Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill” (1985) and Chairlift “Amamaemonesia” (2012) videos [music]

Ladies weird-dancing

I always love a good lady weird-dance and Caroline Polachek and Kate Bush are the same kind of good at it. Both Bush and Polachek (the female half of the duo, Chairlift) both use their lithe bodies to make curated but dramatic, choreographed but bizarre, moves. This style is pervasive in all of their work but perhaps best pronounced in Chairlift’s “Amanaemonesia” and Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” videos.  

Something I admire about both women is how they take a holistic view of what it means to be an artist; they study, poke, and push the limits of all elements of the pop icon toolkit. In the case of dance, Kate Bush famously used her first advance from her label, EMI, to enroll in interpretive dance classes with Lindsay Kemp, the renowned choreographer, dancer, mime, and muse to David Bowie. Polachek choreographed Amanaemonesia entirely herself after several months of ballet classes, ‘Gaga’ dance sessions (which are about channeling energy into movement), countless hours in the studio where she would film herself for hours and play the video back to determine what was ‘working.’ And, the outcome is just so good. Both videos layer kinetic, corporeal energy on top of futuristic and minimalist backgrounds so that it’s all eyes on them.