The Charleston seems cooler than I remember.

September 28, 2010 10:10 PM

The Charleston + Daft Punk = Awesome (SLYT)
posted by Mr_Zero (22 comments total)

Love this video. On a list somewhere, for quite some time, i've had an entry "learn the charleston and dance it to daft punk"
posted by ST!NG at 10:46 PM on September 28, 2010

I can never watch the Charleston without imagining Groucho Marx performing the dance on top of the rubble pile where Hitler's remains lay.
posted by incessant at 10:48 PM on September 28, 2010

One of my favorite vids. Such joy and so elegantly playful.
posted by nickyskye at 10:51 PM on September 28, 2010

I'm not quite sure what it is - maybe someone more knowledgeable than I can point it out - but there is something there rhythmically in the dance that just isn't there in the music. They aren't dancing to a plain boom-boom-boom-boom, four-on-the-floor beat.
posted by ssg at 10:55 PM on September 28, 2010

I'm pretty sure this is the original. Video quality's a bit iffier than the Daft Punk one, though.
posted by KChasm at 11:11 PM on September 28, 2010

Here is the Know Your Meme page for that video. I also really enjoy the Aphex Twin version, in a very different way.
posted by JauntyFedora at 11:14 PM on September 28, 2010

Sorry to be That Guy, but the fact that the dancing and the music aren't synchronized to the same beat makes this kind of unwatchable. These guys did it right.
posted by Zephyrial at 11:26 PM on September 28, 2010 [15 favorites]

The dancers are Al Minns and Leon James, aka Al & Leon.

This mashup that made the rounds a few years ago was also quite good.
posted by mosk at 11:45 PM on September 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh my. That was indeed awesome.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:11 AM on September 29, 2010

Zeph's video trumps.
posted by sicjoy at 12:34 AM on September 29, 2010

These guys did it right.

Oh man, that was AWESOME. Thank you Zephyrial.
posted by joshuaconner at 12:55 AM on September 29, 2010

Dubus made it right, too.
posted by namagomi at 4:13 AM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Sorry, namagomi, that video is filled with cuts and the timing has been altered. Zeph's is, indeed, perfect. Down to the beating of their heads… that was awesome.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:26 AM on September 29, 2010

I didn't think that vid worked at all. I just think the original footage has enough awesome in its own right to outweigh the lack of awesome in the pairing.
posted by dobbs at 4:51 AM on September 29, 2010

Furthermore, the original "Around the World" video is actually very good in its own right. I'm not sure they did it in one take, which would be awesome, but it's got dancing robots and mummies.

And then they did this.
posted by Harry at 5:18 AM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Daft Punk may be the best thing about the new Tron.
posted by oddman at 5:58 AM on September 29, 2010

Zeph's video has the added bonus of showing the original choreography on which Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video is based. Who knew?
posted by swift at 6:16 AM on September 29, 2010

The Charleston seems cooler than I remember.

The Charleston is incredibly cool - highly improvisational and heavily influenced by street dance forms. If you haven't seen much, you might want to Google around for the various Charleston competition videos, showing jams and performances from contests that happen annually, like the International Lindy Hop Championships.
posted by Miko at 6:37 AM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

As long as we're talking about Old timey vs Modern...
posted by davejay at 10:16 AM on September 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

I love old dancing + new music! I've been keeping a list as I come across them. Here are the few that haven't been covered yet.

Isolee - Rest Encore, Soul Train/NuevaSoul
Daft Punk/Maxence Cyrin - Around the World (piano cover), Bubsy Berkeley

And here's one I made.
Siriusmo - Gummiband, Hellzapoppin' (Lindy Hop)
posted by iloveit at 11:28 AM on September 29, 2010

my next goal in life is to learn those moves,

nobody dances like that anymore :o
posted by petit2210 at 3:04 AM on September 30, 2010

Sorry, your math is wrong.

Daft Punk + X = Daft Punk
posted by chairface at 8:18 AM on September 30, 2010