For choreographers in the pop music realm, the chance to work with a superstar artist can come once in a lifetime. For Ryan Heffington, it was recently a twice-in-one-month opportunity. Two of his projects are already among the most talked-about visuals of the new year: the music video for “Aperture,” the first single of Harry Styles’ new Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally era; and the Apple Music commercial for Bad Bunny’s upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance.
Heffington is no stranger to the pop world. Long known in Los Angeles as the charismatic founder of The Sweat Spot (a now-closed studio that attracted a wide community of dancers and non-dancers alike), the choreographer and director’s diverse credits range from choreographing Sia’s now-iconic “Chandelier” music video to Chappell Roan’s 2025 Grammys performance to an Apple commercial with fka twigs; currently, he’s in the midst of putting the finishing touches on longtime collaborator Florence and the Machine’s upcoming tour, and is anticipating the third season of Euphoria, which will once again feature dance sequences he created (in 2022, Heffington won the outstanding choreography for scripted programming Emmy for the show).
Styles was no stranger to integrating movement into his visuals — he danced memorably in the videos for his “Treat People With Kindness” and “As It Was” — and Heffington came into his orbit via Styles’ creative director, Molly Hawkins, who followed his work. “I love Harry’s lack of boundaries as an artist, and as a male artist [in particular],” says Heffington.
Ryan Heffington at the 2022 Creative Arts Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 4, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Michael Buckner/VarietyIn Bad Bunny, he found another boundary-pushing collaborator. The Super Bowl Halftime Show commercial, which offers a constantly rotating 360-degree view of the artist dancing with a melting pot of partners, not only gelled perfectly with Heffington’s own ultra-inclusive artistic ethos (its tagline is “the world will dance”) but offered him a casting dream; Bad Bunny’s partners range from LA vogueing experts to Puerto Rican salsa dancers to Sean Monaghan, the leader of LA’s popular Stud Country line dancing club night.
Taking a break at the end of a day in London working with Florence, Heffington spoke to Billboard about the pleasant surprises working with Styles and Bad Bunny — and how both projects felt like a form of protest.
Coming into working with him for the first time, what was your sense of Harry’s capability as a mover?
I came up with something that was technically challenging, fast, and for some reason, I didn’t hesitate when it came to introducing this movement to him. It was incredible to watch him digest the concept of the movement and then get into it — it was very impressive how natural but professional he was, and such a hard worker. I needed a break! [Laughs.] But he was like, “Let’s keep going.”
He just progressed so quickly, and the questions that he had, his determination, made it one of the best jobs. I think he really appreciates my style, so he was like, “I’m doing this, and I’m going to be up for it,” and he just rose to the occasion. And it was kind of magic in that studio, watching him flower as a dancer in a very short time.
Harry Styles and Danny Dolan in Styles’ “Aperture” music video. Courtesy of YouTubeWhat about this song in particular made it really right for you to work on? It’s a pretty unique first single.
I mean, upon first listen, I was like, “This is a banger,” especially on the dance floor. I was inspired to move, and not in a generic way. The chorus, “We belong together” — with what’s happening in America, it felt like, “This is important,” this is a great sentiment to put into the world.
I felt like he’s lived a lot of life between his last album and this album. And I love reaching [artists] and collaborating with them at that point in their lives — it just feels so right, like these individuals are ready to be opened up and challenged and just take risks.
Was this particularly difficult movement for him to take on?
Absolutely, and not even in an “abstract” way. It was just technically hard, a hard piece. And he made it look so easy. The weight changes, it’s quick, and the musicality — I like to bounce between lyrics and beats in terms of timing. And he just got it. It just felt like it was like in his blood from the first time getting through it.
The overall concept and mood of the video is a bit unusual — it starts out rather ominous, then feels a bit creepy when the mysterious stranger shows up, then erupts into a bit of humor and catharsis with a big dance break.
The whole concept of the video is so surprising. It’s a horror film, but then when they have a dance break, it does become humor. But I didn’t want the dance break to read as funny, you know, I wanted it to read as cool as f–k, and have some weight to it. [You wonder] who is the aggressor, and I think when they get on the dance floor there’s this energetic challenge between the two of them.
Who is the dancer playing the stranger? He reminded me a bit of the guy from The Room [Tommy Wiseau].
[Laughs.] That was a reference, absolutely. He’s a great friend and student of mine, Danny Dolan. What I love about Danny’s quality is, he didn’t grow up dancing, so there is this human quality to how he dances. I just wanted someone who didn’t look like they had technique that would override the character or the movement itself. And I think due to [Danny] having that prosthetic mask on, Harry had an opportunity to express and lead a little bit more. They complemented each other very well.
Harry Styles, “Aperture” Courtesy of YouTubeThe Dirty Dancing-style lift is getting a lot of attention; what was behind your decision to include that?
I think that lift in this context is refreshing. Usually I don’t like to be inspired so directly — if it were to be, like, a loving duet, and we did the Dirty Dancing lift? Absolutely not, I would never do that. But because they’re at odds with each other and it’s like, violence, I was like, “This makes complete sense in an abstract world.”
It looks like an incredibly taxing video for Harry, and the line between stunts and choreography is blurry at times. How much of it all was he doing himself?
You know, I love that people don’t know how much he did. That means it worked, right? However, he was eager to do everything, and certain things are just dangerous, so, you know, we had to pull him back a little bit. We didn’t have much time, and he was just so f–king committed.
Do you now think of him as a dancer?
I just see him as a professional. I think he could literally do anything he set his mind to, and dance happens to be one of them. That’s just who he is; sure, he’s a dancer, but I think that his talent is bigger than that. Dance is one thing he can master in seconds, and that’s really inspiring.
Speaking of amazing performers, let’s talk about Benito. Your work with him on this commercial seems like your personal ethos incarnate: this idea that dance really is for everyone, that anyone and everyone can be a dancer.
When I read the treatment, I was in love with it, just based on this idea of celebrating humanity as a whole; it really resonated with me. When we sat down, we talked about how technical it would be, but more than that how expressive and humans-enjoying-humans it should be, and the audience should enjoy it, the people on screen should enjoy it.
The ethos of the job was: I want to see people enjoying themselves, and not faking, just being real people. This whole idea of “Bad Bunny dances with the world” is so important, and it’s what we need right now in this political climate. I was like, great, this is my protest. Let’s go make this beautiful, beautiful commercial that really amplifies loving one another at this point.
Bad Bunny, “Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Trailer” Courtesy of Apple Music/YouTubeSo many people are saying that watching it made them cry from happiness...
My direction was like, “Do you.” Just articulate connection between people, like the abuela — touch his face, you’re not related, and he’s younger than you, you have so much knowledge to pass on to him but you also honor him for being young and talented. And [you see] Benito being able to flow in terms of working with all these different people, and the way that different people move.
I love that he’s so real as well, in response to these people — because we didn’t have him in rehearsal, right? We had him at the shoot, and he did an incredible job. I was there to tell him, “This person is probably going to do something like this — play with them. Enjoy what they’re doing, they’re not like you but try to do something that they’re doing.” He’s like, “Let’s go.” Bad Bunny is one of the biggest talents in the world, and he was like, “I’m down.” It felt really nice to be in his presence.
To what degree was the movement he was doing improvised?
For the most part it was more improv on his end and I directed the dancers a little bit, just wanting to see their style. And I was like, “Hey, Benito, they’re gonna do some moves and if it feels good, do it with them, share and learn from them.” His ego window is rolled down, you know? He doesn’t seem pompous, maybe not even like the star of it — there’s this beautiful equality throughout the whole piece.
You spoke about it as being like a protest; it also seems like a rebuke to anyone who feels he wasn’t the right choice as halftime performer, subtly demonstrating just how diverse and wide his audience really is.
You’re seeing what we do have in common as people. We shot him before the [winter] holidays and I was talking to him, and he’s like, “Yeah, I’m just gonna hang out with my family, my abuelas, all my cousins.” And I’m like, “How is that?” He’s like, “I’m Benito when I walk through that door.” He’s not a star — he’s a nephew, he’s a son or a grandson. It really humanized him for me. He’s just charming. And you can tell that he loves life.
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