Walk Around the World

This year, as usual, at the opening night of Dance Camera West I got to peruse a selection of international dance shorts some of which I was familiar with and many others not. Jevan Chowdhury is an English director I had not heard of who had a film called Moving Southward which is not currently available to watch publicly in its entirety, but no matter. In perusing the web for other examples of his work, I came across a project of his called Moving Cities, and subsequently found this music video that employs footage from the latter.

A dancer moves freely in a public space in "Walk Around the World"
A dancer moves freely in a public space in “Walk Around the World”

Walk around the World, by Crystin, (the Thomas Scheffler & Mossy Nudisco remix), employs footage from Moving Cities that mashes up a gamut of dance styles, a range of ethnicities and cultures, and seemingly also takes the viewer through a selection of European cities. What ensues is a melding of people, cars, subways, and cities, all in motion, all beautifully shot in black and white. It’s a fun and – literally and metaphorically – moving piece wherein the sites and cities are humanized, and ultimately the people themselves are made more accessible through dance. One person performs high atop a grand sculpture, others stop traffic as they cross the street in true Beatles Abbey Road style or challenge an oncoming car, and yet another dances in metro stations against the blur of passing subway trains.

A group crossing en masse in "Walk Around the World"
A group crossing the street rhythmically en masse

Though the song is not my favorite, it’s refreshing to see dance shot in black and white and refreshing to see something uplifting that doesn’t seemingly try to deliver timely content or otherwise take itself too seriously. It’s very simply lovely and compelling, and reminds us of the goodness that humanity can bring.

Enjoy.

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