How Harry Styles’ ‘Aperture’ dance took him ‘out of his comfort zone’

Harry Styles’ choreographer for Aperture music video and the BRIT Awards performance helped get the singer “out of his comfort zone” with the energy-filled dance.

Ryan Heffington, who shot to stardom by choreographing the iconic 2014 music video for Sia's Chandelier, praised Harry, for his dedication and for being brave enough to take on the routine, after years of shying away from dancing.

During his time in One Direction, the band purposefully avoided choreographed dancing to avoid fitting the traditional boy band formula.

However, Harry delighted fans last week when he opened the BRITs with a high-octane performance of Aperture with a troupe of dancers, in his long-awaited return to the stage after almost three years.

And now Ryan has shared details about working with the star on the music video choreography, saying the routine was “about Harry moving out of his comfort zone”.

Speaking to The Times, he called the former One Direction member “a kind human and a really hard worker” and even revealed that Harry didn’t want a stunt double as “he wanted to do it all”.

Explaining his inspiration, he said: “My idea was to physicalise the music. He would sing a word and the melody of that word was expressed through the body. He loved it”.

While Ryan revealed that they only had a couple of days to rehearse for the BRITs performance, he recalled Harry never complained even if the routine got tough.

“He never wanted a break, he just wanted to learn it and do the best he could. The dancers at the Brits were huffing, puffing and sweating… Harry just nailed it,” Ryan gushed.

Following the viral reaction to Harry Styles’ moves, Ryan added that it showed a lot of courage for the star to continue to try new things, when people are so quick to judge.

“Harry’s incredible. It’s hard to learn in the public eye; expectations are so high for them to be the best dancer, the best singer… We’ve seen numerous cases of people trying things and getting slammed. But I think he’s older and more confident and grounded now,” the choreographer concluded.