Think it was Aaliyah's idea to spontaneously break into flamenco while making her "Are You That Somebody?" video? Got it in your head that all five Backstreet Boys were born equally ready to boogie? Well, then Fatima Robinson has done her job.

    The choreographer behind Britney Spear's "...Baby One More Time" Tour and Matchbox's "Back 2 Good" video, among others, Fatima makes many of today's hottest musicians look quick on their fee. But these days, the diva of dance move--who, like many of her star clients, goes by first names only--has found herself on the fast track.

    It's the week of the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards and Fatima is so busy that she doesn't have time to memorize an acceptance speech in case she wins the award for Best Choreographer. (The 27 year-old from Little Rock was nominated for her work on Busta Rhyme's breakthrough video "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.") Fatima has two performances to choreograph for the live show--one for Master P, one for the Backstreet Boys--in addition to the Matchbox 20 video to orchestrate later this week. The pressure is mounting by the minute.

Dancing Queen

    "Major players on the stage only!" bellows an MTV producer at a Video Music Awards rehearsal at LA's Universal Amphitheater. A dozen or so female dancers quickly retire backstage, leaving Master P and his crew, the No Limit Soldiers, in the spotlight. Fatima, wearing her trademark cowboy hat and sparkly bandeau top, has less than an hour to perfect the "Make Em' Say Uhh!" routine. Her greatest challenge: getting everyone to concentrate on the moves and forget pre-show jitters.

    "People can freeze up [on stage]," Fatima says. "You can look out in the audience and you have Madonna and Lenny Kravitz watching you." And don't forget millions of fans who'll be watching it live on MTV. After a few run throughs, Fatima decides that she's unhappy with the ending, which leaves the stage looking too empty. There's no time to work out a new routine, so instead, Fatima institutes a quick fix. Beckoning the dancers back onto the stage, she directs them to "freestyle" (making up their own moves) until the music fades out. The result: perfection.

    Master P--a commanding presence in a camouflage jersey--explains why he leaves all dance decisions to the petite powerhouse: "Her style is different, unique," says the rapper. "You have to stay up with the times, and she does. That's what helps you to win."

    The following day, Fatima can be found sweating it out at Hollywood's Alley Cat studio with another group of dancers and the Backstreet Boys, who arrived in town only hours earlier. But like Master P, the Boys don't have much time to pull it all together, so they get right to work. Fatima positions herself in front of the wall-length mirror and starts adding moves to the "Everybody (Backstreet's Back) routine, which she choreographed for both the video and world tour. Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough catch on almost immediately, but Nick Carter's having trouble. "What have you been listening to?" Fatima asks, grabbing Nick by the shoulders to give him playful shake. Fellow Boy Brian Littrell chimes with a joke: "AC/DC."  Kevin makes sure the group doesn't get off track. "We might as well send the dancers home," he says. "We need to practice this--do it over and over."

    Fatima and the Orlando fivesome go way back. When she began working with them in 1995, they weren't nearly as slick and polished as they appear today. Her proudest professional moment was watching the Backstreet Boys perform a medley with 20 dancers at the 1997 MTV Europe Music Awards in the Netherlands. "We were just the hit of the show," she says. "That was a really touching moment for me, because I had been with them since day one. I had seen them grow up.

Gettin' Jiggy

    Fatima grew up all over California; she attended high school in San Pedro. For the record, she was always a great dancer. As kids, she and her younger sisters Nefertiti, now 25, and Khadijah, 21, would spin around the living room, entertaining family and friends. Back then, Fatima, whose mom is a cosmetologist, had dreams of opening her own salon.

    But by the time she was a teenager, Fatima wasn't cutting hair--she was cutting it up on the dance floor, entering competitions at clubs. One of the contest prizes she won without ever having taken a dance lesson--was the chance to appear in a rap video. The opportunity was her foot in the door. "From there, people who needed dancers would hear about you and just call you up," she explains.

    Fatima's big break came in 1992, when she was just 20. Director John Singleton (Higher Learning, Boyz N the Hood) was looking for someone to choreograph a video for Michael Jackson, and her name kept coming up. John chose Fatima to devise the steps for the King of Pop's Egyptian-themed "Remember the Time." Says Fatima, "It was the best thing that could have happened to my career. Michael Jackson is a Virgo, like me...a perfectionist."

    These days, Fatima still club-hops to keep up the latest trends. "Clubs are my classroom," she says. "I drag Kevin [Richardson] out with me." And with a whirlwind schedule that includes traveling with the Backstreet Boys, such after-hours jaunts are about the only fun she can manage.

    For clients with equally crammed calendars, Fatima will make the occasional house call. She says she'll never forget the days she went to Will Smith's large, Spanish-style home outside of LA to help choreograph his "Men In Black" routine for the 1998 Grammy Awards. "When we get there, he's like, 'Are you hungry?' " Fatima recalls. "There was no maid. We just had a really good talk. He's such a humble person. And that was really cool--to see an artist that large to be humble." Will was equally impressed: He requested her again for his new "Wild, Wild West" video.

    So, how does she come up with the concept for a video like the expensive "Wild, Wild West"? According to Fatima, it all starts with the song. The moves she creates for Will are different from the ones she'd plan for BSB because each artist's music "moves me in a completely different way." The results: an African dance for Busta Rhyme's "Put Your Hands Where My Hands Could See."; that now-famous flamenco for Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody?"; and a tango for Dr. Dre's "Been There, Done That." While Fatima prefers not to appear in videos, she'd made exceptions for friends Aalyiah and Lenny Kravitz (she's on Aaliyah's left in "Are You That Somebody," and dancing in a cowboy hat in Lenny's "Fly Away.")

Time to Shine

    On the night everyone has been waiting for--the MTV Video Music Awards--Fatima can't sit still. She's running around, making last-minute changes in Master P's routine and showing Backstreet's backup dancers how to slide across the stage on their knees in their super tight skirts and heels. The only time she pauses for a breath is when she, Backstreet, their musicians, the dancers and security join hands for a prayer. Then she hurries to her seat to watch the performance, which goes off without a hitch.

    Soon after, Backstreet picks up the Best Group Video Award, and Kevin thanks Fatima from the podium. "It's nice to be recognized," she says later. "They all give me love." And they're not the only ones. After the show, as she walks to her car, a BSB fan lets out a scream: "Ooooh! That's Fatima, you guys! That's Fatima!"

    Fatima's lone Video Music Awards regret: that the Best Choreographed trophy went to Madonna for "Ray of Light." She's surprised, but not bitter. "Ray of Light had no dancing in it!" she says. "I honestly never thought she would have won." Then her determinations shines through: "But I don't care. I'll hit 'em again with Aaliyah next year!"