Stephen Tannos interprets Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ ‘Dance Off’
On April 24th Stephen Tannos quietly released a 7 minute dance video to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis‘s latest release song – Dance Off.
Reflecting typical quirky Tannos style and humour, the dance video quickly became an online viral hit and has so far amounted 70,000 views! It has garnered the attention of music and dance fans around the world with Tannos receiving messages from people far and wide and it is still being seen by thousands more each day.
“I heard the song and the idea to make the video came straight away,” said Tannos. “I had a hunch it would be Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ next single so I acted on it quickly.”
“I decided to keep the project quiet and just release it as a surprise – which i think has resulted in a bigger buzz.”
“The whole thing came together rather quickly. I knew what I wanted to do with the story and after only one rehearsal with each of the six dance groups in the video, we shot it all in around 5 hours.”
There are more than 30 male dancers in the Dance Off video, featuring Neven Connolly & James Barry who start off having a slight street altercation, which ends up being a dramatic hip hop group dance battle – well, at least in their imaginations.
“Certain songs seem to speak to me as a choreographer, especially a lot of the Macklemore stuff. When I heard Dance Off I liked it’s many layers and genres. It felt like a modern opera; dramatic, charismatic and comical. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ music is very versatile. Even though they are hip hop artists they don’t take themselves too seriously; and I can relate totally to that,” said Tannos.
At the very end of the video pop up the exact words: ‘Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously.’
While Stephen Tannos may subscribe to this concept and find the humour in his work, he is certainly being taken more seriously as a choreographer, director and producer following the spread of his latest video. He has had positive feedback from many in the industry worldwide and even from the Macklemore & Lewis team themselves!
Tannos says he is inspired and flattered by the response to Dance Off and excited about possible future projects in the pipeline. His goal one day is to make more great dance music videos professionally.
“I want to follow the leads thrown in my direction and act on the positive hype and make the most of it. But ultimately, I want to get the dancers seen as well and facilitate everyone’s talent and let them be their best.”
Stephen Tannos never fails to impress us with his creativity, talent and humour. Great work Stephen and we can’t wait to see what you do next!
Watch DANCE OFF here: https://youtu.be/Ife1Yq5J3zg
