Dubbo's Charles Bartley performed with Usher in Chicago | Video

Charles and other dancers took to the stage with Usher during his headline act at the 50th Anniversary Concert of the USA Special Olympics in Chicago Illinois. The concert attracted more than 10,000 people

Charles, 28, has told the Daily Liberal of dancing for crowds of a similar size, but never with a headline act such as Usher. 

“I’ve danced for big crowds similar to this one but there is something about having a huge superstar on stage that can command a crowd that brings the energy out on stage,” he said. “As much energy as you give out to a crowd like that, you get it back tenfold. Dancing for an artist like Usher is to date one of my biggest achievements and for sure a milestone in my career thus far.”

Intensive rehearsals for the concert ran across nine days. “The movement is super powerful and big, so it was a push to make it through each day but as we got closer and closer to the show and as the movement settled on our bodies it was easier to enjoy the run of the show,” Charles said. “Usher is an amazing artist and stickler for detail. Both Usher and the choreographers are big on the feeling dancers bring to the stage not just that they can execute the steps properly.” 

Charles, who is now based in Los Angeles (LA), is back to auditioning and teaching at Playground LA after the Chicago concert last weekend. “Everything is very last minute here so it pays to stick around and be ready to rearrange your day to head to a casting or audition,” he said. “If I’m not running around busting moves for audition panels I’ll be at class refining my skills. For a dancer who predominantly freelances I can never really see further than one or two weeks ahead of what I’m doing right now. Just like Usher and stacks of jobs beforehand they can appear out of the abyss the night before. Once you finish a cool job like this I tend to just return to the routine of auditions and class and see what happens next.”

See Charles Bartley dance with Usher at the 50^th Anniversary of the Special Olympics. Story continues after video. 

Mr Bartley, a graduate of Dubbo Ballet Studio and 2009 So You Think You Can Dance runner-up, is an advocate for “getting as much training and experience as possible”. “I’ve benefited from the knowledge of hundreds of people along my path,” he said.

He encourages up-and-coming performers not to be afraid of making mistakes and to always try to improve their skills. “I’ve always had to upgrade my platform to be better,” Charles said. “I started in Dubbo and moved to Sydney to find new resources to improve and then eventually that pushed me here to LA.”

Do you have news you would like to send to the Daily Liberal? Submit it here.