In the early days of the 21th century, when Bush II was taking his first spin around the block, two music videos threatened to detonate the formal dancing world’s arcane infrastructure like a proverbial crate of Semtex. With the 2001 video for “Since I Left You,” sample-happy Australian electronic group The Avalanches presented us with a uniquely 9/11 vision of two blue collar workers escaping their cramped mine shaft confines to discover a glorious Flashdance-esque world of splendor. One man would find his Camelot, breaking down stereotypes and reveling in his new environment– while the other would fade back into the harsh pain of reality, unable to act upon his desires. Clearly, there was still work to be done.
By the end of the W.’s first term, however, the results of such efforts to revolutionize classical dance through indie pop music videos had been upgraded from lukewarm to red hot with Kings of Convenience’s 2004 clip, “I Wanna Dance With You.” Norwegian superstar Erlend Øye not only challenged the conventions of a dance style that originated in the 15th century, but managed to win over first a classroom of stoic pre-adolescent ballerinas, and eventually an entire auditorium full of finely dressed connoisseurs.
As demonstrated through the thematic, aesthetic and chronological links between these two videos, we understand that the early 2000s were a time of quiet upheaval and unrest that challenged the status quo and refused to accept any form of explicit complacency.
Music, Video | posted on March 27, 2008 at 8:14 am
