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Sherrie Silver

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Sherrie Silver is a Rwandan-born British choreographer who choreographed the music video for Childish Gambino's 2018 song This Is America.

Silver was born in 1994 to mother Florence Silver, one month after her father was killed in the Genocide against the Tutsi. Silver and her mother moved to London, England when she was aged five-years. She attended a Stagecoach Theatre Arts school and co-founded the Children of Destiny dance group when she was aged 11-years, before performing for Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Silver studied business and marketing at university.

Silver choreographed the music video for Childish Gambino's song This Is America, which won the best choreography award at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. Silver also appeared in the music video for the song.

Silver is a United Nation's International Fund for Agricultural Development youth advocate and met Pope Francis in 2019 as part of that role.

In 2023, Silver gave a dance lesson to World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Quotes

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  • When I met the twins, I fell in love straight away. Their mother hadn’t had an opportunity to name them and when their father asked me to name them I called them Precious and Sapphire Gihozo. I promised to look after them until they were 18 at least and they’ve actually started calling me mommy.
  • Contributing to their upbringing has impacted me massively. I was looking after kids before but taking them from being babies has made me grow up even more and my heart has become bigger. They bring me a lot of joy.
  • We want the youth in Africa to feel they don't need to leave their countries to realize their artistic dreams and entrepreneurial aspirations.

https://kura.rw/my-life-is-an-example-of-what-a-girl-can-achieve-if-given-the-opportunity-sherrie-silver/

  • Childish Gambino’s team reached out to me after seeing some of my dance videos online. They saw one particular move that they liked, Gwara Gwara from South Africa, which we did in the video and also on SNL. I came up with different steps, taught the school kids and the choir, and helped Donald [Glover, a.k.a. Childish Gambino] with his solos.
  • For a while now, Gwara Gwara has been the dance that everyone wants to do and learn. It looks simple, but it’s actually difficult to do. I lived in South Africa for two months while filming a movie, so I became quite familiar with it. I also included the Shaku Shaku dance from Nigeria, the Alkayida from Ghana, the Azonto from Ghana, and other moves that don’t have names, as well.
  • We did a lot of rehearsals to pull off the hologram, and we made sure to carry it out in the safest way possible. That was the climax of the performance, a joyful moment, before we calmed it down with the little princess at the end.
  • Being a part of the number one trending video means a lot. I don’t just do this for fun. I really do it because I want to give back. I travel and teach African dance from all over the continent. I take the money I generate from teaching back to Rwanda, Uganda, and Nigeria to redevelop schools and help get homeless kids off the street. For me, it’s not just about dancing. It’s the actual outcome that matters most.
  • I work with children in a few ways. I have a home for homeless children in Rwanda, and there’s a few children I look after and send to school. I’m used to playing a mothering role, so when it comes to working with children, I still have that motherly feeling. I know how to speak to them and how to encourage them. Instead of just teaching them a move, I’ll take them back to where it comes from and what it means, you know? I make it entertaining and interesting. All the kids in the video left with so much insight into the culture; they can’t stop dancing in this new style that they’d never tried before.
  • They came to me because they liked my style, but there was also a move that they saw that’s trending. It’s called the Gwara Gwara [from South Africa]. They wanted me to include that move.
  • As an artist, it’s important not to ignore what’s going on around the world. Fairytales are good, but if you look around, what do you see? It’s hard. I mean, I understand when people say [artists should] try not to have violence in their videos, but violence exists. I think it’s just important how you address it. I don’t necessarily agree that artists should shy away from the fact there’s violence.
  • One thing I can say is that the most important thing was safety first and making sure the interest of the children and their parents were met. We had several safety briefs, and I made sure I rebriefed them to understand everything that’s going on. That was a very important aspect—them understanding what’s going on. Everyone watches TV, so I’m sure this is not the first time these kids had seen anything violent. Violence is happening in their reality every day. At least they know, with this video, nobody died.
  • I think whether you’re a dance choreographer, a writer, a singer, or anyone who has that stage, it’s definitely good to engage things in a political way, but also in a creative way. For me, I was just trying to show that the kids are the light in all the darkness around them. So that was done in a very subtle way of having these happy, amazing children dancing and enjoying their lives and not paying attention to everything going on around them. I think subtlety is always the best way, instead of us standing there with a big sign in the background that says, "Hey, don’t worry!" You know what I mean? Sometimes you can just dance and smile and still relay the message without having to do it in an obvious way.
  • we want African youths not to have to feel that they need to leave their countries to find greener pastures elsewhere to make their artistic and entrepreneurial dreams come true.
  • My life is an example of what can be achieved when a young Rwandan girl is given an opportunity to express herself and chase her passions.
  • I am inviting you to come together and stand on the right side of history by investing more in young rural people, and the communities where they live.
  • Imagine what would happen if governments and donors around the world spent as much on agriculture and rural people as they do on humanitarian aid,There would be food security. There would be social stability. There would be less damage to the environment. There would be hope for our future.
  • Youth unemployment will be the defining challenge of this era alongside climate change, and I am committed to helping the UN as an IFAD Advocate for Rural Youth to do everything I can to provide a better future for young people everywhere, They need jobs and opportunities in agriculture to help feed a growing population while also building a safe and prosperous future right where they live. the only way we are going to solve complex challenges like ending extreme poverty, hunger and forced migration is by calling on governments to invest in a different way of going about development. Young people want to build a better world, but they can’t do it alone.
  • My mom would always reassure me that I’m beautiful, so I decided, growing up, that I was going to stand firm in who I truly am.
    • [1]A Piece Of My Mind: Choreographer And Viral Dance Visionary Sherrie Silver
  • Success seems like it’s overnight but, obviously, it’s really years of work.
    • [2]A Piece Of My Mind: Choreographer And Viral Dance Visionary Sherrie Silver


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