Fatima Robinson

In her two-and-a-half-hour interview, Fatima Robinson discusses her early interest in dance and hip-hop, and how she got her start dancing in and choreographing music videos. She talks about meeting John Singleton and appearing as an extra in his film Boyz N the Hood, and later working with Singleton when she choreographed the music video for Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time." She describes choreographing music videos for Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, Brandy, Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur, Busta Rhymes, and Aaliyah. Robinson then discusses working with the Backstreet Boys, choreographing the play Radiant Baby directed by George C. Wolfe, and how that experience helped her when she choreographed the films Dreamgirls and The Color Purple. She recalls taking classes at the New York Film Academy and how she began directing music videos. She talks about choreographing episodes of The Drew Carey Show and Black-ish, the TV movies Lackawanna Blues and Their Eyes Were Watching God, and being director of choreography for Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour. Robinson speaks about the craft of choreography, being a choreographer/executive producer on We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, and teaching a master class at the White House alongside Debbie Allen, Judith Jamison, and Virginia Johnson. She outlines choreographing the NBC special The Wiz Live!, being a creative director/segment producer on The Voice, and on working on several music videos and performances with Pharrell Williams. She recalls choreographing the halftime shows for Super Bowl XLV (Black Eyed Peas) and for Super Bowl LVI (Dr. Dre and West Coast hip-hop All-Stars), and choreographing American Soul, several performances for the Grammys, and Beyoncé's performance at the 2022 Oscars. She discusses her role as a segment producer for the 50th anniversary of hip-hop performances at the 2023 Grammys, and concludes with remarks on how the industry has changed since she first started out and advice to aspiring choreographers. Adrienne Faillace conducted the interview on October 5, 2023 in Ojai, CA.