Artist shows recording sessions for the track and orchestra, and Mark Ronson just bobbing along

Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” grooves even she couldn’t help but bob her head to it, watching her scene in Barbie as the movie was coming together.

In a series of videos posted to her Instagram, Lipa offered a behind-the-scenes look at how her big dance scene came together, singing along and generally feeling it more and more as each slide progressed. The clips also showed the recording process, the orchestral session with string players dubbing their parts, and Mark Ronson snapping his fingers and finding the rhythm inside his head.

Ronson executive produced the soundtrack and, alongside the Picard Brothers and Andrew Wyatt, “Dance the Night,” in particular. Lipa played the Mermaid Barbie in the movie, too, as well as leading its Dreamhouse dance sequence.

The producer showed his pitch to Lipa for the movie in an Instagram post this past May. “Hey! I’m doing the songs for the Barbie movie with Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken,” he wrote her. “It’s dir. by Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Ladybird) and it’s maybe the funniest script I’ve ever read, like [redacted] funny. There’s a song with a huge 60-person dance number with the whole cast – I only have the track so far, as they started rehearsals, but I would fucking love it if you would consider co-writing and starring on it. I honestly think the movie’s going to be incredible.” He didn’t screenshot her response, but it’s safe to assume she excitedly agreed to sign on.

Last month, Ronson expressed his admiration of Lipa and the song, which he pointed out was written by Lipa and Caroline Ailin. He also hinted at how her follow-up album to Future Nostalgia would sound. “I mean, I’ve heard some of it, and it’s incredible,” he said. “I think that’s why there’s the disco ball that smashes in the video [‘Dance the Night’], right? This feels like her triumphant stomp on that era of her music into whatever she does next.”