Born To Dance

She’s Got the Beat. Meet the Rwandan Choreographer to the Stars: This Is Sherrie Silver

- Emily Zemler

One can’t help but forgive the charming 24-year-old choreographer, who hasn’t spent three nights in the same place since bursting onto the global scene last summer as the dance mastermind behind the explosive, racially charged music video “This Is America” for Childish Gambino (actor Donald Glover’s musical alter ego). She showed up for her InStyle shoot straight off a plane from New Zealand, where she had performed with Glover at his experimental PHAROS festival, and is leaving the next day to join him for meetings in Los Angeles. So, what’s their connection? “Working with Donald allows me to be weird,” explains Silver. “As you can probably tell, I’m weird, but I like being different because that’s how you innovate.”

That carefree vibe is evident in Silver’s spirited dance videos, which she’s filmed in more than 34 countries and continue to attract millions of views to her YouTube channel. Now other stars, such as Rita Ora, who she worked with on the Victoria’s Secret show, and brands such as Nike, Target, Whole Foods Market and Chobani are also calling. And though she can’t confirm it, we’re pretty sure we recognised some of her moves in “Guava Island”, a new video co-starring Rihanna that Glover teased at PHAROS. “It’s just all catching up,” Silver says sighing, settling into her chair as her iPhone repeatedly buzzes with alerts and texts. “I can actually feel it.”