance drama. Fresh off the success of The Wiz, Robinson is teaming up with the live TV adaptation's producers once again to work on this new project. Producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan seem to have a lot of respect for Robinson as a artist, as evidenced by Zadan singing her praises after tapping her to do choreography for The Wiz.

"We worked with her on the Oscars and knew she was special," Zadan told The Hollywood Reporter. "We hired Fatima Robinson, who is not a Broadway choreographer, to do authentic black dancing. She comes from hip-hop and a lot of her point of view on dance is very gritty and authentic and raw."

Indeed, the moves seen in The Wiz are anything but classic Broadway, featuring some street style moves that were unique and a refreshing addition to the TV reboot. To see the Tinman do "The Dab," a current dance move that even has its own song, kept the reboot current and fresh. In fact, Ne-Yo's dabbing dance moves during the song "Slide Some Oil to Me" was the most tweeted moment during the live airing of The Wiz, garnering 15,218 tweets per minute.

In addition to the aforementioned Oscars and The Wiz productions, Robinson's work can also be seen on the TV show The Voice, the Grammys, as well as movies such as Dreamgirls and Ali, and the music videos of talents such as Michael Jackson (we all remember the famous "Remember the Time" choreography), Aaliyah (that "Rock the Boat" choreography had every girl working on their hip thrust in the bedroom mirror), Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Sade and more.

Robinson's show is supposed to be set in the 1990s, when street dancing was really coming into its own as a part of pop culture. It was also around this time that Robinson's career was taking her from performer to choreographer, so viewers will be able to get glimpse of what that process was like for the dancer. The show is still in the early development stages, but with Meron and Zadan signed on as executive producers and Robinson set to executive produce and choreograph, it's pretty safe to say that this will be a show worth at least checking out.

Watch Ne-Yo get his dab on below.

 

Join the Discussion