Little Rock man shares how he worked with Usher on Super Bowl halftime show (2024)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Working with some of the biggest stars and helping assemble Usher's Super Bowl LVIII halftime show is a dream turned reality for Little Rock native Sean Christopher Freeman.

But behind the moves lies much more than just a talented choreographer.

"I'm still a kid from Little Rock," Freeman said. "The one thing Ik love about my upbringing is that I kind of live in two worlds."

During this year's Super Bowl halftime show, singer, songwriter and dancer Usher rolled out and performed on skates — choreography that Freeman created.

Choosing the skate life early has provided Freeman with some unique experiences, and it all started with humble beginnings.

"My grandmother stayed around the street from Southwest Skating Rink," Freeman said. We used to walk across the street and skate there, but my first job was at Little Rock Skating Arena. We all know it as Arkansas Skatium or Bowman, as we say."

Freeman has roller skated, figure skated and even spent time as a professional speed skater. Now, those eight wheels have allowed him to soar to new heights.

"I've been able to, in a sense, merge these two worlds of dance and skating," Freeman said. "Bringing both of my loves together has created another pathway, a professional career for me."

Freeman recalled his love for entertainment and teaching, and it all started with two memorable moments where he knew he would be different.

Freeman said he was visiting Detroit with his family when he learned Michael Jackson was staying at the same hotel. He remembered when he saw people put out barriers, and that's when he first discovered fandom was a thing.

"Out of nowhere, the car pulled up, and I remember seeing Michael get out," Freeman said. "My grown uncles were screaming, and I was like, 'Wow, give me a piece of paper, give me a pen.'"

Jackson initially walked past him but turned to signal to his security that Freeman could come over and chat with him.

"I still have the autograph to this day," Freeman said. "I think that moment is kind of what lit a spark in me as far as my love for just entertainment and my love for performing. It's like I remember that and it changed the way I looked at... music videos [and] choreography."

The other moment would come in the form of a VHS tape.

"My dad bought me an MC Hammer VHS tape, and I used to watch it every day," Freman said. "I would stay in my bedroom, watching the music videos, and I taught myself the choreography... That was the first time I ever danced, but I didn't take my first dance class until I went to [Little Rock] Parkview at 15 and just changed my life."

Freeman said that up until the age of 15, he strictly played soccer and basketball. He also had a passion for science.

"I was going to be a doctor my entire life," Freeman said. "I pretty much went to every science camp you could imagine. I think that was my mom and me's dream, and things just changed a little bit for me... I fell in love with dancing, choreography, and performing, which put me on a completely different pathway."

Starting his dancing career at a relatively late age compared to most, Freeman got a taste of dance at Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School under renowned Michael C. Tidwell.

“I started dancing with Mr. Tidwell, taking ballet, jazz, and modern," Freeman said. "There was another side of me I didn't get: I wanted to do hip-hop like I wanted to be in Sisqó's music video. I wanted to be in NSYNC's music video."

Walking to the bathroom on a random day at school, he overheard a Timpani drum coming from a dance class where Latisha Daniel was filling in.

"I will never forget she was teaching a routine to Pink," Freeman said. "It was 'Most girls'... I still remember it."

And from there, it was a march made in heaven.

"I will never forget him looking in that window," Daniel said. "Asking, 'Can I come in?' I was like, 'Sure.' He was so hungry and eager to learn."

Freeman said it was the first time he had seen anyone teaching hip-hop in class. He would often sit in on the class, and Daniel would teach him how to put movements together and create choreography sections.

"[Daniel] is the first person who saw something in me as far as choreography," Freeman said. "She would make up an eight count and then say, 'Well, let me see you make up an eight-count.'"

Years later, Freeman would become a dance instructor and own her own studio, Dance Dynamics.

"He's always just been so respectful, grateful and passing it on," Daniel said. "[It's] what makes me the most proud is him passing that on to others."

Freeman said he appreciated his friends and teachers for seeing the natural talent in him early.

"My best friend since first grade, Natalie Wesley, she danced her whole life, so I always knew of her dancing," Freeman said. "It was her thing, and then it just became our thing, as she was my dance partner from the minute I started... I stand on her shoulders, Mrs. Daniel... I stand on Mr. Tidwell's shoulders, Miss Crane. They all saw something in this little bow-legged boy, who was just rough around the edges. They saw the diamond that I didn't see at that time."

For the last nine years, Freeman has been polishing his own diamonds as the dance director at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta.

Freeman said teaching at the high school has allowed him to expose his students to a new world.

"We are actually getting ready to celebrate our 100th year... the first school for African Americans in Georgia," Freeman said. "93 percent of the students who enter my program have never taken a dance class before, so the first time they encountered dance in the ninth grade is when they meet me and walk through the doors. I connect to them because I try to give them everything I wish I could have gotten when I first started."

A dream of Freeman's, especially for his home state, is to bring more awareness and exposure to the artists and performers of Arkansas.

Additionally, he hopes to open his own performing arts high school.

“If you look at statistics, and you look at education, students who excel best in school are typically the artistic students, those students who have exposure to dance, to film, to music, to our visual arts, they typically are some of the best students in school," Freeman said. "It gives them a reason to come to school... The talent is here. They're amazingly gifted kids here in this state, and not just kids, adults as well, and so that's where I want to be able to bring.”

His wish is just for everyone to have an opportunity no matter where or who they are.

Freeman said even though Arkansas has fantastic programs, there's just a portion of the art and an appreciation of the arts that isn't as widely celebrated as in major cities such as Atlanta, New York, and Los Angeles.

Not getting the part every time or right away is an essential lesson in the industry. Freeman knows this as he wasn't originally selected to choreograph for Usher during his Las Vegas residency or the Super Bowl LVIII halftime performance.

Freeman said it's all about being patient and prepared.

“Even though you might plant a seed, you don't have any control over when it will harvest," Freeman said. "Even though I wanted it then, it just wasn't meant for me... A year later, I was not only gracing the stage but also choreographing and the skate captain for the second year of the residency."

So, what is it like working with stars like Usher Raymond?

“He's so normal and regular," Freeman said. "I know, it's Usher, but for me, it's not necessarily like that... [he's] my big brother... if your big brother is the star of the football team."

Freeman credited his parents for instilling quality in him early. Stay ready so you never have to get ready, and he's prepared every time a great opportunity calls. When that chance comes, Freeman is ready to go with his moves as soon as he hears the beat of the music.

“I am a small-town kid who just dreamed of being under the lights," Freeman said. "Even though to reach those dreams, I had to leave Little Rock, I think a huge part of me never left the city... Little Rock is my upbringing. It's what created my foundation.”

Freeman teaches the stars, big and small, one eight count at a time.

“My job is not how to teach your kid how to be a good dancer," Freeman said. "It is to teach them how to be a good person. For me, those are the relationships that build our youth. If I touch one, then I've touched 100."