Pontani Sisters

World Famous Burlesque Stars

"The World Famous Pontani Sisters are a trio of choreographed cuties circling the globe on a quest to bring glamour back to entertainment! These siblings jump started their performance career early, performing for family and friends by dancing on picnic tables! With a Frank Sinatra 8-track as accompaniment, and spaghetti as their pay, the Sisters developed a love for performance! Now, years later, they tour the world as one of the pioneering forces of the new Burlesque, spreading their glamour gospel and bringing classic Burlesque sass back to the best venues on earth!

Their innovative performance repertoire boasts over 40 routines! Whether twirling gold lassos in their rhinestone cowgirl costumes, slithering on black cafe chairs in sparkling sequin Italian Princess threads or shimmying and shaking in fringe, everything the Sisters do is dipped in glamour. Their costumes and precision choreography, which is worthy of the heroic Busby Berkely."

Pontani Sisters Website
Flickr Slide Show

the world famous pontani sisters by micropunta
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Thanks micropunta

Twist & Grind
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"Los Straitjackets, The Pontani Sisters, and Kaiser George captured by Security Camera's at the Oneida Bingo & Casino in Green Bay, Wisconsin. You never know where a Twist Party might break out! "

Thanks Losstrait

Pontani Sisters Burlesque Show
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"Portion of the Pontani Sisters performance at the Capitol city Carnival in Manassas, VA. Performer is Angie Pontani."

Thanks beara23

This or That! - the Gumball Challenge
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"www.ThisorThat.TV
Try to follow a gumball as it is passed between six beautiful burlesque performers. With Julie Atlas Muz, the Pontani Sisters, Bunny Luv & Bambi. Can you guess whose got it? Does it matter?
Lots more video at www.ThisOrThat.tv

And your host: the Great Fredini.

Shot April 15, 2005, at the Zipper theater
in NYC. "

Thanks markthisorthat

Twist Party w/ Pontani Sisters, Straitjackets & KaiserGeorge
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"The America's Instrumental 1st Class Entertainments, Los Straitjackets, touring over Spain with The World Famous Pontani Sisters & Kaiser George Miller. Twisting, rocking, and presenting us one of their brand new releases, "Twist Party", avalaible on Yep Rock Records and Los Straitjackets Website . Barcelona, 06192007. We could see Mr. Miller without suit (?!) Problems from airlines, maybe. But anyhow and everywhere he is always a gentleman. "

Thanks barbillafonic

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"Live@The Horseshoe Dec.9th 2003
Featuring: THE WORLD FAMOUS PONTANI SISTERS 15 "

Thanks DEEZNUTS1981

Shelly parties with the Pontanis at Marions for YO New York!
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"What a wonderful night! Watching the Pontani Sisters dance, great food saucy drinks and of course excellent company all while getting paid.. *sigh* ain't life grand?"

Thanks shellywatson

Savion Glover

Tap Dance Genius

Savion Glover at the White House with an introduction by President Bill Clinton
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"Savion Glover and his company NYOTs, Omar Edwards, Abron Glover, Jason Samuels, Ayodele Casel, at the White House 1998
MAY DA BEAT BE WITH U"
Thanks AbejaMariposaJr

Savion Glover on 60 Minutes
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Thanks SkiBum224

Savion Glover in London
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Thanks suitcase24

"Savion Glover (born November 19, 1973 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American actor, tap dancer and choreographer. Glover is a graduate of the Newark Arts High School.

While a student at Broadway Dance Center in Manhattan, his teacher arranged an audition for him with Broadway choreographer Henry LeTang. This led to his Broadway debut at age 10 in The Tap Dance Kid. He made his film debut in 1989's Tap co-starring with Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. In 1990, he joined the cast of the children's television series, Sesame Street, and stayed on the show until 1995. He came to prominence in 1996, starring in the George C. Wolfe-produced musical Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk. He also starred in Spike Lee's 2000 film Bamboozled. He also appeared with Barbra Streisand in her "Timeless" tour, and appears on the New Years Eve 1999/2000 DVD of this show.

In 2003, Glover appeared on the DVD The One, a 40-minute retrospective look at the career of pop legend Michael Jackson, which was originally intended to air as a special called Number Ones in November 2003, to coincide with the release of Jackson's Greatest Hits package of the same name. The show was postponed after Jackson's arrest.

In 2007, Glover partnered with spoken word artist Reg E. Gaines and saxophonist Matana Roberts in a John Coltrane-inspired improvisation session, If Trane Wuz Here. In 2005, he collaborated with a string chamber orchestra and his band.

His most recent credit is as the motion-capture dancer for Mumble, the penguin in the animated release Happy Feet.

He is now in a production called "Classical Savion", where he taps to classical pieces played by a chamber string group. The show jazzes and blues it up a bit towards the end adding drums and a pianist."

Thanks Wikipedia

Savion Glover Productions

Dancing Cockatoo Rocks

Snowball - Another One Bites The Dust
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Thanks BirdLoversOnly

"Snowball gets down to Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust." Please visit our web site http://www.birdloversonly.org to purchase Snowball DVDs, shirts, and other items. Bird Lovers Only Rescue Service, Inc. is currently in need of donations in order to build a bird habitat. The sales of all DVDs, shirts, etc go towards funding this project. Thank you in advance for your support! "

Does a Dancing Cockatoo Really Feel the Rhythm?

Discover Magazine has an interesting story about Snowball, the dancing Cockatoo. Apparently, it's not a trick and the bird can actually recognize different beats and tempos and come up with the appropriate dance moves.

"At first, Aniruddh Patel of the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California, and his colleagues had doubts. Snowball’s owners say they actually would dance off-camera while filming the bird to encourage it to bust a move. If Snowball were just a copycat, Patel says, that wouldn’t be nearly as impressive as if he could dance on his own. So to figure out whether the bird could actually feel the rhythm, they traveled to Snowball’s home in Indiana and videoed the bird dancing to music with different tempos. "

Read More in Discover.

Damian Marley Mix

Jr. Gong
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Playlist Details althewebmaster

Sanjoy Roy Writes About Dance

Dance Taking Center Stage

Sanjoy Roy writes about dance for the Gaurdian, and observes the rise of dance around the world.

Forget the music - and dance
Popular music has always hogged the limelight, but from festivals to TV popular dance is starting to take the lead
June 26, 2008 8:00 AM

Music is bigger than dance, right? Of course. It's much easier to record, copy, distribute and sell. But quite often with music, I sense dance in the background, the unacknowledged flipside of the musical coin. MTV is called "music television" - and it's full of dance videos. Vast numbers of young people go to clubs on the basis of the music played - and then dance when they get there. From lindy-hop to hip-hop, music styles have often emerged and developed hand in hand with dance styles. But it's music that has generally hogged the limelight.

Dance, though, seems to be coming out of the shadows. The top-rated, top-viewed video on YouTube is The Evolution of Dance, a breezy potted history of popular dance styles - which is also, incidentally, a breezy potted history of popular music, except with dance on top, the way I like it. Elsewhere, kids all over YouTube are showing off their dance moves in a kind of physical karaoke, sometimes on the street, often in their rooms (see "me dancing"). For style and skill, it certainly beats air guitar. And on broadcast media, social dance has broken into mainstream television, with the Strictly Come Dancing format going global.

(Read More)

I think Youtube can take a lot of credit for raising the awareness and appreciation of dance by allowing people to quickly and easily share dance moves around the world. Youtube is seriously rocking our world!

ASIID Dance Company

And So It Is Done

ASIID Dance Company - Rehearsal (0408)
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Thanks asiiddancecompany

D-Party Dance Show: ASIID
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Thanks mediasquared

ASIID dancing @ Show Em What Ya Got.
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Thanks glassma4

Photos in LA Times along with other contestants from America's Best Dance Crew 2
ASIID Myspace page

Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Deeply Spiritual

Marc Bamuthi Joseph on SPARK
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Thanks YOUTHSPEAKS

Parkour Generations: NYC

Parkour Classes Documentary
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New York Training Day led by Parkour Generations. www.parkourgenerations.com A film by Julie Angel featuring Stephane Vigroux, Dan Edwardes and Chris Keighley.

Thanks slamcamspam

Angola Dance Mix

Get Up And Move It!
This is a playlist of 14 songs from Angola
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Thanks idamawatu

Dance Fans Love Youtube

Addicted to YouTube dance clips

I'm happy to learn that I'm not the only person who is obsessively watching dance videos on Youtube. Caroline Miller, director of Dance UK wrote a piece today in the Guardian about her secret addiction to watching dance videos on Youtube. Well, I'm sure Caroline knows a lot more about what she is looking at than I do, and she embedded a few great dance videos into her story.

"I'm a dance fan and I've got a guilty secret. YouTube. It's literally changed my life and my sleeping habits.

I've spent 36 years watching live dance performances but I could never fill the gaps of the shows and dancers that I was too young to have seen or which happened abroad, or I just plain missed. Each time a dance critic would compare a contemporary artist to one from history I would wince with jealousy that I could not make a similar judgment myself.

One quick peruse for dance on YouTube though, over a year ago, brought up such a treasure trove that a 10-minute peek online turned into eight hours of obsessive viewing, taking me through to the first light of dawn ... and I've never looked back.

YouTube is an unbelievable resource if you enjoy dance as an artform. It's a library, an encyclopaedia, an international dance tour guide, the talent spotter's delight and an information forum."

(LINK to Guardian story)

Here's one of Caroline's picks. It's totally gorgeous!
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Amelia Lalala Human Steps
Thanks mdugnani

Stephan Koplowitz

Catching the 5:23
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Wow, I love this video by Stephan Koplowitz. Produced in 2002, "Catching the 5:23" was shot on location in New York's Grand Central Station and depicts a business man catching a train who is oblivious to all the unusual activity going on around him. The seven minute video stars Jay Longan as the businessman and features an original score by Quentin Chiappetta. The dancing is excellent and location, of course is stunning. I think it was quite an accomplishment to "choreograph" this amazing piece!

The man in the gray flannel suit takes the same train home every night from his job in the big city. As he passes through the wondrous halls of New York's Grand Central Terminal he seems to be missing the magic around him.

Written and Directed by Stephan Koplowitz
Starring Jay Longan with an original score by Quentin Chiappetta

Thanks lanycart

Stephan Koplowitz and his TASKFORCE company is currently performing a site-specific piece at various watery locations around Los Angeles, entitled "Liquid Landscapes" The dancers will be performing in fountains, rivers, the ocean, and other waterways in 10 events over the next week. Here's a good story about it in the LA Times.

Here's a little video promo for the work.

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Thanks lanycart

Mates of State

Good Dance Music

Mates of State is a husband and wife band from the great city of Lawrence, Kansas. Lawrence is America's best kept secret for music and arts. It's right in the center of the US and if you're ever traveling across the US, it's well worth a visit.

Here's a playlist of songs and interviews with Mates of State.
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Matt Harding

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)
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Thanks mattharding2718

14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands. Thanks to everyone who danced with me.

Bill T Jones to do "Fela!"

Fela, the musical

Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones will direct and choreograph the world premiere of Fela!, a new musical based on the life of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Featuring a book by Jones and Jim Lewis, Fela! will feature Kuti's music performed live onstage by the band Antibalas and other members of the New York Afrobeat community. Its limited off-Broadway run begins previews at 37 Arts on July 29 with opening night set for September 4, and will play through September 21.

From Broadway.com

Here's a great documentary about Fela Kuti in 5 parts. It's a playlist, so all the sections will play continuously. Thanks Youtube!

Thanks Africatide
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Here's a one hour concert featuring Fela Kuti in two parts that will play continuously.

Thanks idamawatu
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A Quarreling Pair

The Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company's new dance-theater work based on the puppet play by Jane Bowles. Music by Christopher Lancaster, Wynne Bennett, and George Lewis Jr.

Thanks Billtjones
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Here's Bill T. Jones presenting a lecture about the creative process and the value of making meaningful art. He's primarily discussing his upcoming work about Abraham Lincoln.

"The Creative Process," a lecture by Bill T. Jones

Dancer, choreographer, and "Genius Grant" winner Bill T. Jones gave a master class and lecture at Vassar College on April 21, 2008.

Thanks Vassar
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Progressive Coma

Backwards Dancing

This is a really cool dance video choreographed by Johannes Wieland that is playing in reverse. It's a great idea that creates a completely unique performance that is totally different from the way the dance would appear on stage. The music is also playing backwards, and the overall effect is mesmerizing!

"There are agile, handsome dancers; a clever use of video; and lots of sexy and provocative and mysterious incidents"
John Rockwell, The New York Times

johannes wieland choreography
2006, 80 minutes; 6 dancers
music: Bert Kaempfert, Vladislav Delay, George Gershwin (amongst others)

direction/text/choreography: Johannes Wieland
dancers: Eric Jackson Bradley, Brea Cali, Jon Guymon, Kristin Osler, Lillian Stillwell, Isadora Wolfe
set: Frederica Nascimento
lighting: James Clotfelter
costumes: Carol Bailey
video: Monica Gillette
music: Bert Kaempfert, Vladislav Delay, George Gershwin (amongst others)
sound design: Jon Guymon

progressive coma
Uploaded by johanneswieland

Flat Foot Dance

Cloggin', Stompin', Flatfootin', Buckdancin'


June Carter Does The Flat Foot
With an introduction by Johnny Cash - sweet
Thanks kypawpaw
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City Stompers Buckdance
Thanks handelopera
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Shout Lulu @ The Dinosaur House
short and sweet
Thanks bunnysweets
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Joe Hood - Buck Dancer
Thanks Buckdance
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Wayne McGregor

Choreography about AI, Tech, Neuroscience, and Cyber Culture dances forward, into the Apocalypse.

Wayne McGregor does not like to be bored, and continually sets new challenges for himself and his dancers. He is also fascinated with neuroscience, so in his new work entitled, "Entity" he explores the question of "What is the relationship between the brain and the body". Original music Joby Talbot, Jon Hopkins.

Wayne McGregor founded the Random Dance Company in 1992, at the age of 22, achieving international renown thanks to the exploration of the relationship between dance and technology, and collaborating with multidisciplinary artists in creations that have consecrated his company as one of the leading groups on the British scene. Winner of the “Time Out Live Award” in 2001 and again in 2003, and courted by the mainstream of international dance, Wayne McGregor has received commissions from the Royal Ballet and the Rambert Dance Company, but has also been responsible for the choreographic movements in the fourth episode of the Harry Potter film saga, The Goblet of Fire, created the choreography for the musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber, Woman in White, site-specific installations for the Hayward Gallery, Canary Wharf, Centre Pompidou, and was director and choreographer for Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell at the Teatro alla Scala. The thirty-seven year old McGregor was recently nominated resident choreographer of the Royal Ballet, the first in 16 years and the only one from the world of contemporary dance.

From Danza Ballet (LINK)

This is a really great documentary short about the making of Wayne McGregor's latest work, "Entity", commissioned by Het Muziektheater (Amsterdam), Sadler’s Wells (London), Biennale de la Danse (Lyon), DanceEast (Ipswich), Swindon Dance / Bath University ICIA / Wyvern (HST) (Swindon/Bath) - in collaboration with Fondazione Teatro La Fenice di Venezia.

Wayne McGregor and Random Dance Company
"The Making of Entity"
Thanks sadlerswells
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Make sure to visit Sadler’s Wells on Youtube. The London dance house offers a wide variety of very well produced dance videos about upcoming and past shows at the theatre.


Chroma - Royal Opera House
Chroma
Music by Joby Talbot and The White Stripes
Choreography by Wayne McGregor
A Royal Opera House production
Thanks RoyalOperaHouse
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The Royal Opera House is the home of The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera, ROH2 and The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

Cyd Charisse

A Hollywood Legend

Cyd Charisse, 1921 - 2008

BEVERLY HILLS—Cyd Charisse, the actress and dancer from Texas, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering an apparent heart attack on Monday, Gene Schwam said. The amazing and striking long-legged actress appeared in a number of films, but her fame came from the musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Her career was filled with highlights like few others.

Read more in The Canyon News

Hommage à Cyd Charisse - 87 ans.
"La Grande Dame de la danse au cinéma."
Thanks claroben01
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Cyd Charisse in "Party Girl" - Dance # 2
Thanks bachflat
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Cyd Charisse - "Baby You Knock Me Out"
"A dynamic, show stopping number from "It's Always Fair Weather". Cyd Charisse is fantastic, as always...."
Thanks marxfan8
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"One Alone" - Cyd Charisse, James Mitchell
"Desert location, seductive beauty, hooded cape, sensual dance number! A revelation to fans of AMC's James Mitchell. Very erotic and "CALIENTISIMO!"..."
Thanks Indigo1045
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Cyd Charisse and Ricardo Montalban
"A dance sequence from one of their early movies ON AN ISLAND WITH YOU. With Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra."
Thanks stephenTGV
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Gene Kelly & Cyd Charisse - from singin' in the rain
Thanks roquitoyyo
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Cyd Charisse in 'Meet me in Las Vegas'
"Cyd dances to 'Frankie and Johnny' sung by Sammy Davis Junior, in the film 'Meet me in Las Vegas', 1956."
Thanks JimBeattie
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Cyd Charisse Tribute Video by Laura, aka marxfan8
marxfan8 has many great Hollywood clips.
Thanks marxfan8
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Banyen

Queen of Morlum

Banyen - Mai mee meow mong（Lambada?）
Thanks kuw02jp
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Banyen
Thanks resiri
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Banyen
Thanks BOWLAO
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Banyen
Thanks BOWLAO
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บานเย็น: 02 อ้อนบ่าวฟังลำ
Thanks yinyinren
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Nina Winthrop

Modern Dance, NYC

Constraints III
Thanks nwandd
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Constraints II
Thanks nwandd
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Morlum

lao mor lam
Thanks saolaoZoveR
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Thai/Lao rap
Thanks laotianism
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Lao Morlum Remix
Thanks kingraver92
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