Dancing with an Object
May 16, 2010 5:43 PM Subscribe
What sort of performances (dance, music videos, etc) involve a solo dancer dancing with an object as their lover?
When I asked around I got Kate Bush's Babooshka video as an example, since the double bass apparently represents her husband. It's kinda close, but I was hoping for more movement on the object's part. And I don't mean sex toys...
When I asked around I got Kate Bush's Babooshka video as an example, since the double bass apparently represents her husband. It's kinda close, but I was hoping for more movement on the object's part. And I don't mean sex toys...
Quiet the opposite of what you're asking.... there is an episode of Sex in the City where Carrie is dating a musician and he "plays" her as if she is a bass.
posted by CathyG at 6:05 PM on May 16, 2010
posted by CathyG at 6:05 PM on May 16, 2010
Best answer: Gene Kelly and his umbrella in (world's greatest musical!) Singin' in the Rain.
posted by scody at 6:20 PM on May 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by scody at 6:20 PM on May 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Fred Astaire doing his prop dance from An Evening with Fred Astaire. (With imaginary props.)
posted by thomas j wise at 7:17 PM on May 16, 2010
posted by thomas j wise at 7:17 PM on May 16, 2010
In Sleeping Beauty, the forest animals steal and "animate" the prince's cape, boots, and hat, so the maiden can dance with them.
posted by Vinegaroon at 7:47 PM on May 16, 2010
posted by Vinegaroon at 7:47 PM on May 16, 2010
Best answer: Richard Strauss' opera Salomé has a scene in which the eponomyous (anti)heroine sings to, kisses, and in some productions dances or otherwise cavorts with, the severed head of John the Baptist. Here's one production (soprano-on-head action starts about 5 min in).
posted by dr. boludo at 8:01 PM on May 16, 2010
posted by dr. boludo at 8:01 PM on May 16, 2010
Best answer: Sort of on the fringe of what you're looking for - Joe Jackson's Steppin' Out video.
posted by cashman at 9:35 PM on May 16, 2010
posted by cashman at 9:35 PM on May 16, 2010
Best answer: Oddly enough I went to a Surrealist/Dada-esque production last night called Soirée Moirée which had a scene like this. The dancer's partner was a silver bowl, and she used a long length of black cloth to interact with it - when it was initially covered with the cloth, I thought there was another dancer under there. At one point, she made it look like impossible amounts of the cloth were slowly billowing out of the bowl. Eventually, she placed the bowl on one end of the cloth, took the other, and dragged it across the floor in a wide circle. It was great to watch it slowly retracing her path, despite her quick pace. She managed to create an intimacy with that bowl that was well worth the price of admission. So perhaps Dada/Surreal ballet, or any modern interpretations or homages, would be an area to explore.
posted by Devika at 1:01 AM on May 17, 2010
posted by Devika at 1:01 AM on May 17, 2010
Aurelia's Oratorio is filled with scenes like that (admittedly, she is sometimes joined on stage by a male performer, but not always).
posted by librarylis at 2:07 AM on May 17, 2010
posted by librarylis at 2:07 AM on May 17, 2010
In Killin' Jive from The Cats and The Fiddle, one of the guys does strange things to his double bass and lies down on/with it (scroll to 0:50).
posted by The Toad at 5:30 AM on May 17, 2010
posted by The Toad at 5:30 AM on May 17, 2010
Are you looking for examples of the object as a dance partner, or where it can be more specifically inferred from observation that the person is treating the object as they would a sex partner, or examples where it might be unclear someone watching who did not know what the artist's intention was?
In the example you linked, she did not seem to be treating the bass in a particularly "lover" sort of way to me, although I only watched parts of the video so perhaps there is something I missed there.
If all you are looking for is dancing with props, this is a very common trope.
posted by yohko at 12:42 PM on May 17, 2010
In the example you linked, she did not seem to be treating the bass in a particularly "lover" sort of way to me, although I only watched parts of the video so perhaps there is something I missed there.
If all you are looking for is dancing with props, this is a very common trope.
posted by yohko at 12:42 PM on May 17, 2010
Response by poster: Are you looking for examples of the object as a dance partner, or where it can be more specifically inferred from observation that the person is treating the object as they would a sex partner, or examples where it might be unclear someone watching who did not know what the artist's intention was?
More specifically the second (object as sex partner). The Babooshka video was the only response I got the first time I asked, and like you I didn't think it fit what I was looking for in that the bass didn't really "do" much.
posted by divabat at 1:30 PM on May 17, 2010
More specifically the second (object as sex partner). The Babooshka video was the only response I got the first time I asked, and like you I didn't think it fit what I was looking for in that the bass didn't really "do" much.
posted by divabat at 1:30 PM on May 17, 2010
Dancing with a steam shovel? The BodyVox dance company did it first. with a giant excavator, in Deere John.
posted by memewit at 4:19 PM on May 17, 2010
posted by memewit at 4:19 PM on May 17, 2010
Things like that very occasionally appear in burlesque shows.
Most productions of The Nutcracker Ballet have Clara dancing with the toy nutcracker and imagining it as the prince, but it's not portrayed as a "knowledgeable" sort of imagining, probably not what you are looking for, but thought I'd throw it in there.
Chicago (the most recent movie version) has the "cell block tango" scene.
I've seen this in fairly mainstream musical productions (live shows), as well as in camp drag shows. No youtube links, as I didn't attempt to record them -- but it does turn up, so that's another place you can expect to see this.
posted by yohko at 8:30 PM on May 17, 2010
Most productions of The Nutcracker Ballet have Clara dancing with the toy nutcracker and imagining it as the prince, but it's not portrayed as a "knowledgeable" sort of imagining, probably not what you are looking for, but thought I'd throw it in there.
Chicago (the most recent movie version) has the "cell block tango" scene.
I've seen this in fairly mainstream musical productions (live shows), as well as in camp drag shows. No youtube links, as I didn't attempt to record them -- but it does turn up, so that's another place you can expect to see this.
posted by yohko at 8:30 PM on May 17, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sammyo at 5:52 PM on May 16, 2010 [1 favorite]