CINCINNATI — A professional roller skater out of Cincinnati spent his Super Bowl Sunday in Las Vegas, performing onstage with superstar Usher during the halftime show.
While Usher is known for including roller skating in his performances, it took three years for Dylan Morton to finally get a "yes."
"I was told 'No' by Usher twice," he said.
The Milford High School grad roller-skated his way onto the Disney show "Saturdays" and the American Music Awards. But he's been trying for a while to get on the radar of Usher's team. He didn't get callbacks for a job with Usher in 2021 — or his Vegas residency in 2022. Still, something told Morton the third time was a charm.
"Usher gets announced for the Super Bowl and when he gets announced you get excited," Morton said. "But you're not too certain if there's going to be rollers in it or not because it's dangerous to skate on stage. It's never been done before."
Morton went into an audition for Usher's unnamed "special upcoming project," and finally got a call in late December.
"It felt like CIA, top-secret — you can't say nothing about this call," he said.
Days later, Morton's off to Los Angeles for rehearsals. Then, he went to Vegas for a few weeks to meet the man himself.
"The first question is, 'How was Usher? Was he mean?'" Morton said. "Usher [...] is a superstar. What you see is what it is. He works hard and he made me want to work harder."
For weeks, Morton said the skaters, acrobats and dancers learned choreography. His steps changed several times, even on the day of the halftime show.
"We didn't get to practice the day of," he said. "Our warm-up was the 30 seconds I got to freestyle in my little circle and feel the floor. [A]dapt, you know, be the skater you say you are you're here for a reason."
Morton can't tell us what's next because of air-tight non-disclosure agreements But you can catch him in Over-the-Rhine, training the next generation of roller skaters.
"I've got so many students that I teach now and it's just a blessing to be able to say what I do for a living is my passion," Morton said.
You can follow Morton's next adventures on Instagram and TikTok.
