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Best of 2024: Ali Rosa-Salas' Top 3 Dance Videos

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She's back! The people's curator Ali Rosa-Salas with a little elite blogging. Thank you Ali!

-Andrew

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When dance and music elevate each other, my spirit feels at peace. This year, I consistently returned to these three videos—inspired by the movement, sounds, and communities that make them so special.

Here it is—Ali’s version of an “end-of-year” list for my favorite dance videos of 2024 that feature incredible music. Shared with you in no particular order, because they’re all my favorites!

Diane Nardone, John “Boots” Mersier, Bobby Ossias, and Paul Pellicoro at the World Disco Classic, 1999

This particular video is one of my all-time favorites on the internet. It was recorded at a jam during the 1999 World Disco Classic, a hustle dance competition and convention. The video highlights some of the elements I cherish most about New York hustle culture at the turn of the century: Diane Nardone, the dancer in the white dress, is one of the most spectacular improvisors I have ever witnessed. Her movement is so grounded and intuitive that it looks like breathing. Then there’s the song that starts at the 1:00 mark: Deborah Cox’s 1995 track “Sentimental (Uptempo Mix),” produced by Dallas Austin. The 1990s were a time when remix albums were still a significant part of hip-hop and R&B’s distribution cycle, which made for a lot of house remixes perfect for hustle. For some reason, the Uptempo Mix isn’t included in Cox’s expanded Sentimental album, and I finally tracked it down this year (I felt really smart when I Shazamed the song from my Apple Watch while watching the jam on my computer).

New York hustle is a dance form that is so close to my soul. I love it for many reasons: as an improvised social dance, it requires you to embrace a beginner’s mindset--it's akin to studying a language. For the nearly four minutes that “Sentimental” plays, each dancer adds an element to the conversation that amplifies their unique voice. I also love that in hustle, partnering is gender agnostic--everyone leads and follows. To top it all off, John “Boots” lives up to his name and turns effortlessly in work boots! The improvisational nature of hustle feels as close to magic as humans will get.

Academy of Hawaiian Arts’ Wāhine Kahiko Performance at the Merrie Monarch Festival, 2024

Often called the “Super Bowl of Hula,” the Merrie Monarch Festival is the most prestigious hula competition in the world. Held annually in Hilo, Hawaii, the festival brings together halaus (hula conservatories) from across Hawaii and the United States to compete in two styles of hula: hula kahiko and hula ʻauana. Hula kahiko is considered the traditional form, featuring percussion instruments and mele (chants), while hula ʻauana incorporates Western instruments like ukuleles and guitars.

Hula kahiko is my favorite because of its percussive power and its rhythmic complexity. During the Academy of Hawaiian Arts' 2024 kahiko presentation, they shared He Inoa Ahi No Kalākaua, a fire mele composed by David Malo to honor the Hawaiian King Kalākaua. Watching the live stream in the middle of the night from my apartment in Brooklyn, I was mesmerized by how the dancers simultaneously maneuvered the kālaʻau (wooden poles) and the papa hehi (wooden footboards) to create a collective embodied sound.

Famous Biggs and friends dancing to an unidentified Cash Cobain track, 2024

If anyone has had a great year, it’s certainly been Cash Cobain. One of the aspects I cherish most about our current era of New York City rap is how dance has been so lovingly embraced, especially by Drill artists. Cash’s “sexy drill” has inspired a playful and flirtatious movement language such as Reem’s Reemski dance, offering levity to an otherwise sturdy-dominated vocabulary.

I recently came across an Instagram post by content creator and dancer Famous Biggs. The video has the humid glow of a New York City summer night when you’re hanging out with friends way too late, passing around the aux. Surrounded by an affirming circle, Famous Biggs marches around to the beat, clearing his path by sweeping his arms out in front of him. Others soon join in (Reem included!) tenderly tapping their chests to the beat of the track. One dude even makes a heart over his chest with his fingers.

The track playing in the video is undeniably produced by Cash, but I couldn’t find it anywhere online. People in the comments demanded a track ID, to no avail! The only clue that brought me a centimeter closer to identifying it was the sample: Gerry Woo’s 1988 song “Hey There Lonely Girl”, which is a cover of Eddie Holman’s 1969 “Hey There Lonely Girl”. Usher also recently sampled Woo’s version on his 2024 track “Please U”.

At the very least, TikTok satisfied my curiosity about the dance's name. To my delight, I learned that it’s called the “heartbeat dance.” I love how a party can create space for tenderness among friends. We need more of that—now and always!

Ali Rosa-Salas is a curator who is devoted to the living arts and New York City @prdiva09

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