In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Tonight, Janet Jackson’s creative director, Gil Duldulao shared some behind-the-scenes secrets about the State of the World Tour.
Duldulao tells E.T. that it is currently “crunch time,” as the 56-city tour kicks off on Sept. 7. They are currently spending over 16 hours a day in the studio perfecting the choreography and show logistics.
Here is the breakdown of a typical day getting ready for the tour, as descibed by Duldulao:
Morning:
“We arrive at the studio, we stretch, we work out with our trainer for about an hour to get their stamina up, keep them in good fitness. We do a lot of staging, because me as a creative director, I’m always questioning everything I do… it has to be perfect. So, there’s a lot of staging going on.”
Afternoon:
“Then, I like to see the show full out, back to back. I do this thing called ‘honorary,’ where I call out one dancer to do a whole number by themselves in front of me, Janet and the crew. We film them on videotape so they can watch and correct themselves.
We have a lot of notebook time, where [the dancers] are writing notes every day. I give them, or my assistant will give them, a lot of notes for staging. In the meantime, my assistant is working with Janet on the side.”
Night:
“After all note taking, we run the show again. Eventually, and we’re in this phase right now, I’ll run it from top to bottom — an hour-and-45-minute show maybe five times in a row. And we repeat that process until everything is perfect and everyone’s clear. Then, I know some of the dancers go home, Janet as well, and they get on the treadmill after rehearsals at like 11 p.m. at night. So, it never stops!”
We can’t wait for Janet Jackson to bring the State of the World Tour to Golden 1 Center on Oct. 3!
