Steal This Dance

Elena (Adam Rose)

We are proud to present CHEER-TOH, our latest Fusion, this time blending elements of cheerleading and Butoh into a distinct performance by Antibody Dance‘s Elena (Adam Rose).

Visit our Fusion section to watch this video, which also features a music mash-up by Chicago’s own Yea Big, merging Britney Spears with Japanese ritual.

Join the discussion at Trailerpilot’s blog or post your thoughts on this fusion by leaving a comment here.

As part of my initial research for Punk Yankees, I asked the dancers to make a list of what they considered to be the most iconic moments in dance. It seemed a logical introduction into sampling dance to reproduce some of these classic moments. At the time, Beyonce had just released her “All the Single Ladies” video in which she samples Bob Fosse’s choreography in a questionable manner, so we thought it would be appropriate to appropriate her appropriation, and of course use her song.

Ultimately we sampled and mashed up over 30 iconic moments in dance, and put it to almost as many music samples in a “Single Ladies mash-up” created by Yea Big. Can you name all of the iconic moments? Look for clues to help you.

You can also watch us perform this dance in various site-specific locations, or buy the “how to” version for endless personal enjoyment.

—Julia Rhoads, Artistic Director