Dance
Watch 10 dance routines that changed the music video forever
From Thriller to Gangnam Style, Vogue to Single Ladies, watch the iconic clips that left their mark.
The rise of MTV in the 1980s made the music video perhaps the most powerful promotional device in the pop music armoury. It also became a platform for daring choreography, introducing new dance styles that would reverberate through wider pop culture.
Here, we revisit nine videos with iconic dance routines that changed the way people move.
1. Michael Jackson – Thriller (1983)
Michael Jackson was already a global star by the time Thriller dropped. But this video, which premiered in December 1983, took the King of Pop to a whole new level, inaugurating what was arguably MTV’s golden era. The work of filmmaker John Landis – who had previously directed American Werewolf In London – and choreographed by Michael Peters, the video enlisted dancers such as Ola Ray, Marcea Lane and Kim Blank in a 13-minute zombie classic.
2. Run-DMC – It’s Like That (1983/1998)
From the late 1970s to the mid-80s, breakdancing and New York hip-hop were intrinsically linked. Just ahead of the release of urban dance films such as Beat Street and Electric Boogaloo, Run-DMC debuted their debut single It’s Like That in 1983. In 1997, DJ Jason Nevins remixed it and the re-work ended up becoming the group's biggest hit and one of the best-selling singles in history. In the video, the battle between male and female breakers brought that ‘80s dance style back into fashion.
3. New Kids On The Block – You Got It (The Right Stuff) (1988)
New Kids On The Block was the first groups within the modern boy band formula, and the music industry rushed to sign up more bands that followed with the same dynamic. The recipe was simple: four or five handsome boys, each one representing a cliché, with catchy melodies and standardised, innocuous lyrics about love and – preferably – great dancers. By this point, high quality choreography was essential for the visuals of a pop hit. By the way: what the hell is Jordan Knight doing here with a Bauhaus T-shirt?
4. Madonna – Vogue (1990)
Madonna was at the peak of her career when she released this single. The title doesn't refer to the iconic fashion magazine but to voguing, the dance style that emerged in the New York during 1980s and brought the trans community, African-Americans and Latinos together. The story is perfectly reflected in Jennie Livingston's iconic documentary Paris Is Burning, which also premiered in 1990. The video for Vogue, recorded in black and white by David Fincher, went even further in its glamourised reconceptualisation of voguing, by wrapping it in a 1920s art deco influenced aesthetic. Karole Armitage was in charge of the choreography, and the dancers were some of the best New York voguing stars. Strike a pose!
5. Fatboy Slim – Praise You (1999)
Around the turn of the millennium, the era of spectacular, big budget videos was coming to an end, and MTV began to take a chance on guerrilla products like Jackass. In fact, one of its creators, Spike Jonze – supported by Roman Coppola – created this Fatboy Slim video. Norman Cook himself did not appear, aside from a brief cameo with the walk-on actors/extras. Instead, the stars were the The Torrance Community Dance Group and Spike Jonze himself, who gathered around a ghetto blaster on the pavement outside a theatre in Los Angeles, dancing amongst pedestrians who remained blissfully unaware they were being filmed by hidden cameras. Their style evoked the classic breakdance but adopted the formula of a phenomenon that would later become a trend: the flash mob.
6. Beyoncé – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) (2008)
The sumptuous, big budget video to 2003's Crazy In Love marked the spectacular entrance Beyoncé Knowles – a former member of Destiny's Child who would become one of the world's most famed solo artists. But her most iconic video was a far simpler affair. Its director was, again, Jake Nava. Here, though, Beyoncé opts for a much more minimalist aesthetic. Filmed in black and white, with simple but sophisticated lighting, Beyoncé is joined by dancers Ebony Williams and Ashley Everett, with choreography designed by Frank Gatson and JaQuel Knight. The routine is inspired by the J-Setting – a '70s dance by the majorettes of Mississippi's Jackson University that was later taken to the clubs by members of the African-American gay subculture. Other major influences include the Bob Fosses film Mexican Breakfast and classic musicals such as A Chorus Line and All That Jazz.
7. Radiohead – Lotus Flower (2011)
Did Google kill the video star? Come 2011, MTV were focusing on reality programming, and GIFs and memes had supplanted music videos as a driving force in youth culture. Not even the biggest-budget music video could compete with a clip of a cat falling down a toilet. Radiohead, you might thing, were introverted intellectuals – too serious to pander to viral culture. But then you saw the video to Lotus Flower – a clip directed by Garth Jennings and choreographed by Wayne McGregor, in which Thom Yorke donned a Charlie Chaplin bowler hat and boogied away without a hint of insecurity. Of course, #thomdance trended on Twitter.
8. The Black Keys – Lonely Boy (2011)
The Black Keys originally shot a conventional video for this, with a script and over 40 actors. They didn’t like the result at all – but they were captivated by how one of the extras danced. Enter Derrick T Tuggle – a musician and actor who also worked as a security guard. Put him in a motel in Alabama, let him loose – job done. Pharrell Williams extended Derrick’s 15 minutes of viral fame, selecting him among the dancers for Happy.
9. PSY – Gangnman Style (2012)
Where is the dividing line between vulgarity and brilliance? What transforms a simple, tacky thing into a massive phenomenon capable of uniting people from all corners of the world? You could ask this question of Los Del Rio's Macarena, or Whigfield’s Saturday Night, or of dozens of other guilty pleasures that demonstrate our irresistible attraction towards the absurd. But there is something surprisingly overwhelming in this South Korean success story, which was danced by David Cameron, Barack Obama and Ban Ki-Moon – among many, many others.
10. Janelle Monáe ft Grimes – PYNK
Ahead of her fourth album Dirty Computer, Janelle Monáe went viral with her single PYNK, which features previous collaborator Grimes. Directed by Dutch filmmaker Emma Westenburg, the video features an all-female crew of dancers joyfully performing syncronised moves in a diner, a bedroom and on the beach. In the video’s most iconic scene, the crew perform in suggestive pink pants, while American actress Tessa Thompson appears from underneath Monáe’s legs. As a celebration of self-love, sexuality and pussy power, it’s no wonder that PYNK video captured the hearts of so many people in 2018.
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