From Britney Spears to 'Palm Royale': How famed choreographer Brooke Lipton crafted intricate Havana Nights scene (2024)

Abe Sylvia's Palm Royale series on Apple TV+, starring Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Allison Janney and Carol Burnett, impressed audiences with 1969 Palm Beach glamour, but one scene really took our breaths away. Thanks to famed choreographer Brooke Lipton, who famously danced with stars like Britney Spears and Janet Jackson, and worked on Glee, Palm Royale executed one of the most impressive dance scene we've seen on screen, now nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography For Scripted Programming.

In Episode 4 of Palm Royale titled "Maxine Rolls the Dice," we see Raquel Kimberly-Marco (Claudia Ferri) host the Havana Nights gala. This is far more than party, it's an intricate blend of movement with hundreds of people dancing, while the dialogue and storytelling never stops.

As Lipton explained, the key to nailing the execution of this scene was really getting the logistics right and mapping out every interaction for each actor, and corresponding dancers in the background.

"Where are they going start? Where are they going end? How many crisscrosses? How many camera angles do you need?" Lipton explained to Yahoo Canada. "Some of these kind of not fun logistic things you first ... have to dig into. ... We need a lot of these answers before we can even start to go into the movement."

What's even more impressive is that Lipton's planning was so spot on, there were very few notes.

"My job was to make it as easy as possible for them to shoot," Lipton said. "I wanted them to have the most movement and dancing, but you don't want to have one scene and then have to get that from five different angles. So constantly was trying to create for camera."

"One specific [place where] you can really see it, because there's almost no edit, is when Perry [played by Jordan Bridges] and Maxine are doing their little dance, ... and then she kind of turns to the camera and says 'frogs,' and then also their dancing just sort of keeps opening up. ... The trick was we had them moving perfectly, always to that camera angle. The creativity of all the movement had to be smart so that we could get it done for the day."

Lipton didn't have a lot of time with Wiig, meaning the actor really had to learn the movement pattern from a stand-in dancer. While Lipton had more time with the other actors, these dance doubles really crafted that framework for the entire cast featured in the scene.

"We did this really, really backwards," Lipton said. "A lot of times you meet the actors and actresses, and you get to know their quirks. Luckily this was like the most established group of actors that it wasn't like, 'Oh, who am I working with?' You kind of knew these legends. ... It's really fun to watch the rehearsal of my dancers creating the acting, and then to see that same movement is exactly how the actors did it."

"[Kristen] is so good and her dance double had so much fun being Kristen Wiig, not even Maxine yet. ... When Kristen saw [Nanci Anderson's] movement she was just like, 'Yeah, it was so right.' It was so right for her that she just was doing her lines and doing the movement that we just placed her in. Our only complication was we sometimes had her arms go above her head, but her costume didn't allow it. ... But that's why our side being prepared, and being an amazing actress, you couldn't have had a better combination."

'I can't wait until we actually have time to make him shine'

Now that we know Palm Royale has been renewed for Season 2, Lipton, who worked with Ricky Martin about 10 years earlier, is ready to take the music and TV icon to the next level in terms of possibly seeing him dance more in future episodes of the series.

"He comes in and you show him your work, and he's like, 'It's just brilliant.' I know that's not brilliant, but you just made me feel that way," Lipton said about Martin.

"He's just the most warm, loving person to ever work with. ... If anything, I can't wait until we actually have time to make him shine. He was very reserved. It was just small because it wasn't like he was showing off, but the next time we've got to get him really going."

Lipton also praised the show's creator, calling Abe Sylvia a "genius" and the most "incredible" and "articulate" collaborator.

"I felt so fortunate to be in his hands and then at the same time being like, Abe, he's a dancer, I really got to do this right," Lipton said. "He also gave me such freedom, there was no intimidation and never this sort of, 'No, it's not right.' ... Just understanding about the process and going for it was so great."

Brooke Lipton would put her dancing shoes back on for Britney Spears

While Lipton applauds the actors, dancers and crew involved to create a scene like the Havana Nights gala in Palm Royale, it can't be understated that these moments in the series were crafted by dance royalty, with Lipton being an absolute legend.

Britney Spears has been known for having incredibly talented dancers working with her, both in music videos and on tours, mostly with choreography by Wade Robson and Brian Friedman. Lipton is still one of our favourites from that era of professional dancers.

The first piece of choreography Lipton ever learned from the Spears catalogue was "I'm a Slave 4 U."

"I still know it all," Lipton shared. "I think it's the one that I get asked to do, or people always want to learn and I'm like, 'Do you know how hard this is?!'"

"Even now Brian will put something together, we performed at a 15-year anniversary. It's still just my heart and that group was my heart. It was my favourite."

Lipton may have transitioned to become an impeccable choreographer now, but Spears is the one artist Lipton wouldn't hesitate to dance with again.

"If someone was to get me to put my dancing shoes back on and say that they were going on tour, it would be Britney," she said. "I would come and dance with her in a heartbeat, because I want to hug her and I want to spin with her on stage, and let her light shine, because she deserves it."

While we'll wait to see if Lipton and Spears ever reunite, we absolutely want more of Lipton's exciting and engaging choreography in Palm Royale.