Inside the Mayhem of Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” Music Video

Since Sunday night’s 2025 Grammys, the talk of TikTok, the dolls at any gay bar, and the music industry at large is Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” a record-shattering third single off her forthcoming studio album Mayhem, which critics have already dubbed a sensational return to form for the pop icon. Written by Gaga and Gaga only, “Abracadabra” explores the duality of an artist battling with the desire to constantly evolve sonically, aesthetically, and as a human, while faced with the extraordinary pressure to release bop after bop after bop. As she recently told Elle Canada, “the song is about facing the challenge of life and the challenge of the night and finding the magic in it all.”

The single itself is best enjoyed at full-blast, hopefully with a dance floor nearby. Yet, it’s the “Abracadabra” music video—reminiscent of thematically dark Gaga projects like “Marry the Night,” “Alejandro,” “Applause,” “G.U.Y. (An ARTPOP Film),"911,” and of course, “Bad Romance”—that has the world’s paws all the way up. A feast for the eyes, the video finds Gaga going to war with “the lady in red,” Mayhem, a version of herself that symbolizes her artistic struggles, as more than 40 dancers swirl around her to the electro-dance track.

Gaga gathered her legendary “Haus” (Sarah Tanno returns for makeup with Frederic Aspiras clocked in for hair), but also pushed herself in a different creative direction, tapping four stylists (Peri Rosenzweig, Nick Royal, Hunter Clem, and Genesis Webb) and a new choreographer, Parris Goebel (of Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Justin Bieber fame), who co-directed “Abracadabra;” Gaga and Bethany Vargas are also credited as directors. The video was made in partnership with Mastercard, and the brand has hinted at more big-budget Mayhem projects to come.

Below, Goebel spills on the making of “Abracadabra.”

Lady Gaga has worked with a select group of creatives for over a decade, and doesn’t often welcome new artists into the Haus of Gaga. What’s it like to have been granted access?

I've always had Gaga on my dream board and my list of artists that I wanted to work with, and I never thought that the opportunity would come. I just didn't think it was going to happen for me! So, when her team reached out and I got to meet her and listen to her album and she welcomed me into her world, I just couldn't believe it. She has inspired me so much, and I think just as a woman, she knows no boundaries, and that, for me, is how I approach my artistry. Now, being a part of her world, it's really the coolest shit I've ever done. It’s like you're on a roller coaster and you don't want it to end. I'm having so much fun.

This, of course, isn’t your first time choreographing and also directing a music video.

No, I did a bunch for Justin Bieber. I directed the “Sorry” music video. I directed a music video for Ciara, “Level Up,” that went really viral. So I dabble, but I think what people don't know is the way I view my work is from such a cinematic lens, so it comes so naturally to me. It goes hand in hand.

Four movement coaches/experts—Gab Robert, Jessica Toatoa, China Taylor, and Lexee Smith—are also credited in the music video. Can you tell us about the conversations you and Gaga had in terms of the storytelling through dance and movement?

We just wanted people to dance again, and to find that freedom and liberation on the dance floor. Obviously, the song calls for it. It's incredible. It's electric. When she played me the song, I was like, Oh, we can go crazy on this one. This project explores different sides of Gaga and how they coexist in her life. Everything is very theatrical, but there's always a deeper meaning to it, with her as a woman and where she is at in her life right now, which is really just cool and inspiring to me. We asked ourselves: If we created our own Gaga club in this crazy world of ours, what would that look like?

From the styling to the casting to the set, how we design the club, to the lighting, everything just matters. You're creating a whole world from scratch. Everything was just done so delicately and meticulously and I got to bring on dancers that I've admired for years. I brought in choreographers to dance, which never happens in our world—all ages, all walks of life, and people I've worked with for years.

Many fans, myself included, are drawing comparisons between this video and iconic past projects. Did you intentionally reference her body of work through dance?

It’s interesting that people are referencing old videos of hers because that wasn't my intention at all. I wanted to approach it from my perspective of her world. At the end of the day, she's Gaga, she has a personality and a DNA in her work, regardless, so it's always going to feel like her. I tried to bring my flare to who she already is. And for me, there's no need to study her past. I know her work inside and out, so I'm a fan already. But it is cool that it reminds her fans of an era that was so iconic and groundbreaking for her. I think she looks the best she's ever looked. She looks evolved. She got really fit for the video. She danced her ass off. She trained so hard. She just wanted to make the dancers proud and make me proud. So I think she looked incredible, and it's kind of just the beginning of everything that's to come.

Let’s discuss the rehearsal process. How long was it, and subsequently, how long was the video shoot and production? There’s a clip of Gaga rehearsing in an uncomfortable-looking black leather top, which I imagine she intentionally selected to prepare to dance in ornate costumes.

We were prepping, oh my goodness, maybe for about three weeks in total. I have a process where I usually create and workshop things with a smaller group and then bring her into the picture. She learns as we're creating and then we bring the full cast in. But the shoot was two days long and was really demanding for everyone. You can see they're dancing from top to bottom, and we're doing take after take after take, but you can feel that hard work through the video.

What comes first, the fashion, or the choreography?

I am always thinking about the styling when I'm creating, so I am really lucky to be able to collaborate with her on ideas. I thought to myself, Okay, the girls in the "Mayhem" section should have canes, and what if they have hats and big skirts? With Gaga, it's so theatrical. It calls for you to think about what they're wearing and what the character is. And everything is character-based with what we're doing, which is so fun. So it's important that I am thinking about what they're wearing and also choreographing with those props or with those silhouettes. I wanted to elevate and not take away from the movement.

She contours and shapes her body in such an artistic, horror-like manner. How would you describe that style of dance? 

Avant-garde.

What can you tease about the Mayhem era?

I would say bringing pop culture back to life.

Which of Gaga’s outfits/scenarios was the most challenging for her and the dancers to shoot in?

I definitely think that the "Mayhem" section, when she was in the red and the girls were in the black. The girls were having a bit of trouble with that one. As you can see, it's this kind of Mary Poppins, Tim Burton look, but there were so many layers, and the boots were really uncomfortable, and the canes were hard to keep a hold of. So that was a challenging section, but that was actually my favorite section.

There are two versions of Gaga’s persona explored in the video. Is that fair to say?

It’s the duality of the pop star Gaga that is in her ego and in her power, and then this virgin Gaga that is stepping into a world she's never experienced before, and being challenged to dance or die. We can all kind of relate to that in life. We are constantly like, Oh, if we don't work hard enough, we're not going to get this, or If I don't look like this, then I'm not going to get this. So when she's reborn at the bridge, it’s still her. It's just that she's managed to all of a sudden go from just another person in the club to having her own throne and finding her own power and looking the mistress in the eyes and dancing for her life. And then at the end, she's not defeated, she's still standing. There are a lot of hidden messages in there.

I was so impressed to see that the set was built, it wasn’t green screen or CGI. As a choreographer, how important is it for you to work in a tangible, physical space?

We were looking at different locations and I literally just said to Gaga, We should just build it. We should just build our own club. I think it's going to have such a different feel to actually be in this space. If we’re going to have 50, 60 dancers in the room, I think it's going to inspire everyone to really get lost in this world if we actually build the set out and make it feel like we're transporting everyone to a different dimension. It just felt right.

As a choreographer, how do you care for your dancers? You’re all clearly a family, as evidenced on social media, yet this production seemed grueling. 

At the end of the day, I have to lead the room and lead the people that are in front of me. And as a leader, it's my duty to bring the best out of everyone. I truly believe you can only do your best if you feel safe and cared about. And I do my best to make sure that they know that I see them as human beings first, before a dancer. I care about them. I care about their wellbeing. 

I asked Gaga to put a spring sponge floor on the ground on set so that if we're dancing for 14 hours, they're not hurting their knees, and they're not getting injured. That’s the dream floor to dance on for anyone. To have that built into the set so that everyone feels like they can really push themselves and go for it and not be at risk of injury, that's unheard of. I've never had that on a set before. So that also is a testimony to how much Gaga cares for everyone and everyone's health.

With Gaga and your Mastercard partnership, dancers are really at the forefront of the campaign.

It’s an opportunity for us to come together and celebrate dance. So many times in the music industry, the dancers are just pushed to the back and not really seen for the hard work we put in. So I think the fact that Mastercard is celebrating everything that we're about means a lot to us. It’s such a moment. We really, really, we need this moment. We need this moment of community, bringing everyone together, celebrating dance, celebrating Gaga's music and her legacy. There’s a lot of things going on in the world that are distracting us from a sense of freedom and joy. I'm grateful for this opportunity.

Read the original article on InStyle