In an increasingly media driven world propelled by the advent of online video, advertising and social media, dance, and the power of dance, is being increasingly used for both commercial interests as well as an expressive medium. The following paper analysis’s two advertisements which use dance and the principle means for presenting their product. Specifically this paper will focus on how dance is used in each of these adverts, the ‘power’ and appeal behind human movement and motion as well as a reflection of dance as an ever growing commercial tool. To these ends the following paper will be divided up into three sections; section one and two will introduce and analysis the two advertisements which employee dance as their primary medium. First is ‘Beats By Dre Neon Mixr Commercial’ and second ‘Adidas MEGALIZER Les Twins’. The common feature in both adverts are the dancers ‘les twins’; two self taught identical twins from France. Finally section three of this paper will provide a conclusion to this paper as well as a reflection on dance as a whole.
‘Beats By Dre’
The first advertisement this paper focuses on is ‘Beat by Dre’. The specific product which is being sold is the high end head phone ‘Neon Mixr’. The advert itself consists of ‘les twins’ performing an intricate dance routine to David Guetta’s”Play Hard’. In this particular advert the way in which the power of dance is used is through a precise routine performed by les twins against a neon backdrop. What is particularly powerful about the commercial is the way in which the routine itself is a condensed version of the power behind human movement. As this commercial (along with any commercial) will always have to remain short in length, when using dance it is essential that every second of the commercial is used to best effect.
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"The Power of Dance".
The power behind human movement in this advert is demonstrated in two main themes that are employed: first is exact synchronization, the routine of both dancers is precise and exact. This is one of the main appeals to dance as a medium and as an expression of power. Given that dance itself is nothing more than a set of movements, a routine that is performed, its immediate appeal to the audience can be said to be based on the fact that movements, and the mastery of movement, is a common trait that the majority of individuals spend their lives working with. While for most, dancing and precise movement is not necessary, the fact that expert dancers can move their bodies
A second point that is particularly important in terms as assessing the power of dance is the ‘unnatural’ movements that les twins seem to use in this video. That is, many of the dance moves and the routine as a whole includes movements of the body which seem foreign and perhaps impossible for the average person. By opening up the possibility of different movements and showing that ‘people can dance like that’ creates a certain intrigue in the audience; an appeal that there are movements that many of us have not mastered.
Adidas
The second advertisement this paper focuses on is Adidas’ advert ‘Megalizer, which again features les twins as well as other dancers as the main focal point to the commercial. In contrast to the previous advert, the Adidas commercial provides a build up to the dance routine. In the build up each dancer is tweaking a microphone set up in the trainers they are advertising. Each shoe of each dancer making a certain sound when stepped on, essentially responding to the movement of the dancers.
In this advert, the precision of dance, the appealing feature of synchronization which is furthered by les twins (being identical twins) is taken a step further insofar as the Adidas trainers become instruments that the dancers use together to create music. By providing this additional element to the traditional dance routine, the commercial further presents the power behind dancing as that of complete control, of exact precision with no room for mistake. Essentially, the dancers become musicians, and with that are required to precisely play their ‘instruments’.
When considering human movement and the power of dance becomes much more appealing in its precision and control, the fact that for most individuals exact control is admired, the additional musical element to this advert only goes to further the spectacle of control further. Indeed, it could be argued one of the most appealing and powerful elements of dance are control similarly to the control and precision needed for a musical instrument.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the power of dance and the popularity of using dance for commercials as well as other means have a clear relation to precision and similarity. Arguably one of the appeals behind using ‘les twins’ as a dance duo for advertisements as well as observe is due to the fact that they are identical; this adds to the application of skill and precision as each perfectly mirror the other. As a personal reflection the strangest type of dance I have witnessed on online video is Morris dancing; this could be said to be at the other end of the spectrum in contrast to les twins insofar as exact precision is not so much the aim, rather a set simple routine is used and often performed by unprofessional dancers. However, what this example shows is how the power and appeal of human movement is based on a certain representation of routine.
