Television: Ballet Dancers in MTV VMA Awards TV show

[tzbutterfly]

I only watched a few minutes of MTV awards where Lady Gaga gathered unbelievable 8 awards out of 13 nominations. However, today's Reuter news had a singer with ballet dancers as background dancers. Here is the link of the article and photo:

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68C1AH20100913 .

 

Has anyone seen it? How was ballet performance matching with pop culture?

[learningdance]

Interesting> I didn't see it . . any links to the song and dance?

[Tarheeldance]

Saw it, but I had mixed feelings about it. It was a little weird. It wasn't ballet as much as it was, just movement...awkward movement.

[Momof3darlings]

I did see it but I think you've confused dancers in ballet "like" costumes moving on stage with actual ballet dancers. They ran around in a circle with soft fabric pieces, they struck poses in the tutus ala Vogueing meets contortions, and then crawled around on the floor. Not sure there was anything ballet about it but the costume had netting in it.

 

Now, with that said, there was ALOT of dance on the Awards last night, some pretty good. This just wasn't it.

[LauraR]

The OP asked about ballet meshing with pop culture: Well, Kanye's song was rather trashy and talked about the crummy people he knows. ("All the ____ insert whatever bad word"). It almost seemed like he had ballet dancers, which symbolize something elite in pop culture, in a "dumbed-down" dance on purpose. Perhaps it was signifying people who think they are really something in his society, but aren't (a poser). I am not a fan of Kanye, but sometimes he likes to do the artistic flair thing, and sometimes I like to over-analyze. My teenage daughters were watching the show and my 16yo non dd got up and walked out of the room during that performance because she said it was just awful.

[Momof3darlings]

I do think you overanalyzed on the reason for the dancers doing the movements. I was likely just that Kanye demanded the dancers not detract from his "moment". LOL I "heard" the lyrics to mean something different. But do feel the dancers were just visual, not part of the message. Visual in that something else needed to be on that stage besides him and his Kanye is Kanye. That won't change anytime soon. I took a brief look at the lyrics to double check what I thought last night and I more believe that the lyrics (in their own foul way) were celebrating the guys, much like Kanye himself who get themselves into trouble by standing on soapboxes, being "that" guy and just saying: I am who I am, you know lots of people like me, celebrate us because we will likely never learn. Run.....away from us 'cause we will not change. Of course, I pulled out my armchair just like you when I analyzed that.

 

Let's not keep going down that direction though. (me included) Let's keep to the dancers and their lack of ballet in ballet tutus. (well a tutu that when it grows up wants to be a ballet tutu) Now the dancers behind Justin Bieber and Florence and the Machine were more exciting to watch.

[MBF]

The Florence and the Machine dancers were choreographed by Travis Wall. I read that he also choreographed a couple of other numbers but I am not sure which ones. I knew the minute I saw the Florence number that it was his choreo, it is very much his style.