the more things change...

May 27, 2007 12:04 PM

Parallels is a 10 minute dance video comparing current B-Boy poppin and lockin to vintage clips of African and global dance, jazz and swing, martial arts, and athletics. It's an excerpt from Detours - An Experimental Dance Collaboration, a video by dancer extraordinaire David "Elsewhere" Bernal. Via beans, beans, good for your heart [more]
posted by madamjujujive (11 comments total)

2004 interview: With B-boy extraordinaire, David Bernal
His famous robot dance performance at 2001 Kollaboration, his 2003 performance, and his 2005 performance.

Other segments from the Detours video, which is unfortunately now out of print:
-- Elsewhere's own segment - dance starts about 50 seconds in.
-- Midus, part 1, part 2
-- squid
-- skywalker
posted by madamjujujive at 12:04 PM on May 27, 2007

Parallels is brilliant. Thanks for this post, madamejujujive, ten times over.
posted by phaedon at 12:29 PM on May 27, 2007

Some of Elsewhere's older work [1 2] probably mentioned here previously.
posted by phaedon at 12:33 PM on May 27, 2007

Wow wow wow. This is greatness. Thanks so much for the Sunday morning cheer-me-up.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 12:39 PM on May 27, 2007

"Then afterwards, having paused a time, Hippocleides bade someone bring in a table and, when the table had gone in, first danced Laconian figures, afterwards others, Attic ones, and the third dance: he supported his head on the table and gesticulated as with his hands with his legs." - Herodotus, circa 450 BC

Yep, people have been busting a move for a looong time.
posted by gwint at 1:12 PM on May 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Look, it's the African anteater ritual!
posted by hincandenza at 1:26 PM on May 27, 2007

Some of Elsewhere's older work [1 2] probably mentioned here previously.

[blink]

Look two posts up from yours. The divine Madamjujujive posted them!
posted by five fresh fish at 2:00 PM on May 27, 2007

Damn, that's tops!
posted by bpm140 at 7:09 PM on May 27, 2007

Damn, that's tops!
posted by bpm140 at 7:09 PM on May 27, 2007

I can't wait until dance, martial arts and gymnastics are all commonly viewed as aspects of the same thing.
Great video.
posted by greytape at 5:56 AM on May 28, 2007

Dance, martial arts and gymnastics are all aspects of the same thing.

There ya go, Greytape. Anybody who can't see it after watching Parallels isn't paying attention.

It's all the same... only different. (Thanks, mjjj.)
posted by Enron Hubbard at 7:03 AM on May 28, 2007