With just a little under a month until fans are blessed by Janet Jackson and her highly anticipated ‘State of the World Tour‘ which kicks off on September 7 in Lafayette, Louisiana, excitement for the trek is at fever high levels.
For fans and spectators who think the new tour is just a recycled version of Jan’s ‘Unbreakable World Tour‘ which was postponed, think again! Creative director and long time friend Gil Duldulao is giving some major tea on the tour, what fans can expect this time around, and says fans can expect “an emotional journey through choreography.”
via ET:
On Her Life after Having a Baby and Pending Divorce:
“Despite how life has changed for her… if anything, she is even more dedicated and more focused for some reason,” Duldulao explains. “That’s just the professional she is. If she loves what she does — and she loves being onstage — the work ethic doesn’t change. I think just timing of the day is different, but other than that, she’s still going strong.”
On Their Rigorous Rehearsal Schedule:
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!”
“She is dedicated,” he reveals. “I mean, she is really strict with her diet.”
Duldulao agrees that Jackson looks incredible, and is encouraging her to go for those “dream” tour costumes.
“Honestly, I told her — I was like, ‘You’re skinny. You’re really thin,'” he gushes. “So, if anything, I think we’re going to have to have some seamstresses on hand to bring [the costumes] in more. Because she’s losing weight every day. I’m telling her, ‘Girl, you’re skinny. Are you sure [you don’t want to wear this]?'”
On Why The New Tour Is NOT The ‘Unbreakable’ Tour Part II:
Duldulao’s challenge for State of the World was starting the show from scratch, this time with “free-r, stronger, more powerful, clean” choreography.
“I had to go hard and create something so new with what we had,” Duldulao explains. “Whether it be content, video, staging, different songs in the set list and playing with different sounds, certain sections with the musical director, costume changes… but we did it, I did it! The fans clearly will get a show. It’s not going to be the Unbreakable show. No, they’re going to get the State of the World Tour show.”
