You have seen it many times. Charles Mudede has fixated on it. Rotund men in leotards have danced to it. David Schmader has written a brief exegesis of it:
Fact #1: We will spend the rest of our lives looking at Beyoncé, a self-made superstar of the first (or at least second) order. Fact #2: The video for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”—black-and-white, dance-packed, meticulously delivered—may stand forever as the woman’s greatest work. From the flowing back and forth between Broadway dazzle and sex-drenched street moves to the gloriously odd off-key buzzing that swells under what would otherwise be a mercilessly repetitive chorus, the song-and-video combo makes for an endlessly watchable classic. Underlying everything—the shocking bursts of athleticism, the gold-star precision of the execution—is the fact that Beyoncé is a glamorous zillionaire who never needs to lift a leg again if she doesn’t want to. But as a self-made superstar of the first (or at least second) order, she lives to please and dazzle and thrill us.
On Saturday, September 19, you and your co-dancers and -dependents will have a chance to win $300 for your best interpretation of the “Single Ladies” video.
The event is a benefit for Velocity Dance Center (one of the first winners of the Stranger Genius Award) and the renovations for its new home on Capitol Hill. It will happen at the Century Ballroom.
I am one of the judges.
My esteemed colleagues (choreographic genius Pat Graney, KING 5 TV anchor Joyce Taylor, and hostess Miss Indigo Blue) might be looking for athletic precision, energy, fidelity to the choreography.
Me? I want to be surprised. Show me something I’m not expecting, something that will make the audience spontaneously howl with delight, and I’ll fight my hardest to make sure you get the bucks and the glory. (And I reserve the right to change my criterion at any time.)
For more information, see here.
You’ve got 11 days and counting. Waxie Moon, in the poster, is already winning.
The original video, for reference and inspiration, is below the jump.
Can we finally have some social commentary on the actual message of the song? I think it’s a terrible song when I listen to the lyrics, even though I love the video.
Oh come on, it’s not like getting married leads to divorce.
Didn’t it take a team of song writers, choreographers, stylists, publicists, insiders and father who made her sing and dance from the minute she could talk and walk to make this “self-made” star?
do you have one criterion, or several criteria, by which you will make your decision?
Waxie Moon doing “Single Ladies”?
I’m totally there! That alone will be worth the price of admission.
I only listed one criterion, English teacher. Time to spring for those bifocals?
Waxie, Inga, and Lou Henry Hoover…yeah baby!
If it’s anything like the OtB Gala, it should be well worth watching!
Yeah, Waxie, Inga, and Lou Henry are actually all I think about when I hear the song. I often dream of them doing single ladies in my living room…. a girl can dream….