i should probably be sleeping

[laene_lif]

I could make a post about my thoughts going into teaching.

I could make a post about my thoughts on relationships and my boyfriend blablabla.

I could make a post about my trip to Costa Rica.

I could make a post about how my dad now has dengue fever from said trip. (Don't know which kind yet, but he's in the hospital.)

Instead... Another So You Think You Can Dance post?

Except not even. I only sort-of watched tonight's episode. That is: I watched a few dances online -- the full episode hasn't been uploaded yet and I don't have cable (here).

But. I somehow ended up youtubing Mark from season 5 (4?) whom I, for whatever reason, have always had a huge crush on, pretty much since he appeared with his weird Bohemian Rhapsody audition. And I discovered tonight that he's been on tour with Lady Gaga, and has been in a couple of her videos, and that is asdflk so fucking awesome. So I watched Lady Gaga's video "Alejandro" which he is in. He's visible throughout... a lot of the video. But I first noticed him around 5:48 (because of his big ears) on the left, and 6:16 (because -- hey, it's Mark!).

Here's a couple of screencaps...


To Lady Gaga's right... (Stage Left)



Getting adored by another dancer man.

Guys, if you haven't watched the show and don't love him... okay, you probably won't listen to me, but... you should love him and the show. More importantly the show, really, but in this post, more importantly him. I never used to appreciate dance but it turns out it's such a powerful, evocative form of art and dancers are SUCH amazing athletes -- so strong, so flexible, so agile, so good at acting.

And regarding Mark specifically, please watch these short videos:

Mark on SYTYCD talking about his inspiration for dance and doing a solo...
Mark partnering in the dance "The Garden" on sytycd
same dance but with an intro behind-the-scenes glimpse and the judges' commentary
Mark partnering in the dance "Bleeding Love" on sytycd
Mark's brief goodbye montage and a solo

Okay, so now watch the Lady Gaga video. I have been sucked into the stupid, stupid debates arguments on that video, somehow. Youtube is one of the worst places to have an intelligent discussion, period. See this comic. But. I did. And, I also gave the video a little thought (blame the dumb youtube trolls). My interpretation is that the juxtaposition of religion/military with sexuality is about the repression of sexuality (duh) and how these super organized/dogmatic groups can be sexualized, and do in fact have an undercurrent of sexuality that is denied (because almost all of the human race is in fact sexual), and how they, through their repression, turn sexuality into a weird, unnatural, perverse thing that must be denied and relocated to "sinful" fantasy. The ironic thing is that the comments from most of the youtube world play right into that. All the commentary from viewers about the "gay dancers" and how Lady Gaga is like a "man" for "acting that way with guys" (dominating) and how it's "sacrilegious" and "shouldn't be allowed." I don't know, I like her.

ETA: Mark is also in the "Telephone" video.


With the baguette. And...

Between Gaga and Beyonce.

Comments

[coldslit.livejournal.com]

I agree with the last paragraph almost whole-heartedly.
Though, I DO think that the term 'sacrilege' -the violation or profanation of anything sacred or held sacred (thank you dictionary.com)- is justified in direct reference to the misappropriation of religious symbols. It's quite effective, and personally, I like it.

[stephantom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, true. It is very sacrilegious. What I meant was that the comments that just say she and it are satanic and stuff are missing the point, I think.


P.S. Are you still in France, or where are you? Will I ever see you again, dear Meg?