Mariah Carey’s micro-movement performances have become a thing of beauty, like watching a snowflake fall ever so slow... incredibly slow... very slow... but look at it!... through the air on a cold winter day.
Carey’s stage shows are presently a test of will and fortitude in terms of singing and dancing. A particularly outstanding Vegas performance in July set a gold standard for half-assed slackers in the world who aim to try less.
Surely, Mariah Carey could move additional muscles, but she is Mariah Carey. Anyone would be entertained by this.
Isn’t performing just “performing” anyway?
For clarity on this, here’s Carey’s former choreographer and creative director Anthony Burrell, who told Complex in a recent interview, “Mariah is clear: when she doesn’t wanna do something, she doesn’t do it. She’s performing with lackluster and no fucks given, and it’s taking away her star.” For one, Burrell blames her unseasoned team, which he feels is “playing things by trial and error” and taking shortcuts. Carey fired Burrell in January after the sabotaged New Year’s Eve performance disaster/gift.
Burrell explained the obvious challenge, which is that Mariah is a vocalist, “not a mover first.” With that type of artist, he says, “The priority is not teaching them 100 counts of eight, or endless routines. I wanted to give Mariah a modern push to revamp her, give her a fresher, more modern feel, make her more aware of her body and her lines, and not look like her feet hurt when she’s walking.” Burrell adds, “You’re a legend. But you don’t care, your team doesn’t care. They’re not guiding and directing her. She’s back to where she was before. It’s not like she’s never looked this bad before; I just stepped her game up.”