Who says dance doesn’t work on video? O.K., O.K., maybe I’ve said that to some of you. Please allow me to refine such a crude pronouncement: It’s not that dance can’t work on camera, it’s that most of the dance films and videos out there are appallingly bad. And I’m not even talking about the fuzzy back-of-the-house recordings, over which the future reconstructers of the world will surely despair. Nope, I’m talking about the stuff that’s made with cameras in mind.
But, of course, there’s good stuff out there, even through the low-quality rabbit’s hole that is YouTube (Check out frequent Art.Cult contributor Jolene Chang of Saturday Matinee choreographing her PhD). Here are a few (mostly silly) things to watch while you make your Friday night plans, waste time on Facebook, do your online banking and otherwise pretend to work today. Have a great weekend, y’all.
1. Nobody does (melo)drama like the Bolshoi. And nobody does behind-the-scenes ballet videos like the Ballet Boyz:
2. The Italian choreographer Luca Veggetti works in the States a lot, making him an interesting person to talk dance trends and the like with. I’ve interviewed him several times (here and here, for example) and he also joined in a conversation we were having at Art.Cult about ballet in America. A little while after that, he sent me this work of his:
NOTHING - 2008 from Paolo Aralla on Vimeo. Sadly, I can’t embed Vimeo stuff - but check it out, there are several interesting collaborations between Veggetti and the composer Paolo Aralla.
3. Many of you have already checked out Beyonce’s “All the Single Ladies” video. I can’t remember the last time so many people emailed me the same YouTube link.
4. When she premiered “At Large” at the Chocolate Factory, the choreographer Eleanor Bauer announced her intention of starting an Internet dance craze. “Scratching” is strangely addictive. You should all be experts by lunchtime:
5. But you’ll never be an expert like this:
6. Filipino inmates awkwardly dancing to “Thriller.” I don’t know if this is real, and I don’t care:
7. This, of course, leads us to the Indian Thriller:
8. Which hopefully leads to an after-work drink. Dancing optional:
November 14th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Thanks for the shoutout! Here’s one of my faves, a passive aggressive Swan Lake with Nureyev and Miss Piggy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_kSTtjplkM
It’s fun to see that Nureyev had such a good sense of humor.
November 14th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
And let’s not forget the wonderful Dance Camera West Film Festival, http://www.dancecamerawest.org/about.htm which presents great dance films made for the camera. See the 2008 trailer here http://www.dancecamerawest.org/08_trailer.htm to get a taste of some good dance on film.
November 14th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Sorry for the double post! I posted the URL incorrectly in my first first comment.
November 14th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Thanks for the links - I love it especially when Miss Piggy turns into a a doll and just gets flung about. So silly, and so perfect.
jw, I must admit to some ignorance when it comes to the festival - know it only by description. I have to say I have never loved any of the Dance on Camera stuff I’ve seen; or, rather, I find that the festivals tend to have a lot of mediocre stuff. But I’m glad to hear you endorse this one, will pay more attention to it
November 17th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I have to agree with Claudia on the quality of dance on camera work out there. I admit my criticism is wholly emotional and very likely irrational. So take these comments with a grain or two. But as a student of both film and of dance, I don’t really get the sense the dance-on-camera-ers know what they’re doing with the merging of forms or, more importantly, why they’re doing it. And somehow videodances often seem snobbish to me –self-important from the dancing side, which I think is insulting to the film. Or it strikes me icky.
Some of the more beautiful examples, though, are probably the ones that don’t make too much of an effort to be “dance” or don’t pretend to be more than the dance - which is exactly where they end up. I’m thinking of the film versions of some of de Keersmaeker’s work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5KCMccPnww and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlpKKvFFm6g&feature=related. Of course, starting with such awesome work kinda helps - but I can imagine other filmmakers (I forget who did these) getting even this totally messed up.
Also, for another merging of biology and dance (this one truly hilarious - or is just cuz those are my friends dancing?), see this collaboration produced at Ohio State a few years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOO7ANIlon4
November 19th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
“I don’t really get the sense the dance-on-camera-ers know what they’re doing with the merging of forms or, more importantly, why they’re doing it.” - couldn’t agree more, Esther.
And I’m glad you brought up De Keersmaeker - her dance films are gorgeous. A lot of it is the dance, I am sure, and I would imagine her having a keen eye for how it would translate (or for being smart enough to work with folks who do). But money doesn’t hurt here, either; am always struck by the quality difference between DVDs (and press kits in general) from American and European choreographers. In this case, high production values are pretty difficult to obtain if you don’t have the cash.