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Urban dance videos, brought to your inbox every week (or so).
Orphans.

Dancing with cause (8:00)

I could talk endlessly about the virtues of Cookies dance crew but you’ve heard it all before, so instead I’m going to share an epiphany I had recently.

Janine, a choreographer friend of mine, is creating a piece for a future showcase, and she mentioned that she wanted to make something that was more than just a dance performance. She wanted to put on “a show” (her words), meaning she wanted to make a piece that would not only entertain the audience but also move them.

When she said that, something clicked in my head that I couldn’t quite pinpoint until I watched this Cookies video. The context of this performance—a call to action toward the aid of underprivileged children—is hammered in by the intro, but it is also augmented by this youthful, heartstring-pulling dance piece.

And it might sound dumb that I didn’t fully understand this until now, but dancers (like all artists in general) don’t just perform to entertain; they perform to convey a message. It’s easy to forget when there’s competition and a screaming audience involved, but this stuff—it’s art, and it has meaning. These pieces have cause, something beyond “Look how great we look.” Cookies takes this a step further, inviting the audience not just to be moved, but to be moved into action.

Needless to say, I was impressed. And I was moved, not just by the message but also by the mere fact that they had conveyed it at all.

Watch video!
It should also go without saying that this is an extraordinary performance.

Yoko

PS: The front row version (8:02).

PPS: Their cause which, while very religious in a way that I am not, is an organization that assists in global humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy.



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