I wanna watch folks dance up on each other!

December 6, 2016 8:17 AM

Looking for reference -- movies, tv show episodes, YouTube videos, whatever -- of couples dancing informally and enthusiastically. Less "ballroom" and more "at the club." Same-sex couples preferred, but I'll take anything!

There are several reasons why I "need" this at the moment, but in particular, I want visual reference for the purposes of drawing self-indulgent artwork. So video or photos where I can see the people involved fairly clearly would be especially great.

posted by Narrative Priorities to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

Buffy and Faith dancing in the BtVS episode Bad Girls. This is a REALLY poor quality video but if it seems like what you're looking for, the show's on Netflix streaming, and the beginning of the scene (which is cut off in this video) shows wider shots of the characters. (There are strobe lights in here if that's a problem for anyone!)
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:45 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

There is a nightclub scene in 'The Bling Ring'.
Try "The Last Days of Disco". The closing credits are adorable.
You can search imdb for films with the keywords "nightclub and dancing" (or whatever combination you choose.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 9:09 AM on December 6, 2016

This is slightly different than what you requested, but involves amazing chemistry and dancing/acrobatics with a gay couple.
posted by cnidaria at 9:21 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

The HBO show Looking has a lot of scenes set in clubs. Here's one clip that I really like.
posted by megancita at 9:33 AM on December 6, 2016

Save the Last Dance has a fair amount of club dance scenes in it, although I'm not sure how many of them are a good enough wide shot to use for drawing reference.

Speaking of Buffy, this scene in season 2 with Buffy and Xander might also be good. In the clip I linked, the dancing starts around the 2:40 mark.
posted by helloimjennsco at 10:37 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Can it be amateur video, or are you specifically looking for things that have appeared in professionally produced media?
posted by AFABulous at 11:10 AM on December 6, 2016

Response by poster: Amateur video would also be lovely!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 11:25 AM on December 6, 2016

If you go to youtube and search on various social partner dances and same sex you'll get tons of results, mostly amateur video. Try salsa, bachata, kizomba, tango.
posted by meinvt at 12:18 PM on December 6, 2016

Just an innocent little dance. (From the 1996 movie, High School High)
posted by fuse theorem at 12:40 PM on December 6, 2016

Blues dancing videos abound on YouTube. There's is a lot of potential for 'close connection' in blues dancing. You might enjoy Lindy hop videos as well. But there will be less apparent physical intimacy.
posted by bilabial at 8:06 PM on December 6, 2016

Isn't the beginning of Dirty Dancing (the after hours party) the sine qua non here?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:21 PM on December 6, 2016

Perreo is a type of Latin "dirty dancing." There are lots of examples on YouTube of heterosexual couples and maybe lesbians; here are two men. Include "intenso" or "caliente" in your search terms (or similar Spanish words I'm not thinking of). "Entre hombres" or "entre chicos" might get you some legit gay stuff, but there are a lot of schoolaged boys just messing around, too.

Searching in Portuguese will lead you to Brazilian dirty dancing videos. "Dança sexy" and "dança sensual" seem useful. "Ritmo" might be a substitute for "dança." Be forewarned, there are a lot of teenagers making videos out there (plus a lot of terrible dancers).

I don't know non-pejorative slang terms in Spanish or Portuguese for "gay" but that would probably help a lot.
posted by AFABulous at 7:47 AM on December 7, 2016

Not same-sex, but I love this gorgeous, melancholy video.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 8:06 AM on December 7, 2016

"Perreo reggaeton" tends to be, uh, really enthusiastic dancing.
posted by AFABulous at 8:32 AM on December 7, 2016