intriguing solo dances
embracing the weird and unusual dancing 🕺🏻
I chose these for my first feature mostly because I want to dance like all of the people in these videos.
Kevin Morby: I Have Been To The Mountain (2016)
I love this video for its slow buildup to the dance and its storytelling. A man who appears to have died comes back to life in the hospital he passed in, only to seem confused (and drugged, by taking some unknown pill from a nurse). As he maneuvers through the hospital seemingly unseen by everyone else, he starts to dress himself and indulge in profound goofery.
Director: Phillip R Lopez
Starring/Choreography: Nathan Mitchell
Vegyn: A Dream Goes On Forever (2024)
Filling in liminal spaces in what appears to be an abandoned office building, dancer Tishainy Constancia commands attention with her lyrical movements that effortlessly flow from one scene to the next. Though Vegyn has a pattern of publishing videos of solo dancers as the entire video (see here, here, and here, for just a few), this video in particular seems to parallel Weapon of Choice (featured below) as far as mood/visuals–-intentionally or not.
Director: Joshua Gordon
Fatboy Slim: Weapon of Choice (2001)
This video won multiple awards at the 2001 MTV music video awards, in addition to winning the Grammy for best music video the following year. Following Christopher Walken, we see him dancing around an abandoned hotel lobby with surprisingly skillful leaps and flips among the flailing. With special effects we see him falling off a side railing at a point, enjoying the weightlessness among the building’s interior.
Director: Spike Jonze
Radiohead: Lotus Flower (2011)
I distinctly remember the feeling the first time I saw this which was: this is so tight! It validated my weird dancing at parties and inspired me to go even weirder. Thom Yorke is such an interesting dancer and I love how this video strips down any plot or visual effects to focus on just him and his movement.
Director/Producer: Garth Jennings
Choreography: Wayne McGregor
David Byrne: Once In A Lifetime (1980)
I couldn’t not include this one. Byrne is pretty well known as a weird dancer, and this video illustrates that pretty succinctly. Together with co-director Toni Basil, the two studied archival footage of religious rituals from around the world to mimic in dance.
Directors: Toni Basil and David Byrne