Today In "Human Bodies Moving Through Space"

March 5, 2024 6:09 PM

YouTube has decided that modern dance groups are the thing to share with me right now. Three very different but thrilling examples: Here's dance group CDK doing a phenomenal routine to Somebody That I Used To Know. [3m50s] And Moon Dance performing at the World DanceSport Federation Championship last year [7m]. And finally, personal favorite Avantgardey performing as part of a larger ensemble for the Year Of The Dragon [7m].

Bonus late find: Avantgardey doing an extended 15 minute set for some kind of corporate shindig.

Avantgardey previously

posted by hippybear (19 comments total)

Nice. Thanks!

Two of my favorite dance videos:

Yoann Bourgeois / CCN2 – Celui Qui Tombe

Steve Reich - Come Out
posted by dobbs at 6:34 PM on March 5 [2 favorites]

Thanks hippybear!

I have thoughts and I'm a little overwhelmed so here they are, in point form:

The CDK routine, there must have been editing with that, right? True or not, that was quite something.

The Moon Dance...I have no idea how those women could perform after the first bit of spinning, never mind all the other spinning after that. How?

dobbs, Celui Qui Tombe always makes me cry, that's some powerful dance.

The Come Out is simply incredible - how the hell did they manage to remember all of those moves, synchronized! for 12 minutes. Incredible. That said, this is also totally nightmare material for me.

Watching people do these incredible things is very humbling and I marvel at what humans can do.
posted by ashbury at 8:19 PM on March 5 [1 favorite]

I’ve been watching that CDK video for days. I’m getting a lot of dance too. Not sure what prompted it but I’m enjoying it all. Thanks for all these, too!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:33 PM on March 5 [1 favorite]

I'm finding that CDK routine really really addictive. Yes, it's highly edited, it isn't a single shot like the other two videos.

What I'm left wondering about that one is... can a single routine be constructed out of it? Like there's a full routine to be constructed out of the Thriller video even though it's highly edited.

But apparently CDK has other routines online, which it is too late tonight for me to begin to investigate. I just know I've watched this one maybe 20 times.
posted by hippybear at 9:01 PM on March 5

Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed all those videos. I love watching people dance—I’m a terrible dancer myself, no sense of rhythm but love seeing the talent in others.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:14 PM on March 5 [1 favorite]

And....

I just found this CDK - Eye in the Wall by Pefrume Genius [2m45s] and I no longer have a grasp on reality in any form.
posted by hippybear at 9:18 PM on March 5

Oh! The Celui Qui Tombe piece! Comme c'est enchanter!
posted by Czjewel at 10:10 PM on March 5

YouTube has decided that modern dance groups are the thing to share with me right now.

Well, I guess even the algorithm gets it right some of the time. What a fun diverse view. So cool that there are many really great different dance forms expanding and getting folks to move to the beat! We all need to dance every day, if only in the kitchen for a minute or two.
posted by sammyo at 2:37 AM on March 6

I really enjoyed that CDK routine as well. I think what makes it interesting for me is that the dance moves are not sexy or what you would usually see. The bodies look awkward, these are not moves you would see classically or in a pop performance or in the club. That’s really what drew me in I think.
posted by LizBoBiz at 4:08 AM on March 6 [2 favorites]

These are great! My absolute favorite dance piece: AMA - a short film by Julie Gautier.
posted by Thysania at 8:28 AM on March 6

How might one classify the style of the CDK one? I love it, would love to do it, but don't know what that style is called. Awesome.
posted by tristeza at 11:13 AM on March 6

Oh yes - more of this please :) I've discovered fairly recently that I love this sort of thing but I know nothing about it and don't know what I'm looking for.
I'll contribute a couple of things I've stumbled on recently that I liked:
* Pretty much anything involving Atarashii Gakko, say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHMH408ltEM or, in a completely different vein, a bit of a peek behind the curtain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cz8CjLq0fQ
* These guys are having a great time somehow not injuring each other in this 12 minute single shot of close quarters synchronised mayhem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cz8CjLq0fQ
posted by merlynkline at 2:59 PM on March 6

Ugh. Missed the edit window. That last should be:
* These guys are having a great time somehow not injuring each other in this 12 minute single shot of close quarters synchronised mayhem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ardtvdR28SQ
posted by merlynkline at 3:05 PM on March 6 [1 favorite]

So having watching all the CDK videos now, they seem to be highly related to voguing? The Fubar video in particular is basically really fast vogue moves throughout.

But I really don't know dancing from dancing so don't take my word for it. There's a lot of breakdance and other things going on in different videos by them.

The insistence on moving very coordinated to the music is the main consistent quality across the library. In some ways it looks like free styling on the club dance floor only as a routine by a group, which is part of what makes it feel so thrilling to me. It nearly appears they are all improvising together.
posted by hippybear at 3:58 PM on March 6

So, apparently here is CDK just in a single camera straight on shot for a dance competition.

And I have no idea if this is related, but this is a group called CDK Jr. I'm going to assume they are related, if not officially than at least one is ripping the other off.
posted by hippybear at 4:08 PM on March 6

Haha yes. I watched the CDK one several times too, then found some of their others. The linked one in the OP is still my fave so far. I haven’t watched any CDK Jr ones yet, could be same studio.
posted by Glinn at 4:52 PM on March 6

Thank you hippybear et al.; I'm gonna be watching these for months and months. Another one that gets me all the time is still Christine and the Queens - Tilted, which I'm sure has been posted before but I watch over and over.
posted by lauranesson at 8:03 PM on March 6

Ok so, CDK Jr won Holland’s Got Talent in 2022 and someone posted all three performances, and they are pretty great.
Also yes, CDK Company has a few different divisions.

Now I have to go watch other stuff people posted.

Here is one I found recently.
Was a fan of her SYTYCD audition.
posted by Glinn at 8:26 PM on March 6

Thank you so much for sharing this! The CDK performance was breathtaking. "Contemporary" dance is another good catchall term if you're looking for more of this style of dance, though it can vary wildly from one performer or performance to another.
posted by hessie at 4:53 AM on March 7