Beyoncé’s Christmas Day NFL performance, otherwise known as Beyoncé Bowl, and Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show might just be two of the most culture-defining performances of the past year, and the same creative force was behind both of them.
Dancer-turned-choreographer Charm La’Donna has worked with some of music’s most influential voices, including Beyoncé, Rosalía, Shakira, Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez, Meghan Trainor, Madonna, Pharrell Williams and The Weeknd. She choreographed Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour as well as recent tours for Lamar, Dua Lipa and the Weeknd. This year, La’Donna’s work scored her two Emmy nominations for outstanding choreography for variety or reality programming for Beyoncé Bowl and Lamar’s halftime show.
The double nominations in the category, which also includes nods to Doechii’s Grammy performance, “The Lion King” at the Hollywood Bowl and the Oscars’ tributes to James Bond and Quincy Jones, was an awe-striking moment for La’Donna, who long considered the accolade from the TV Academy a career goal.
“I was in shock — I was stopped in my tracks,” La’Donna said of receiving the nominations. “Every project is special. Every project is a piece of me.”
Whether she’s choreographing for Lamar or Dua Lipa, La’Donna said she approaches each project with several “ingredients,” which include bringing herself and her prior experiences to the table and feeling the music and the presence of dancers. The last step, however, is always embracing the fun and enjoyment in these dream jobs, as La’Donna strives to acknowledge “I’m blessed to be able to create on such a platform all around the world.”
La’Donna especially leans on her past experiences as “tools and skills,” saying “as artists, [and] as just people in general, we go through life and we learn. We take our experiences into our next journey.”
The choreographer was certainly able to draw from her past experiences while working on Lamar’s halftime show, having had her first Super Bowl gig as a dancer for the Black Eyed Peas in 2011. At the time, La’Donna was under the direction of her mentor Fatima Robinson, who is one of four Black women to ever be nominated in a choreography category at the Emmys, alongside Debbie Allen, Chloé Arnold and, now, La’Donna.
“I’ve been on the field before, but in a different space,” La’Donna said. “There were a lot of dancers on the field and a lot of colors — it was a task.”
US rapper Kendrick Lamar performs during Super Bowl LIX Chiefs vs Eagles Apple Music Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 9, 2025. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)
US rapper Kendrick Lamar performs during Super Bowl LIX Chiefs vs Eagles Apple Music Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 9, 2025. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)
As Lamar performed a medley of his biggest hits for the Super Bowl, La’Donna worked in tandem with the creative and production teams to make sure each formation and routine was spot on.
“It’s speaking to the set designers, the creative directors on it, and really getting an understanding of what — I call it the the playground where the dancers move, where the artist moves — and what is our real estate of it,” La’Donna said. “Once you understand that, you can just create in it.”
La’Donna also partnered with Lamar for the “Not Like Us” music video, which paid tribute to both La’Donna and Lamar’s hometown of Compton by welcoming in hip hop extraordinaire Tommy the Clown and other local dancers.
“It’s imperative to our culture as a dance community, and being a part of that was special,” La’Donna said. “I was able to hang out with dancers and and hire some friends and and just represent for a city and a space that raised me … I was at home, in more than one way, physically and spiritually.”
The next step for La’Donna is combining her love of dance with her passion for filmmaking, marking the next step in her creative evolution after growing from dancer to choreographer to creative director to a director on shorts and music videos. “I want to start to tell dance stories, and telling stories differently with camera, with movement, about dancers in different ways,” she said.
As La’Donna becomes the fourth Black woman to be nominated in an Emmys choreographer category, she said she feels gratitude to follow in the steps of Robinson, Allen and Arnold. “[I’m] hoping and praying that years down the line, there’s more Black women and more Black voices” represented in the accolades. “I’m proud, and I’m honored to continue and to push boundaries and removing limitations,” she said.
Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana