Some of my first memories involve my matinee performances of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Showcased daily from our living room. I adored that soundtrack. I would clear off all the laundry from a wooden chest behind the couch, climb up, dance and sing out all the lyrics– including the twenty-nine shades, repeated twice so it sounds endless, listed in his “coat of many colours.” If I really wanted to pull out a particularly show-stopping performance I would wear my kelly green outfit, which had me looking more like I belonged in Neverland than by the musical dunes of ancient Egypt. This was all for the line “dressed in green” for when sung, I merely had to gesture at my ensemble vert to get my creative message across.

As a kid, I was a strong swimmer. I used do classes with the big kids at the deep end of the pool and would have to do my exams alone. After one of my solo examinations the instructor went over to talk to my parents. “She was great” she said “but she wouldn’t stop humming this song.” My parents knew exactly what she was talking about. Apparently Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Joseph and his coat were such a preoccupation of mine that I would just hum the tunes everywhere I went– including while working on my strokes and diving underwater.

All this to say I’ve been getting back into dance in a big way. Not really a great segue but work with me here, I felt like sharing. So far my studio experiences in Australia have been fantastic and whipping me into dance-shape- I am continuously sore.

I shared this piece on the Snapshots and Needle Drops Facebook Page last October, but both the dance and the song are so incredibly, exquisitely, mind-bendingly good that I just had to make sure you all saw it. Enjoy.

“Dancing in the Dark” by Ben Howard and Yael Naim (Bruce Springsteen cover)
Choreography and performed by Matt Luck and Emma Portner