Dancing in the Streets: view from camera two.
Check out this super cute little nugget made by DanceNOWChicago veteran Francesca. Wanna dance next time? Be our guest!
In the meantime, these are my favorite things ever.
DanceNOWChicago loves music (for obvious reasons). We also love the unexpected. The two together….well, you can only imagine.
The Gillick work that is up at the MCA has got me thinking a lot about where we encounter music and just how much we engage with it. Music is so prolific in some spaces (like restaurants, coffee shops, and stores) that we hardly notice it enough to even appreciate it. On the other hand, when we encounter music in unexpected places (like a museum) we have a different engagement with it-we are automatically more turned on by it and tuned in to it.
Today for example, I encountered a man fiddling around with a finger harp while waiting for the red line. It was disarmingly lovely.
Here are a couple other disarmingly lovely things I have encountered recently regarding music. Enjoy.
Just incredible. I want to play it so badly!
P.S. Speaking of music, did you download the song for the next guerrilla dance party yet?
Internetz fame? I haz it.
They began dancing and posted videos on YouTube, and according the mysterious Web laws that can send a laughing baby video global, these unknowns quickly attracted thousands of viewers.
At this point in fact, the videos from the high school students from LA which this quote refers to have received millions of views….and consequently an article in the NY Times, sponsorship from clothing/footwear brands, and a documentary for MTV in the works.
It seems to me that while there are unimaginable numbers of people using the internet to post, share, and spread information, there are only a few users who really have the power to make something become viral. What is interesting to me in regards to this (and these kids who are now responsible for this next big dance movement) is that these gods of the internet are now the ones curating our cultural lives*. They are the ones deciding that jerking is the next big thing and three wolf moon shirts are the new standard of irony based ROFL-ing and cats doing much of anything are the funnest thing ever.
Truthfully, I can't decide how I feel about this. Part of me loves the way we all watch the same ridiculous pixelated crap…it bonds us. The other part of me wishes maybe we were all watching the same creative, groundbreaking or thoughtful stuff that's out there.
But since I'm not one of those internet gods, it actually doesn't really matter what I want us to watch. So instead, I watch this.
*Note that I am officially waiting to see how long it will take before work at the MCA starts reflecting this cultural phenomenon.
While I love a good Nutcracker (and Chicago is home to a really lovely one by the Joffrey) I would like to officially encourage you all to try a new holiday tradition-GO SEE REDMOON'S WINTER PAGEANT. This show is incredibly charming, engaging, and approachable for all ages and celebrates Chicagoans in their trek through a long winter and ultimate celebration in spring. It is hilarious and thoughtful and just an overall warm and fuzzy thing (it's also incredibly affordable for a night of theater!) Take my advice and go be part of the 20 year long Chicago tradition-you'll be adding it to your holiday list of traditions for sure.