dancing

The wedding that captivated America

Julien — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:21:53 +0200

Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz weren’t expecting anyone but friends and family to watch when they posted a video of their wedding on YouTube. But just two days later, it had been viewed by three and a half million people. And within three months, that number had climbed to over 28 million. Since then, the Minnesota newlyweds have been invited onto some of America’s biggest talk shows, including Good Morning America (ABC) and The Today Show (MSNBC). Their biggest achievement? Perhaps being mimicked on the US version of sitcom The Office…

The original

The parody

Samba dancers too risqué for southern Lebanon

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:46:42 +0200

Photo posted on Facebok by Toni Yammine .

A Samba street party on its way to a town in south Lebanon was stopped in its tracks after a group of religious dignitaries labelled it "pornographic" and "against Muslim beliefs". According to one of our Lebanese Observers, the decision is a disgrace to the country.

The Brazilian dancers landed in the country on September 23 and had already put on four performances in central Beirut and the cities of Zahle (central Lebanon) and Batroun (east coast), all of them majority Christian areas.

In the hope of appeasing the largely Muslim population of the southern city of Tyre, Brazil's ambassador in Beirut suggested toning down the performance by donning the dancers in a bit more than is traditional.

His efforts however, were in vain. In the eyes of around 50 religious dignitaries, even a censored version of the show was too indecent for the residents of Tyre, and it was officially given the no-go by one of the group, Sheik Ali Yassine.

Jacko’s “Smooth Criminal’’, Saudi style

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:16:03 +0200

One of our Observers for Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Al-Omran, alerted us to these videos. Watching the first one, you might think that southern Saudis are choreographing dance routines to Michael Jackson classics. Watch the second however, and, disappointingly, things fall into place.

Posted on YouTube by "Talal" on May 31, the video has already been viewed more than 100,000 times in just over two weeks.

Posted May 28 by “zaferhadi”, this is the original video. With 400 hits, it’s far less popular than its jazzier sibling. Ahmed tells us that it’s a men’s folk dance called Ardha, which is practised in the south of the country during festivities.

Bush sword-dances in the Middle East

Julien — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:42:58 +0100

Our Observer in Bahrain has provoked hilarious comments from his readers by publishing this video on his blog ‘Mahmood's Den'. Bush danced the Ardha sword-dance alongside the king of Bahrain on his visit to the kingdom at the weekend. Every head of state is expected to partake in this ritual- even Putin... (see the video).

Video: AP, 12 January 2008

The Tecktonik dance craze sweeps Morocco

Julien — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:08:00 +0100

For more than a year the French streets and metro stations have been invaded by ‘tecktonik’ dancers. Born out of a mix of electro and hip-hop moves in a suburban nightclub, the dance has now found its way onto the shores of Morocco. Young Moroccans haven’t only adopted the popping and locking dance-moves, they’ve also taken on the ‘Nu Rave’ style clothing and futuristic hair cuts to match. Not quite fitting with traditional Moroccan culture, the wave hasn’t gone down quite so well with older generations.

Dancing policeman

Julien — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:07:48 +0100

For the past 23 years, police officer Tony Lepore has been coming out of retirement to direct traffic on Rhode Island, Massachusetts. The 60-year-old ex-warden spends each Christmas directing drivers with a festive version of the traffic warden's code. This year his moves have caught the attention of internet users. Videos of the dancing policeman can be found on blogs all over the world.

Video posted 13 December 2007.