Take a Look: Smashing Pumpkin Dances

I haven't made a dance-related update in a while, so I thought I might share a couple of cool dance videos I found.

Smashing Pumpkins is one of my favorite rock bands of all time.  Their songs just sound so right to me.  It's something that's hard to explain some times.  So, while just "trololololoing" through YouTube, I decided to see if I could dig up any dances people had done to their songs.  I could only find dances done to "Landslide" (which is also a Fleetwood Mac cover).  I here's a few that I found particularly striking:

Apparently, this dance was done by a contestant from So You Think You Can Dance: Canada.  It's very pretty.  The movements are just my taste.  I love it.

I really enjoy this one, too.  The dancer is young, but she has so much talent.  I don't even mind the instructor talking through the whole thing.  His words are encouraging and supportive, and he's not just shouting out commands.

Take a Look: Amazing Dance Animation

This video has probably been floating through the interwebs for a while now, but just in case you haven't seen it yet, here it is.  I can honestly say this is one of the best works of animation that I have seen.  It may not be filled in, and it may look like a rough draft, but that's what makes it beautiful to me.  The artist, Ryan Woodward, perfectly captures all the delicate movements of a dancer.  At some points in the video, his animation almost feels like you are watching two very real bodies.  Just watch it and see for yourself.  The man is brilliant.

Woodward also got the chance to have his art featured as a "Google Doodle" for the birthday of Martha Graham.  It's just as beautiful:

If you want to see the "making of" video of the "Thought of You" animation you can watch it here.  I think the thing that I appreciate most from this guy is that he was so interested in contemporary dance (my favorite dance style, by the way) that he took the time to carefully capture all the elements of a dance and the dancers...and he doesn't even dance!  He even collaborated with actual dancers and choreographers.  That's dedication!  Not only does he do a marvelous job of capturing dance; his work also tells a story.  I can dig it.

Applause to you, Mr. Woodward.  Applause.