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A Conversation with Minnesota Wild Center Matt Cullen
Yes, Gratitude Works!
10 Ways to To Handle Life Changes With Courage
The Fruits of Desire
Nurturing a Healthy Marriage
10 Ways to Get Over a Hurtful Past
Ten Things Every Dad Should Tell His Son
The Steady Diet of Film blog has a brilliant analysis of the sources for Beyoncé’s hit video, “Put a Ring on It.” It is not just wise and witty, it is an entertaining glimpse into the combination of mash-ups, wikis, and creative imagination that come together on the internet.
First there was Fosse. Bob Fosse choreographed a dance number for his one-time wife and all-time favorite dancer Gwen Verdon, to the song “Mexican Breakfast.”
Then someone combined the dance with DJ Unk’s “Walk It Out.”
This inspired the dance and look of “Put a Ring on It.”
And that inspired many, many, many, many tributes, parodies, and variations including Verdon/Beyoncé, combining “Put a Ring on It” with the Verdon number and an SNL skit with Justin Timberlake.
posted December 30, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Very comprehensive job. Interesting how this song has struck such a memorable chord with people, inspiring the users to generate their own versions of the song and try to deconstruct its origins. Is its popularity a “ringing” endorsement of marriage’s value? I guess we’ll see how Beyonce influences marital policy for the population.
The only ones I think that you left out are the Arianna clip (which is kind of amazing because she’s 4) and the first one I ever saw,, which is rated “inappropriate for some users by the YouTube Community.” It’s just a male dancer dressed kind of provocatively and doing a faithful rendition of the choreography. In my humble opinion, more dangerous than his dancing is the song itself, which gets stuck in your head for days…
posted December 30, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Thanks for a great comment, Esther! I will check out the clips even though I know it will take at least four days to get that song out of my head!
posted December 31, 2008 at 2:28 am
hey Movie Mom, thanks for the link!
I wish I could find a clip of the Verdon performance with the original song, it’s really fun.
posted December 31, 2008 at 10:35 am
Thanks for a delightful post, Erin. I will be a regular reader of your blog.
The original clip is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXRdqn8LOM