One hundred and 128 million people tuned in to watch Bad Bunny perform at the Super Bowl LX halftime show in Santa Clara, California. Within the next 24 hours, the historic performance had four billion views on social media.
Kezia Kinchen, a Cedar Hill High School Class of 2017 Graduate and former Cedar Hill Highsteppers Captain, performed as a dancer – not only in last month’s Super Bowl, but with R&B artist Sza (Solana Imani Rowe) in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. Sza shared the Super Bowl stage with Kendrick Lamar last year.
“I was grateful to be part of both performances – both made huge statements in history,” Kinchen said. “I thank God for every opportunity that has come up. I used to watch these performances as a kid. I loved every aspect of it.”
She is featured prominently in the Bad Bunny video at the 3:51 mark. She’s on the right among the three dancers.
After high school, Kinchen enrolled at AMDA College of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, graduating in 2021.
Shortly after graduation, she met a prominent choreographer Cortland “Fullout Cortland” Brown, who asked her to teach Sza some choreography.
Sza ended up deciding to hire Kinchen as a dancer in her music videos, and ultimately for her tours in the United States, as well as England and Australia.
“Sza is super sweet and a very down to earth person,” Kinchen said. “She trusts me wholeheartedly with a lot of things. It’s allowed me to get to know her more and more.”
Kinchen, who performed with the Highsteppers from 2014-2017, still returns to Cedar Hill ISD to help the team. She is a lifelong Longhorn, attending Waterford Oaks Elementary School, Belt Line Intermediate School, and Bessie Coleman Middle School before CHHS.
In 2015-2016, Kinchen became the first junior to be named First Lieutenant of the Highsteppers. She was the team captain by the next year. It was a position that her younger sister, CHHS Class of 2020 Salutatorian Hannah Ethridge, earned three years later.
“I performed at pep rallies at the Ninth-Grade Center,” Kinchen said. “I wasn’t on the Highsteppers yet, but people cheered for me. That gave me hope, and I made the team as a sophomore.”
Kinchen said the lessons she learned from Highsteppers coach Mila McQueen has prepared her to dance on television before tens of millions of viewers.
“I learned about leadership qualities, hard work and technique,” Kinchen said. “I love live performances and connecting with the crowd.”
