For my final inquiry post, I’m going to be talking about a very small part of the dance world; concept videos. Concept videos are so interesting and inspiring. Some can be professionally made and can feature professional dancers, and some can just be self-made. A concept video is not just a video of you taking a dance class or your choreography, a concept video has to have “some kind of unifying theme, whether that comes in the form of a storyline, aesthetic, allegory, or whatever,” (from STEEZY Studio at https://www.steezy.co/posts/how-to-make-a-dance-video#:~:text=A%20one%2Dshot%20of%20you,%2C%20aesthetic%2C%20allegory%2C%20whatever)
So, if a concept video needs to have a unifying theme, what can that theme be? The answer to that is, the theme can be anything. Most commonly, the theme will match the lyrics or vibe of the song being danced to. However, sometimes, choreographers will come up with some more abstract themes. Themes could also just be certain feelings or experiences. Dance is a form of expression, so the theme could literally be anything.
Examples:
I have attached some of my favourite concept videos below!
This first example is my absolute favourite concept video I’ve ever seen. I am unsure of what the theme is, but feel free to comment on what you think the theme could be!
The next example is by the same group of people, but a different song. What do you think the theme is?
This next example was actually choreographed and directed by someone I was friends with in high school. He was a part of ITP at Harbour Dance Centre, which I talked about in my last post. The theme of this video is mannequins in a store after hours!
This last example is actually an official music video for Hozier’s song Movement. I love this video, and it only features one single dancer. I think that this video is about dealing with the different sides of ourselves. I don’t think that this theme really matches the lyrics of the song, but I think that the dancer performed excellently, and I love this video!
Summary:
I love concept videos, so much so that I think they are my favourite thing about dance. I would love to be part of a concept video one day, or create my own! I would like to reiterate that concept videos can be anything, they don’t even have to feature dancers! However, my favourite concept videos feature dancers. The beautiful thing about dance is that it can be anything and everything. Dance does not have one single definition, and I think that concept videos really prove that idea.
Sources:
Ma, J. (2024, January 23). How To Make a Dance Video. STEEZY Studio. https://www.steezy.co/posts/how-to-make-a-dance-video#:~:text=A%20one%2Dshot%20of%20you,%2C%20aesthetic%2C%20allegory%2C%20whatever.