Introducing Our May/June Cover Stars: Beyoncé's Backup Dancers!

It’s always fun deciding who to feature on the cover of our annual Commercial Issue. There are so many incredible, spotlight-worthy dancers who deserve to be grooving alongside Hollywood’s biggest names—and this month, we’re so excited and so proud to show off eight of those dancers (plus two more on the DS digital edition!).

Do we even need to ask who runs the world?

Meet Beyoncé’s backup dancers! These eight women (click here to read their story) and two men (“Les Twins”—read all about ’em!) just kicked off the superstar’s The Mrs. Carter Show world tour, which will be making its way to the U.S. later this summer.

Naturally, pulling this shoot off wasn’t easy. We somehow managed to get all 10 dancers, choreographer Frank Gatson Jr., two stylists, three hair and makeup artists, a publicist, a photographer, a photographer’s assistant, a video crew and the DS staff together for five hours (on the Sunday morning of Daylight Savings Time—ouch!) at the Alvin Ailey studios in NYC…just days before the Beyoncé Camp began tech rehearsals for the tour. The shoot was completely crazy but totally worth it.

My .5 seconds of fame: being interviewed by the Beyoncé crew for her tour documentary. Gotta say, I prefer being on the other side of the camera!

Click here
to see some of the best shots from the day.

Since the shoot and the magazine’s release, Beyoncé and her team haven’t taken a single day to rest or breathe. Here’s a promo from the OMG-you-must-get-tickets tour:

And here’s Beyoncé’s latest commercial (featuring her lady dancers!) for H&M:

Finally, check out this killer video of all the dancers—and their fearless leader—dancing to “Grown Woman” in Paris:

What do you think of the new issue? Let us know!