“Oh my God, I’m going to be dancing at Anfield”
12:30, 06 Jul 2025Updated 12:40, 06 Jul 2025
Alexandre Novelli performed on stage with Dua Lipa at Anfield(Image: Alexandre Novelli)
Alexandre Novelli is still coming back down to earth after performing on stage for Dua Lipa’s incredible shows at Anfield. The 27-year-old from Huyton is part of the popstar’s talented team of dancers who dominated the stage with their dazzling routines.
The Scouser has performed in every show of the Radical Optimism tour so far but said doing so in her home city meant the world to her. She told the ECHO: “It was unbelievable. I feel like I’ve done this for nearly nine years now and I’ve only ever performed once in Liverpool in the arena.
“So to come home on this big a scale, not only in my home city but to do it in Anfield Stadium, was just insane.” It was particularly special for Alexandre to have her close-knit family in the ground for the show.
She added: “My family were in the audience and they said the stadium was shaking. It was crazy.” And Alexandre says she knew the second she got on stage it was “going to go off” at Anfield as soon as Dua started singing it. She said she could “feel the stadium shaking.”
She also knew the crowd was in for a secret treat last week as Dua played the song One Kiss twice for her Liverpool crowd. Alexandre said: “I was like just you wait until the end. It’s not over.”
Being from Liverpool the dancer, who started working aged 17 while training in college, was overjoyed to learn she would be performing at Anfield but it wasn’t all smooth-sailing to get her there.
Alexandre Novelli with star Dua Lipa(Image: Alexandre Novelli)
She told the ECHO: “I actually used to dance for Dua from 2019 – 2021. I was travelling with her doing shows and I was in a couple of music videos, so I already knew the team. Obviously lockdown happened and after lockdown I went with a different artist and was travelling, working for a few different people.
“My agent was like there’s going to be a casting for the next tour and they need new dancer. I was actually away on holiday when the casting was taking place the next day. I was on that flight which was four hours delayed. It was crazy. I turned up an hour late.
“My friend who was already there, who was already on the Dua team, taught me a combo in a side room. And then my agent was like get in this last group. Go in and just do it.
“I was late and I had to walk in the room and do what I had to do. So that’s how it came back around. I was like this is obviously how it’s meant to be. I had so many knockbacks in the morning.
“I had to fly into London, my flight was delayed, and then I was supposed to get a car to drive there to avoid the trains. I didn’t end up getting to hire the car. I thought, ‘I’m already an hour late, is there any point?’
“And then my agent was like get into this room now so I just had to turn up the way I was. I only had a gym set on when I got there. And everyone else was all dressed to the nines. And all their hair was curly blown. I walked in like I’d been dragged backwards through a hedge. I thought this is it now. After today, I’ve just got to go with it.”
She added: “I actually didn’t know what to expect. Some of the panel knew me from last time. I didn’t know what they wanted this time around. The last tour was very femme. And this time around, I thought, this could go either way.
“So when I did get the phone call, I was like, Oh my god, this is it. Especially because all I was thinking about was those Anfield dates. I wasn’t thinking about Wembley, I wasn’t thinking about the Australian leg, Paris or Milan, I was thinking about Anfield. So as soon as I got the confirmation, I was like ‘Oh my God, I’m going to be dancing at Anfield‘. I was just made up. My family were made up as well obviously being from Liverpool.“
Alexandre began dancing at 17(Image: Alexandre Novelli)
Alexandre has trained hard every day for moments like this. She said: “I used to take every class. Obviously, if I wanted any extra training, my parents would pay for me to go to London and train. Back then, there wasn’t really industry here and we’d have to travel for it. One day I was in college and I saw an Instagram post that my agency was holding an audition for the MTV EMA awards. Usually these auditions are closed, so it’s very private. But this time they were opening it so that anyone could come.
“I asked my principal can I stay off tomorrow and go. I did just go for the experience. I wasn’t expecting anything from it because it was my first audition. I phoned my dad and I was like, ‘Dad, can I go to London? Will you pay for my train?’ He said ‘yeah, when is it? And I was like, tomorrow’.
“So, the next day I got on the train for the audition and I booked the job for the MTV. The artist I performed for was Zara Larsson and I got signed onto Zara’s team and went on my first world tour with her about two months later. I’ve worked with Zara for about 8 years, the majority of my career, I’ve been on my journey with her.
“From that one job, the agency continued to book me with different artists. And it all took off from there. So luckily, I did go. I didn’t expect it but I walked away with the job.”
Alexandre wants to urge inspiring dancers to “just go for it”. She added: “As a professional dancer, it’s so hard to get into the industry as it is. It doesn’t come around easily and you just have to go for it. You can’t have any self-doubt because it’s a dog eat dog world. If you don’t have that confidence and that fire then you need to get it. You need to be your biggest supporter because, at the end of the day, everyone in that room wants this one job.”
Alexandre credits her “Scouse roots” for her success in the industry. She said: “I will get on with a blank wall, I’ll get on with anyone. I feel like it’s in our nature as Scousers, with our humour, how we’re outspoken. We’re not really shy as people but we’re the friendliest people. I feel like that’s had a massive part in it for me because I am a true Scouser through and through. I love to have a ball, but then I get on with everyone.
“I also show people respect and that’s another massively important thing in my industry. To show people respect at the same time as having a laugh. Not taking life too serious but knowing when the time is right to be in that zone of being a good, decent human being.”
Alexandre now works with some of the biggest stars in the world which she says is “amazing.” She said: “It’s amazing. I could go through a list of Little Mix, J Balvin, Sean Paul. We forget that they’re only human beings at the end of the day and we get an insight into their world and how hard they train. Especially Dua. She trains hard and she wants the best in her shows. It’s amazing to see this is a normal human being. When it comes down to work mode, she is completely switched on and her work ethic is amazing. It makes us want to work harder.
“She’s like a flash and we’re trying to keep up with her. We’re running all over that stage and she’s belting a song out. I’m like I’m just dancing it. She’s belting these notes out.”
Alexandre added: “She [Dua Lipa] loves Liverpool herself. So she was excited for Liverpool and after the show, we were all just happy with the turnout and the reaction, especially with the decision to do One Kiss twice. She was so glad to have done that because it was such an amazing reaction. Something special and Liverpool got it because nowhere else has got One Kiss twice.”
The dancer has been blessed with amazing support from her whole family and says it was incredible to be able to dance in her home stadium in front of them. She said: “I am blessed with the best family. Me and my family are so close. I’m lucky to have that relationship with them. I can’t put it into words really about how proud they are. They were crying their eyes out. Some of them have only seen me perform at Anfield and others have been out to other shows and travelled out to see me. The same reaction all the time, they’re all just bursting with pride.”
She added: “I remember my mum used to drive a little KA and nothing worked in the car. She’d sit there in her hat and scarf and wait for me in my dance class. I’ve got them to thank for that as well. My journey, even though it’s been an amazing journey, I have had ups and down where I’ve wanted to give up and my family were the ones who told me you can’t give up now. You’re just going to have a bit of a wobble, but they are the ones that kept me going.”
Next on the tour for Alexandre is the Sunny Hill festival in Kosovo which is Dua’s own festival. Alexandre added: “The end of August we go on to do America. I’m on the road with her for the rest of the year. I’m really excited for those big shows in America and then who knows what next year is going to bring. The important one is done now.”