Post by PeterB on Oct 30, 2006 1:45:07 GMT -4
I wouldn't normally be interested to contribute to this thread, but one of my favourite songs on the radio at the moment won the Australian Record Industry Association award for song of the year: "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" by the group Eskimo Joe. Driving beat, impressive harmonies. Just not quite sure what the lyrics are about.
Speaking as a dancer, I like any music which is good to dance to. This can include anything by the crooners like Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin; Latin music like Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin or Shakira; some country and western, like Shania Twain; and lots of rock and pop.
Incidentally, my dance studio has balls twice a year. Students can perform choreographed routines, choosing the music, the costume and the theme with their teacher. Over the years at the studio, I've performed quite a few routines:
Waltz. The music was the theme to the Ken Burns series on the American Civil War (Ashokan Farewell?). I borrowed the uniform of a guy who belongs to an ACW re-enactment society, and my teacher borrowed an appropriate looking hoop-skirted dress from another student.
Tango. The music was Danza d'Castile by some classical composer I've never heard of (got the music from an old vinyl record). My teacher and I dressed in very plain costumes because I wanted people to concentrate on the dance and the music rather than the costumes.
Latin Medley. The song was "Unbelieveable" (by EMF?). At the time, the song was being used in TV ads for the Australian Football League. I dressed as a footballer (it's amazing how much dance shoes look like football boots if you replace the black laces with long white laces that you loop around the shoes a couple of times) and my teacher dressed as a cheergirl. A lot of fun.
Interpretive. Never done before at the studio, and it was such a different way of dancing that I felt very self-conscious learning it. The music was Barber's “Adagio for Strings”, and the theme was inspired by the movie "Platoon". I dressed as a soldier returning from Vietnam, while my teacher was dressed in typical late 60s clothing. This is the only routine I've done in which there was no applause *during* the performance (something which *always* happens), so I can only assume that people found it quite moving.
Swing. The song was “Hot Chili Woman” by Noiseworks – loud and fast. My costume wasn't particularly relevant, but my teacher wore a lovely short and shiny red dress. Or at least, that's what I see when I watch the video; I was concentrating so hard when I performed this routine that I have no conscious memory of what she looked like. Despite that, a lot of fun to perform.
Waltz. Back to the classics with some Johann Sebastian Bach, and a cheerful little piece of music. My teacher and I dressed in period clothing, but with a twist. At the start of the routine, I played out the first few bars of the piece on an electric keyboard, as though I’d just composed it myself. The music started out normally, but while I went off alone at one point, my teacher stripped off her costume to reveal a silvery bodysuit underneath, and sneaked up behind me to place some headphones on me. The music stopped, squawked and picked up in an electronic version. I responded with a passable Michael Jackson Moonwalk, and the routine resumed.
Latin Medley. Performed to Savage Garden’s “Chained to You”. My teacher and I dressed in business clothes (you wouldn’t have known my teacher was 6 months pregnant), and had a lot of fun.
Cha cha. Performed to “Underneath the radar” by Underworld. This was an excuse to wear the leather pants and long leather coat. Also a chance to cover half my face and part of one hand with silver body paint. The idea was that my teacher and I were robots? cyborgs? coming to life at the start of the song.
Latin Medley. Performed to Tasmin Archer’s “Sleeping Satellite”. I was dressed in something approximating 1960s business clothes, with an Apollo 11 mission badge sewn onto the shirt, and my teacher wore something appropriately 60s/70s as well. The song was preceded by a “The Eagle had landed” sound bite, and was tailed by “That’s one small step for a man…” Essentially a homage in dance to Apollo. A rather strange experience, but still very enjoyable.
Speaking as a dancer, I like any music which is good to dance to. This can include anything by the crooners like Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin; Latin music like Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin or Shakira; some country and western, like Shania Twain; and lots of rock and pop.
Incidentally, my dance studio has balls twice a year. Students can perform choreographed routines, choosing the music, the costume and the theme with their teacher. Over the years at the studio, I've performed quite a few routines:
Waltz. The music was the theme to the Ken Burns series on the American Civil War (Ashokan Farewell?). I borrowed the uniform of a guy who belongs to an ACW re-enactment society, and my teacher borrowed an appropriate looking hoop-skirted dress from another student.
Tango. The music was Danza d'Castile by some classical composer I've never heard of (got the music from an old vinyl record). My teacher and I dressed in very plain costumes because I wanted people to concentrate on the dance and the music rather than the costumes.
Latin Medley. The song was "Unbelieveable" (by EMF?). At the time, the song was being used in TV ads for the Australian Football League. I dressed as a footballer (it's amazing how much dance shoes look like football boots if you replace the black laces with long white laces that you loop around the shoes a couple of times) and my teacher dressed as a cheergirl. A lot of fun.
Interpretive. Never done before at the studio, and it was such a different way of dancing that I felt very self-conscious learning it. The music was Barber's “Adagio for Strings”, and the theme was inspired by the movie "Platoon". I dressed as a soldier returning from Vietnam, while my teacher was dressed in typical late 60s clothing. This is the only routine I've done in which there was no applause *during* the performance (something which *always* happens), so I can only assume that people found it quite moving.
Swing. The song was “Hot Chili Woman” by Noiseworks – loud and fast. My costume wasn't particularly relevant, but my teacher wore a lovely short and shiny red dress. Or at least, that's what I see when I watch the video; I was concentrating so hard when I performed this routine that I have no conscious memory of what she looked like. Despite that, a lot of fun to perform.
Waltz. Back to the classics with some Johann Sebastian Bach, and a cheerful little piece of music. My teacher and I dressed in period clothing, but with a twist. At the start of the routine, I played out the first few bars of the piece on an electric keyboard, as though I’d just composed it myself. The music started out normally, but while I went off alone at one point, my teacher stripped off her costume to reveal a silvery bodysuit underneath, and sneaked up behind me to place some headphones on me. The music stopped, squawked and picked up in an electronic version. I responded with a passable Michael Jackson Moonwalk, and the routine resumed.
Latin Medley. Performed to Savage Garden’s “Chained to You”. My teacher and I dressed in business clothes (you wouldn’t have known my teacher was 6 months pregnant), and had a lot of fun.
Cha cha. Performed to “Underneath the radar” by Underworld. This was an excuse to wear the leather pants and long leather coat. Also a chance to cover half my face and part of one hand with silver body paint. The idea was that my teacher and I were robots? cyborgs? coming to life at the start of the song.
Latin Medley. Performed to Tasmin Archer’s “Sleeping Satellite”. I was dressed in something approximating 1960s business clothes, with an Apollo 11 mission badge sewn onto the shirt, and my teacher wore something appropriately 60s/70s as well. The song was preceded by a “The Eagle had landed” sound bite, and was tailed by “That’s one small step for a man…” Essentially a homage in dance to Apollo. A rather strange experience, but still very enjoyable.