[art, video] Fwd: Dancing 2012 (Where the Hell is Matt)
Previously. (Very highly recommended, and it makes the rest better if you start there.)
From Matt's About page: Eventually Matt decided there was one thing left he wanted to say that the other videos hadn't quite said. He knew it was the sort of thing that was going to make a sponsor uneasy, and he kind of wanted to own his work anyway, so he decided to take what he'd earned from endorsements and invest it into another video.
In 2010, Matt started traveling again. He had to take a prolonged pit stop the following year when he and Melissa had a son. After that, leaving home for long stretches got even harder. But he hired a small team to help him finish and they eventually got it done.
Matt put his fourth video out in 2012. He's really proud of it and he hopes you like it too.
When I saw the new video, the first amused thought which lept to mind was, "Goodness! It looks like the inevitable happened, what with all that practice, and despite his best intents he's actually starting to... improve."
Well, from his About page, which is well worth reading: Matt used to think you were either good at something or bad at something and there wasn't much you could do to change it. He wishes he'd learned sooner that you can get better at most things just by doing them over and over again. It really is that simple.
Indeed.
ETA: Matt is doing an Ask Me Anything over on Reddit right now. Some of the stories are marvelous.
capt_ishmael: In your original video, who were those girls you were dancing with in Tokyo? The ones dressed up us French maids.
BadDancer: Those were meido cafe girls. My host in Tokyo was taking me around the city and he asked me what I wanted to do.
I said show me something uniquely Tokyo-ish.
He asked if I wanted to go to a Meido coffee shop.
I said, "what's that?"
He said, "It's a cafe with girls who dress up like french maids."
"And?" I said.
"And they talk to you."
"And?" I said.
"And they play board games with you."
"And?" I said.
"That's it. Just talking and board games."
I said, "Okay, you better take me there immediately."
So we went and it was exactly what he said. We played a Pirates of the Caribbean board game where you had to stick a sword in a barrel and avoid making Jack Sparrow pop out. If you won, you got a piece of chocolate. If you lost, you had to wear silly kitten ears.
Our meido girl asked me what I do. My host, Daisuke, explained, "He is...famous American dancer."
The girl paused and step back. She covered her mouth with her hand, then screamed, "YOUUUUUTUUUUUUBA!"
So all the other girls came around and they all had autograph books and I asked if they wanted to dance with me and they did and it's in the video. The End.
And: GiantBatFart: How in the name of Nuclear-Missile-Launching-Insane-And-Bloated-Communist-Dictators did you manage to dance in the middle of a large crowd in Pyongyang without getting arrested?
BadDancer: I timed my visit during Kim Jon Il's birthday -- what turned out to be his last birthday, actually.
They have these mass dances where they bring thousands of people out into the street in fancy dress to do these kinda silly, childish dances together.
Attending the mass dance was easy, but joining in and filming it was not. The North Korean tour guides nodded when I explained what I wanted to do. They were like, "whatever," but in Korean. Then when it came time for me to film, they were like, "shut up and get on the bus," but in Korean.
I looked over at the Brit guide who was with our group. He knew why I was there and what I wanted to do and he just kinda mouthed the word, "Go."
So I ran out into the group of North Korean dancers, opened my tripod and plopped the camera down, and just started doing their dance.
The North Koreans immediately broke out in stitches. They thought it was hysterical, and their laughter kind of short circuited the security apparatus. All the guards just stood there not knowing what to do, cause everyone was staring at me and laughing and I'm going to go out on a limb and say I don't think that happens very often.
So I knew as long as I kept dancing, we were sort of at a stalemate, but I didn't have a shot unless I could get someone to dance with me. So I kept going and then finally this one woman stepped out of the group, bowed in front of me, and joined in.
The courage of that woman. The courage!
Anyway, we were shut down and I was put on the bus, but it blew over pretty quickly and no one cared about going after my footage or anything. It was ultimately no big deal.
At least for me. I hope she's okay.
From Matt's About page: Eventually Matt decided there was one thing left he wanted to say that the other videos hadn't quite said. He knew it was the sort of thing that was going to make a sponsor uneasy, and he kind of wanted to own his work anyway, so he decided to take what he'd earned from endorsements and invest it into another video.
In 2010, Matt started traveling again. He had to take a prolonged pit stop the following year when he and Melissa had a son. After that, leaving home for long stretches got even harder. But he hired a small team to help him finish and they eventually got it done.
Matt put his fourth video out in 2012. He's really proud of it and he hopes you like it too.
Click to viewWhen I saw the new video, the first amused thought which lept to mind was, "Goodness! It looks like the inevitable happened, what with all that practice, and despite his best intents he's actually starting to... improve."
Well, from his About page, which is well worth reading: Matt used to think you were either good at something or bad at something and there wasn't much you could do to change it. He wishes he'd learned sooner that you can get better at most things just by doing them over and over again. It really is that simple.
Indeed.
ETA: Matt is doing an Ask Me Anything over on Reddit right now. Some of the stories are marvelous.
capt_ishmael: In your original video, who were those girls you were dancing with in Tokyo? The ones dressed up us French maids.
BadDancer: Those were meido cafe girls. My host in Tokyo was taking me around the city and he asked me what I wanted to do.
I said show me something uniquely Tokyo-ish.
He asked if I wanted to go to a Meido coffee shop.
I said, "what's that?"
He said, "It's a cafe with girls who dress up like french maids."
"And?" I said.
"And they talk to you."
"And?" I said.
"And they play board games with you."
"And?" I said.
"That's it. Just talking and board games."
I said, "Okay, you better take me there immediately."
So we went and it was exactly what he said. We played a Pirates of the Caribbean board game where you had to stick a sword in a barrel and avoid making Jack Sparrow pop out. If you won, you got a piece of chocolate. If you lost, you had to wear silly kitten ears.
Our meido girl asked me what I do. My host, Daisuke, explained, "He is...famous American dancer."
The girl paused and step back. She covered her mouth with her hand, then screamed, "YOUUUUUTUUUUUUBA!"
So all the other girls came around and they all had autograph books and I asked if they wanted to dance with me and they did and it's in the video. The End.
And: GiantBatFart: How in the name of Nuclear-Missile-Launching-Insane-And-Bloated-Communist-Dictators did you manage to dance in the middle of a large crowd in Pyongyang without getting arrested?
BadDancer: I timed my visit during Kim Jon Il's birthday -- what turned out to be his last birthday, actually.
They have these mass dances where they bring thousands of people out into the street in fancy dress to do these kinda silly, childish dances together.
Attending the mass dance was easy, but joining in and filming it was not. The North Korean tour guides nodded when I explained what I wanted to do. They were like, "whatever," but in Korean. Then when it came time for me to film, they were like, "shut up and get on the bus," but in Korean.
I looked over at the Brit guide who was with our group. He knew why I was there and what I wanted to do and he just kinda mouthed the word, "Go."
So I ran out into the group of North Korean dancers, opened my tripod and plopped the camera down, and just started doing their dance.
The North Koreans immediately broke out in stitches. They thought it was hysterical, and their laughter kind of short circuited the security apparatus. All the guards just stood there not knowing what to do, cause everyone was staring at me and laughing and I'm going to go out on a limb and say I don't think that happens very often.
So I knew as long as I kept dancing, we were sort of at a stalemate, but I didn't have a shot unless I could get someone to dance with me. So I kept going and then finally this one woman stepped out of the group, bowed in front of me, and joined in.
The courage of that woman. The courage!
Anyway, we were shut down and I was put on the bus, but it blew over pretty quickly and no one cared about going after my footage or anything. It was ultimately no big deal.
At least for me. I hope she's okay.