Beyoncé’s song “II Hands II Heaven” off “Cowboy Carter” has captured the internet’s attention with fans recreating a viral dance to the song’s second half. Beyond Beyoncé, there’s another familiar face attached to the dance: Drea Kelly.
Andrea Kelly, known as Drea, is an American choreographer, dancer and actress. She also known as the ex-wife of singer R. Kelly, who she divorced in 2009 and is serving prison time.
Once fans started using her moves for the Grammy-award winning singer’s new music, she says “I was like hold on now, Beyoncé’s internet is on to something. And it has taken a life of its own.”
Drea has been dancing since she can remember, and she now teaches a dance fitness and burlesque classes in Atlanta, along with other endeavors.
While her dance moves are not new to the internet, she says she was excited and overwhelmed to see fans all over social media using her two-year-old choreography to Queen Bey’s new song.
“I do burlesque. So that original choreography is to Muddy Waters, ‘I Just Want to Make Love to You’ and somebody put Beyoncé’s music on it. And the next thing I know…they put her music over one of my classes, they put her music over one of my videos. And in Chicago, there’s a dance called the Percolator. So this move that everybody sees me doing is actually an old school, house-music dance, and it fits perfectly.”
While she loves all sorts of music, ranging from dancing country music to rock and R&B, she says she loves dancing to Beyoncé’s wide catalogue of music, including “Cowboy Carter.”
More than just a new social media trend though, Kelly says she hopes fans can draw inspiration from this moment.
“I have been doing that choreography almost two years now (and it) has been on my page. But you know, I want this to be a testament to people. Your gifts will make a way for you. And I don’t care what anybody thinks. Don’t think you’re too old. Don’t think your content is too old. Something that you put on your page years ago, somebody can discover and it has a new life.”
She also hopes to help dismantle ageism in the dance world. “Dance does not have age cap (and) performing doesn’t have age cap,” she said.
Going forward, she says there may be more Beyoncé choreography.
As fans know, Beyoncé first announced “Cowboy Carter” during a surprise Super Bowl commercial in February when she released singles “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The songs instantly took the internet by storm, as did the album once it was released March 29.
From the release of the singles, Beyoncé made history and shattered glass-ceiling norms within the country music landscape. And she continued to break records with the release the full album. Recently, the “Ya Ya” singer became the first Black woman to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s top country albums chart.
Prior the album’s release, Beyoncé opened up about creating the five-year project: “It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed … and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.”
“It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history,” she wrote. “The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. Act ii is a result of challenging myself and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
Kelly says, “I just love the fact that unfortunately, but fortunately, once again, Beyoncé had to get up on a throne to get the world to listen. We’ve been doing country music. This isn’t something new. But I’m just so grateful that she used her platform was able to shine a light on a world that already existed.”
Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network’s Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.
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