(CNN) — If Harry Styles and his backing dancers seemed a little out of sorts during their Grammy performance this Sunday, there’s a good reason.
The bright red turntable the group danced on (similar to the one featured in Styles’ “As It Was” music video) spun in the wrong direction after 10 days of rehearsals, according to some of the dancers.
Harry Styles performing at the Grammys on Sunday. Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS
Styles, who won album of the year for “Harry’s House,” and his dancers looked a bit confused and almost zombie-like as they began their routine.
One dancer, known as Dexdexrevolution, posted details of the rehearsal and behind-the-scenes videos, only to return after the show with an update on what happened.
“I just wanted to share a story about our performance yesterday with Harry Styles at the Grammys,” Dexter said, explaining that the designers made “this beautiful piece on this moving turntable” for 12 people.
“We rehearsed for ten days… making these beautiful formations,” added the dancer, describing the moves as “transforming,” “undulating” and “artistic,” all performed counterclockwise.
In dress rehearsal, it was “flawless, beautiful,” Dexter said, explaining that making the patterns while on a moving stage and having “all this spatial awareness is a total challenge.”
But the night of the show, “we go onstage for the performance, the performance starts, and the turntable starts going the wrong way.”
Although the group tried to get the attention of the rig technician while Styles sang, they had no luck.
“Changing all these patterns on the fly without ever having walked in that direction,” was difficult, Dexter said, adding that the dancers were being pulled in different directions.
“Harry did his best and tried to walk backwards and backwards throughout his duet,” added Dexter.
Although some critics called the performance “lethargic” or “boring”, the dancer said that “we were trying to stay on our feet”.
Brandon Mathis, another dancer who performed with Styles on Sunday, said in an Instagram story that the mistake on set confused the dancers.
“What they don’t know is that the moment the curtain rose and it was time to act, our turntable started spinning backwards,” Mathis said in an Instagram story. “Backwards. Scaring us all on live TV, and we couldn’t do anything to stop it. In real time, we had to fix the problem and try to do a whole piece backwards. Talk about professionalism.”
Mathis captioned the post: “Things they don’t teach you: How to foresee the impossible and still pull it off.”
