I had an extremely strong reaction to this formative video. First I will break it down, and then I will reveal my thoughts on the production. A little backstory before I go any further: the girl in this video decided to hype up those who awaited her prom entrance with a professional dance. She hired a professional dancer to perform some movement-art set to Beyonce’s “Formation,” before revealing her prom look. The set up alone was very elaborate, with a red carpet, and black and yellow color scheme (perhaps she could have used a mashup track with the Beyonce song and “Black and Yellow.”) The music begins.
Source: YouTube
Play by play:
The dancer took more than a few seconds to get into the dance, in other words did he forget his introductory moves, or why was he just standing there for so long with his head down?
The date looks very casual, checking out the scene, looking at who is around, whilst chewing gum. He almost looks impatient or unamused. I hope that if the two prom dates get married, that this groom looks at least a little bit more excited as his wife walks down the aisle because otherwise that is awkward.
The dancer is extremely limber. That said, a lot of this looks improvised and reliant upon the limber factor. It is rude to come unprepared for a performance if you have been hired to do so. You can’t always rely on the fact that you are limber, even if you are a professional dancer or hype man.
Oh sh*t! His hat fell off, that’s awkward. The show must go on, though. The head nods are not the same without the hat I must admit.
Oh wow there’s a girl dancer as well coming out from a smoke cloud, and BAM you know they’ve been waiting to hit this chorus the whole time. This part is definitely their favorite to do, and I’m sure that they hope their crushes are watching at this very moment. Also I think they’re trying to out do each other right now. The guy is better—probably because of his extreme flexibility once again.
The prom date has emerged from the fringed door. Will she join in the dance?
No. She has scared off the dancers and is posing. People are recording her posing now, but she is merely standing there in between the bumble bee colored balloons. There are no moves; this diva is simply performing the act of red carpeting.
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Overall I have one word for this piece of fabulous art: slay. Everything about this is slay. However, to play devil’s advocate for a moment—I am confused as to why this prom girl hired dancing surrogates (as in the dancers who did the moves) while it is so clear that she has more than enough sass to slay the dance game on her own. Perhaps she is not limber enough.
Asked to comment on the performance, the prom girl said, “I wanted something to entertain my guests while they were waiting on me to come out…also, I loved the song and I felt like it was a moment when I slayed…I feel like it was my day to shine.”
