Kaea Pearce, right, with her 19-year-old sister Ruth, who also dances with choreographer Parris Goebel. Photo / Facebook
Kaea Pearce, right, with her 19-year-old sister Ruth, who also dances with choreographer Parris Goebel. Photo / Facebook
She started off as a little dancer in Whangārei, now Kaea Pearce is set to perform in front of 65,000 people live and millions behind the TV at one of America's biggest sporting events, Super Bowl LIV.
The talented 22-year-old Northland dancer will perform in the show of Jennifer Lopez,who is co-headlining the halftime along with fellow Latina singer Shakira at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Monday, NZ time.
While Pearce is training hard for the big show, her mother Marian Pearce back home in New Zealand said she and Pearce's father were "very very proud of Kaea for her hard work over the last 10-plus years leading up to this performance".
"We are extremely grateful for the support and unbelievable opportunities Kaea has received from her mentor and friend Parris Goebel throughout this time," she said.
After starting her dancing career in Whangārei with Annalise Wood, Pearce and her family moved to Auckland to dance with international choreographer Parris Goebel, who was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2020 New Year Honours list.
Pearce and her younger sister Ruth have been part of Goebel's team since and have danced with Rihanna, JLo, Justin Bieber, Ciara and Jason Derulo.
While Pearce teaches dance workshops throughout Europe, she frequently travels home to work on projects with Goebel, including this year's Super Bowl.
Known as America's unofficial national holiday, Super Bowl is immensely popular in the States and was watched by 200 million people last year, according to US media.
Northland-born dancer Kaea Pearce has previously been on stage with Jennifer Lopez. Photo / Facebook
Saturday's game will decide the champion for the 100th season of the National Football League (NFL); the San Francisco 49ers are playing the Kansas City Chiefs.
JLo and Shakira follow other big names of the music business on to the halftime stage, including Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Springsteen and U2.
"We work with the artists an amazing amount of time," Mark Quenzel, the NFL's senior vice president of programming and productions, said.
"We want them to do a show they are comfortable with, a show the majority of the 200 million people watching will know the songs they are singing."
• The Super Bowl LIV kicks off on Monday at 12.30pm, NZ Time.
