Lady Gaga And Laurieann Gibson: The Way They Were

On Monday (November 14), Lady Gaga and Laurieann Gibson confirmed their split, ending a creative partnership that dated back to the beginning of the pop star's career.

Gibson first teamed up with Mother Monster in 2007, when the choreographer helped her most famous Dream Warrior with a live routine for her Fame track "Boys Boys Boys." The two ladies shared a similar background, both drawing inspiration from the singer's hometown of New York City, where Gaibson had arrived many years before meeting Gaga, hoping to make it as a dancer. In August, Gibson explained to MTV News that Gaga's Nick Knight-directed "Born This Way" video was meant to pay homage to their love for the city.

"This was the place that we started. This was the place that birthed her. This was the place that birthed my dance," Gibson told us. "New York just has something so real about birthing something specific."

In the years since they first hooked up, the two women have forged one of the most close-knit, high-profile relationships in pop. Gibson has had credits on nearly every Lady Gaga video released so far, including "Poker Face," "Just Dance," "Telephone," "Alejandro," and "Born This Way." But she has also worked closely with the singer on her live performances and massive stage shows.

Among members of Gaga's elusive Haus of Gaga, Gibson is certainly one of the most public. Over the course of the past 12 months, the former "Fly Girl" rose to prominence thanks to her work as creative director for the superstar, starring in not one, but two, of her own reality shows: E!'s "The Dance Scene" and BET's "Born to Dance." And it was during this time that the duo showed the world what they could do as a pair, producing some of Gaga's most talked-about creations, including the clips from the Born This Way album, which was released in May.

"I woke up one night and I got it and I said, 'I got it: We have to birth a new race,' " she recalled to MTV News about the idea for the "BTW" clip. "As genius as [Gaga] is, she then begins to create all of these elements that make her Lady Gaga. When I saw the final edit, I, of course, was loving some stuff and then I was like, 'But oh, here we go.' It was brilliant. Nick is amazing."

While Gibson was outspoken when she disagreed about a creative decision the singer made, she seemed to be always by her side, working on projects like Gaga's Google Chrome commercial, which again pays homage to the star's Big Apple roots. The HBO special "Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden" highlighted Gibson's work as creative director and earned Gaga five Emmy nominations.

Laurieann also co-directed the "Judas" video, which she told us had left her satisfied. "I was able to sit in the director's seat and fulfill our vision and see it all the way through. So at the end of the day, you saw how amazing she looks — beautiful — she's dancing again," Gibson said. "And it's just great because I was able to produce the next level: who she is, how many levels she can go and the idea that this artist is a real artist and capable."

Gibson was also onboard for the "Yoü and I" video, which was shot over the summer in Nebraska and features Gaga's male alter ego, Jo Calderone, as well as some interesting "mermaid sex"; the two ladies shared directing duties. She also worked with Gaga on her performance art piece at this year's MTV VMAs, where Calderone was on hand the entire night.

"The idea of her being a performance artist — and it's starting the performance on the red carpet and the idea that the performance never ends for her — is the first time I've experienced this with an artist," Laurianne explained at the time. "I love it. That's something that is specific to her, and the whole night was the performance, and it was important that Jo was a part of the whole night."

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