Dance Like Your Life Depends On It

Although I am quite sure my days of dancing in the chorus are over, I am spiritually affected by the way dance steers the soul. There is something about both the music under it and the vocabulary of the body that will always remain transcendent for me. In much of what I see, I amazed that new generations of dancers & choreographers continue to find ways to reinvent our bodies and craft a language that is uniquely their own. Constantly. I see it every year in color guard, SYTYCD, our local companies..... 

Here are two clips that both passed my way and I felt they were worthy of a share although they come from opposite sides of the spectrum. The first is from I.aM.mE crew member and former So You Think You Can Dance contestant Phillip Chbeeb and Renee Kester. Apparently there is a whole live action element in New York on Fridays and Saturdays called "showtime" where they invade the subway system and create spontaneous works among crowded cars and poles. This lovely piece is to Elliot Moss' "Slip"and uses the concept of suspend and release that is both acrobatic as well as evoking. There in an instant and then gone, which is also so different from the usual mode of rehearse, produce and archive. Thankfully, with digital technology, there is the option to share at large.

Then, at the total opposite end of the spectrum is our American heritage of dance preserved in vaults of musical theater. All the greats are featured from Gene Kelly, to Fred Astaire to Eleanor Powell. These names are familiar to me, but likely slipping into the history books of forgotten legends with new generations? But in this genius collage, they are all painstakingly assembled by The British Film Institute to Mark Ronson's monster smash Uptown Funk. What amazes me is that these vintage clips from over a 100 years so seamlessly align in style. What a trip down a fabulous memory lane. Enjoy them both!