'Single Ladies' Dominate YouTube
Thursday, February 25, 2010
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Performance Club
Open to everyone, the Performance Club is a freewheeling conversation about New York performance of all kinds, from experimental theater to gallery installations to contemporary dance.
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I totally spaced putting Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" as the "most important pop culture dance development" on my 2009 list. Better late than never, especially as "Single Ladies" continues to be a force.
It's amazing to me how often the video comes up in conversations with dancers and choreographers. And how many of them know all the moves. Kanye West may be an ass, but he was right. It's impossible to list all the YouTube "Single Ladies." But here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!
• "Single Ladies"... Explained.
• Performance Art-Style
• Drag.
• Split Screen.
• And, of course, the original.
Comments [6]
Apparently, Marie-C, not all of us:
http://culture.wnyc.org/articles/performance-club/2010/mar/02/ps1-responds-censorship-claims/
Maybe, Jolene, you could think of Beyonce as a performance artist as well ... she has this persona, Sasha Fierce, just like Ann Liv Young has Sherry...
America! America! I love you. So easy to please, so enthusiastic, so... Yes.. pump it pump it and spank and spank!
Hi Claudia! The west coast chapter is doing well, if a bit swamped. I missed my first program at SF Ballet for the first time in 3 years! It hurt a little bit :) but that's how busy things are with school. I hope things in NY are going well!
It's interesting, I couldn't quite find the words to describe why the Beyonce video was so much fun, and so much fun to imitate. I also sense a resistance to popular culture as being "art", even though I hate to admit it (and as soon as I did, my brain was swamped with examples of pop culture as art). I'm surprised that so many dancers and choreographers are talking about it as well.
My favorite one is the drag queen one. :)
Oh the glory of Dance Gang's rendition!
Hey Jolene! It's been too long. How goes the West Coast chapter of the P.Club?
I forgot about the Glee recreation - that's a good one, too.
Well, for sure the larger Beyonce phenomenon has a lot to do with the video phenom - but also the stylistic references, the fact that it's actual choreography .. what's not to like?
Literally, inspirational. What is it about this video that inspires others to create, er, recreate? I think it's fun, but otherwise, the phenomenon eludes me.
The first time I saw it ironically, wasn't the original, but the recreation on Glee. (I know, I've been living in a cave recently.)
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