Stareworthy

December 2, 2023 9:01 AM

Dancing with the Stairs is an interactive and joyful visual of exactly that. Poetry in motion as they say....
posted by storybored (13 comments total)

An example on The Monkees I've always liked.
posted by jocelmeow at 9:55 AM on December 2, 2023

Lovely! They show a brief clip of one of my all-time favorite dance numbers, but it's worth watching this astonishing performance by the Nicholas brothers in its entirety. It's just joyous and breathtaking.

In a very different emotional key, I love this staircase dance choreographed by Yoann Bourgeois.
posted by yankeefog at 10:10 AM on December 2, 2023 [10 favorites]

I wonder if this counts (edit: oops I missed a similar link by the same artist right above! egg on my face)
posted by aubilenon at 10:50 AM on December 2, 2023

Bravo!
posted by rubatan at 11:27 AM on December 2, 2023

this astonishing performance by the Nicholas brothers in its entirety. It's just joyous and breathtaking.

There's a scene in the first season of Only Murders In The Building that was inspired by this, and it's such an unexpected moment of grace. Lovely.
posted by mochapickle at 12:20 PM on December 2, 2023

What about performances where the stairs dance back?
posted by whoopcannon at 12:36 PM on December 2, 2023

I knew before I clicked on the link that the Nicolas Brothers would be the stars. Fun fact about them: they did a tap dance break on the studio recording on Chic"s My Feet Keep Dancing, which can be heard but not see here.
posted by y2karl at 12:49 PM on December 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh, that's neat. Weirdly, I knew almost all the older performances and almost none of the newer ones.
posted by humbug at 12:54 PM on December 2, 2023

Cool clips obscured by a UI that just wants to show me blocks of text
posted by achrise at 5:04 PM on December 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

I like these kind of nyt articles and I’d missed this one, thanks for posting!
posted by Vatnesine at 8:41 PM on December 2, 2023

I scrolled all the way to the bottom while asking "Where's Weapon of Choice?" and am glad that it finally appeared as the very last image. In the Spike Jonze directed video, Christopher Walken dances not just on the stairs, but on the sofas, tables, balconies, ceilings, etc of a Marriott hotel in L.A.
posted by autopilot at 7:21 AM on December 3, 2023

This is a fantastic collection and a wonderful piece.

(And my thanks to the commenters - I've never seen Weapon of Choice and was delighted to see that clip highlighted.)

Thank you so much for posting this, storybored!
posted by kristi at 11:43 AM on December 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

I love this. I am/was a tapper. I've only danced with a prop (other than a cane) a few times, and those were chairs. But they did involve dancing on them. I'd probably break my neck if I had to do stuff like the Nichols Brothers did.
posted by kathrynm at 5:05 PM on December 3, 2023 [2 favorites]