Polunin's "Take Me To Church"

[monarch64]

Kenny must be on vacation because I can't believe he hasn't posted this here yet. Pretty amazing performance of Hozier's song directed by David Lachapelle. Worth a watch.

http://www.today.com/popculture/hozier-take-me-church-video-stars-ballet-dancer-sergei-polunin-2D80489212

 

[AGBF]

Kenny must be on vacation because I can't believe he hasn't posted this here yet. Pretty amazing performance of Hozier's song directed by David Lachapelle. Worth a watch.

http://www.today.com/popculture/hozier-take-me-church-video-stars-ballet-dancer-sergei-polunin-2D80489212

That was fabulous. I didn't know kenny was a ballet aficionado, though! Thank you.

Deb

 

[monarch64]

Kenny must be on vacation because I can't believe he hasn't posted this here yet. Pretty amazing performance of Hozier's song directed by David Lachapelle. Worth a watch.

http://www.today.com/popculture/hozier-take-me-church-video-stars-ballet-dancer-sergei-polunin-2D80489212

That was fabulous. I didn't know kenny was a ballet aficionado, though! Thank you.

Deb

I don't know if he is a ballet aficionado, but I think I recall him posting a Sia video featuring Maddie Ziegler. Polunin's performance is very different but there are key similarities.

 

[AGBF]

I don't know if he is a ballet aficionado, but I think I recall him posting a Sia video featuring Maddie Ziegler. Polunin's performance is very different but there are key similarities.

I saw the video to which you referred and it, unlike the one featuring Mr. Polunin, was certainly not classical ballet. I read enough of the backstory to know that if I start commenting on the dancer, the choreographer, and so forth, that I will be in waters above my head. I want you to know that never heard of any of them! I just love ballet. So I loved the first video. I found the other one, the one that you said kenny posted, completely dissimilar. I am sure that there must be some tie between the songs and the choreography...I mean who did what. But as someone just looking at the dancing, I see beautiful dancing in the first video and amateur dancing in the second. With all kinds of weird video features added to the second video and a distracting, nasty musical soundtrack as well! I do see that the young female dancer has had some ballet training, however. I am not trying to blame her for the video! A dancer dances what she is told to dance!

Deb/AGBF

 

[msop04]

Re: Polunin's "Take Me To Church"

I thought I was listening to Elton John for the longest time! Love the song!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Kenny must be on vacation because I can't believe he hasn't posted this here yet. Pretty amazing performance of Hozier's song directed by David Lachapelle. Worth a watch.

http://www.today.com/popculture/hozier-take-me-church-video-stars-ballet-dancer-sergei-polunin-2D80489212

Are you taking over Kenny's job?..

 

[Calliecake]

Re: Polunin's

I thought I was listening to Elton John for the longest time! Love the song!

MSOP, I thought the same thing when I heard this song!

 

[blackprophet]

I don't know if he is a ballet aficionado, but I think I recall him posting a Sia video featuring Maddie Ziegler. Polunin's performance is very different but there are key similarities.

I saw the video to which you referred and it, unlike the one featuring Mr. Polunin, was certainly not classical ballet. I read enough of the backstory to know that if I start commenting on the dancer, the choreographer, and so forth, that I will be in waters above my head. I want you to know that never heard of any of them! I just love ballet. So I loved the first video. I found the other one, the one that you said kenny posted, completely dissimilar. I am sure that there must be some tie between the songs and the choreography...I mean who did what. But as someone just looking at the dancing, I see beautiful dancing in the first video and amateur dancing in the second. With all kinds of weird video features added to the second video and a distracting, nasty musical soundtrack as well! I do see that the young female dancer has had some ballet training, however. I am not trying to blame her for the video! A dancer dances what she is told to dance!

Deb/AGBF

The Sia video dancing is contemporary, which has its foundations in ballet and other classical dance forms, but is a lot more free form/freestyle as well. Conveying the particular emotions is more the goal, than the precise technical aspects as in ballet. That's why it may seem more amateur. Tieing the words of the song to the dancing of the girl is key, and pretty powerful to me.

If anyone wants to see more examples just YouTube "SYTYCD Contemporary". On So You Think You Can Dance they usually did a good job of giving a good explanation of the dance form and what goes into it.

 

[AGBF]

The Sia video dancing is contemporary, which has its foundations in ballet and other classical dance forms, but is a lot more free form/freestyle as well. Conveying the particular emotions is more the goal, than the precise technical aspects as in ballet. That's why it may seem more amateur. Tieing the words of the song to the dancing of the girl is key, and pretty powerful to me.

If anyone wants to see more examples just YouTube "SYTYCD Contemporary". On So You Think You Can Dance they usually did a good job of giving a good explanation of the dance form and what goes into it.

Thanks for the thoughtful analysis, blackprophet.

Deb

 

[movie zombie]

wow!

 

[AGBF]

I had never heard this song although it has been performed by several recording artists. But since seeing the ballet video I have become very interested in the song and have read about the composer, Andrew Hozier Byrne, listened to interviews with him, and generally become fascinated by him. He is known as a thoughtful young man whose influences (besides the musical influence of growing up in the home of a father who was a blues musician) include Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (did I mention that Hozier is Irish?) and Leonard Cohen. I just love seeing him speak as well as seeing him sing.

I have loved ballet all my life, but I hadn't expected to find music here as well. And Hozier has even led me to some beautiful (at least in my opinion) choral work by a group called Anuna. (There is some sort of Celtic accent over the "u".) He left Trinity College, Dublin, where he was studying music to sing with this internationally acclaimed group. I think Holly would really like it if she has not, yet, heard it!

Deb/AGBF

 

[monarch64]

^Interesting findings, Deb! I haven't taken the time to dig so deep but am happy to see that you took interest and found some relevant things. When the song first became popular in my neck of the woods last fall, I was hooked and listened to anything I could find by Hozier on youtube. I thought it was amazing stuff, his recordings. I didn't have time to delve further, but have gleaned bits and pieces here and there by virtue of social media and word-of-mouth.

I originally was turned to "Take Me To Church" by way of a radio station north of where we live, then googled the song title and found his very recent (back in fall, 2014) performance on SNL. After watching that performance I wanted to know everything about the music and obviously the "mouthpiece."

Did you happen to catch his performance of the song at the 2015 Grammy Awards? He was joined mid-song by Annie Lennox, former lead singer of The Eurythmics, and she just blew him away/outsung/outperformed him in the best possible way. (As expected!) May be a little much for some, but I'll post the youtube here in case anyone missed it and would like to hear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZEChv1AaOk

Hozier is a beautiful boy, and an "it" person right now. I do appreciate the message of this particular song and look forward to more from him as he ages and experiences more of life. Not saying he's a Bono...but maybe... Oh, those lovely Irish lads.

 

[AGBF]

Did you happen to catch his performance of the song at the 2015 Grammy Awards? He was joined mid-song by Annie Lennox, former lead singer of The Eurythmics, and she just blew him away/outsung/outperformed him in the best possible way. (As expected!) May be a little much for some, but I'll post the youtube here in case anyone missed it and would like to hear:

As always, I appreciated your posting a great deal, Monnie. I liked hearing how you found Hozier. I had not seen the performance from the Grammy Awards and enjoyed seeing it, too. I liked Annie Lennox' performance, but only because it was a good female jazz/ gospel/ rock type of solo in which she just took control of the song and did whatever riffs she wanted with it with utter confidence. It didn't move me in any way in the manner that "Take Me To Church" does. I felt she changed the performance from one of "Take Me To Church", as a moving song to just a show song. I don't feel she "outsang" or "outperformed" Hozier. I think she changed the category of the performance. As if a full choir entered a cathedral while a child soprano was singing "Silent Night" and burst into "The Hallelujah Chorus".

In fact, since I had Leonard Cohen on the brain, I was reminded of how no one liked Leonard Cohen's recordings of his own music originally. It was Judy Collins who made his song, "Suzanne" "available" to the public, because she had a "good" voice. His was harsh, grating, unappealing. Joni Mitchell also sang his songs. Eventually the public was willing to listen to him sing his own work. Hozier has a poetic, Leonard Cohen like feel to me. He doesn't sing to rock the rafters. If one doesn't want to hear him, one doesn't have to. But he puts "it" out there. If you want "it", "it" is there for you. Annie Lennox throws "it" in your lap. And she's a sexy woman!

I almost signed this "NewfieMom", the name I use on my dog forum!!!

Deb/AGBF

 

[blackprophet]

The Sia video dancing is contemporary, which has its foundations in ballet and other classical dance forms, but is a lot more free form/freestyle as well. Conveying the particular emotions is more the goal, than the precise technical aspects as in ballet. That's why it may seem more amateur. Tieing the words of the song to the dancing of the girl is key, and pretty powerful to me.

If anyone wants to see more examples just YouTube "SYTYCD Contemporary". On So You Think You Can Dance they usually did a good job of giving a good explanation of the dance form and what goes into it.

Thanks for the thoughtful analysis, blackprophet.

Deb

You are welcome. And now that I have actually gotten around to watching the video in the OP , it is definitely a contemporary dance as well. If you like it, you should definitely check out the SYTYCD videos. When I get home I'll see if I can link some of the better ones.

I realized listening to the song this time that I really like it. Not my usually up of tea, but really good nonetheless.

 

[blackprophet]

Here are some of my favourites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXZwN3CEgXc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgFZ6WIaIS0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OfhlFx3OYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h38SZrL2HJM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28VjsZHElZQ

 

[monarch64]

Blackprophet, thanks for posting those youtubes. I just got a few minutes to watch them and they were all amazing!

 

[AGBF]

Here are some of my favourites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXZwN3CEgXc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgFZ6WIaIS0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OfhlFx3OYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h38SZrL2HJM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28VjsZHElZQ

Well, so far I have only seen the first one and it, alone, was very time consuming! Worthwhile, I might add...but time consuming! It appears that once something piques my interest my reading about it goes in every direction!

Thank you for posting, blackprophet!

Deb

 

[OreoRosies86]

When a friend posted this on facebook I was in tears after! So beautiful, I love it.

 

[AGBF]

Here are some of my favourites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXZwN3CEgXc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgFZ6WIaIS0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OfhlFx3OYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h38SZrL2HJM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28VjsZHElZQ

I watched your favorites, blackprophet, and thought that all of the dancers were very good. I also found other dance videos that I enjoyed. One of them was Lacey and Danny's Hip Hip Chin Chin "Samba".

Hip Hip Chin Chin...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Kwwfg-lgE

That led me to trying to find out more about who Lacey and Danny were. I found out what any of you who watch television probably know: that Lacey is Lacey Schwimmer and has an older brother, Benji Schwimmer, who was also a successful dance competitor. (I have only tonight found how successful as I found out more about his personal life.) So I watched him dance. Then I found this video of Lacey and Benji as children, each dancing with another partner in 2009 at the US Open Swing Dance Championships. Benji Schwimmer first dances with his cousin, Heidi Groskreutz. Then his sister Lacey dances with a little boy. If one has seen their incredible performances as adults, these polished performances as children-in front of huge crowds-can surely tell you how they got where they got to! I found that extremely touching.

Video of The Children...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa9h-NWnQmM

Deb/AGBF

 

[AGBF]

Here are some of my favourites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXZwN3CEgXc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgFZ6WIaIS0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OfhlFx3OYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h38SZrL2HJM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28VjsZHElZQ

The second link down features "Heidi" and "Travis" in a contemporary dance using a flower and a bench. As I watched the dancers preparing for it the first time I saw the clip I noticed that Heidi was crying because the dance that was being choreographed, being contemporary, was not the style she usually danced. The first time I saw the clip I had no idea how she usually danced. I thought , perhaps, that she was a classical ballerina, although as I saw the choreography that seemed unlikely because ballet would have lent itself to that dance.

Once I had seen Heidi dance with Benji Schwimmer and knew that she was his cousin, I realized that style of dance with which she had grown up was ballroom. As a little child she knew all the steps to swing dances, after all. So it was going to be hard for her, suddenly, to do what a ballerina would do. Her needing to be fluid and soft, not simply to stay in rhythm and move into the right spaces, all made sense. I had a whole new appreciation for what she accomplished in that video blackprohet posted above. She was very brave to be willing to extend herself as a dancer and take on ballet!!! I would like to hug her!

Deb/AGBF

 

[blackprophet]

Here are some of my favourites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXZwN3CEgXc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgFZ6WIaIS0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OfhlFx3OYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h38SZrL2HJM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28VjsZHElZQ

The second link down features "Heidi" and "Travis" in a contemporary dance using a flower and a bench. As I watched the dancers preparing for it the first time I saw the clip I noticed that Heidi was crying because the dance that was being choreographed, being contemporary, was not the style she usually danced. The first time I saw the clip I had no idea how she usually danced. I thought , perhaps, that she was a classical ballerina, although as I saw the choreography that seemed unlikely because ballet would have lent itself to that dance.

Once I had seen Heidi dance with Benji Schwimmer and knew that she was his cousin, I realized that style of dance with which she had grown up was ballroom. As a little child she knew all the steps to swing dances, after all. So it was going to be hard for her, suddenly, to do what a ballerina would do. Her needing to be fluid and soft, not simply to stay in rhythm and move into the right spaces, all made sense. I had a whole new appreciation for what she accomplished in that video blackprohet posted above. She was very brave to be willing to extend herself as a dancer and take on ballet!!! I would like to hug her!

Deb/AGBF

They had some super talented dancers on that show. They had one dancer Twitch who was a hip hop dancer, who ultimately won his season. It blew my mind to see how we flawlessly danced contemporary or even some of the ballroom dances. Benji was pretty impressive from what I remember too.