The Creation of "Hey Ya!"

Inspired Mayhem: Hey Ya!


I had been dreaming about making this video for awhile. I loved all the Inspired Mayhem collaborative play, but since all the people involved were dancers, it seemed odd that we almost never (other than Cisco's Garage) danced to music. Logistically, it was always easier to just bring the props and camera, shoot what I could, and then edit it to a song that fit (which eventually, YouTube would ban for copyright reasons, but that's another blog!). Besides, the creation of a music video is kind of weird, because you have to dance to the same song, over and over again.

My original concept for "Hey Ya!" was to shoot only one or a few dancers at a time, all in the alleyway, with a similar background, and just rotate dancers through, so I could intercut between the different groups. However, like everything else with IMP, the plans I make must been thrown away, if the whim of the crowd goes in a different direction. People didn't want to stop dancing, and I didn't want to ask them to.

I produce each shoot, but I cannot force anything without bruising the collaborative spirit which brings others into it. Inspired Mayhem is exactly that: I can help get the mayhem started, but then I just have to trust in the participants' inspiration to make the magic happen. It's not even herding cats; it's meowing nicely, and then getting out of the way, so the other cats can come play.

(Speaking of which, I have to tip my hat to Craig B., who did all the camerawork on this one, allowing me to focus on connecting to and enlisting dancers to join in. Like so much else we've done together, don't know what I woulda done without you).

Guest bloggers: Marci and Arlys
Marci: It's like unraveling myself like a spiral staircase down into the trunk of the tree in a mysterious forest... as the camera is rolling and our interactions take place, I feel the inevitable momentum of possibility's-edge and what-if and let-go and try-this go ballistic - HEY YA! the shoot has a life of its own, capturing us all in a dynamic vortex that spills out, surprising ourselves in new directions, configurations, juxtapositions ...and it's so exhilaratingly free! My hula hoop breaks and I celebrate its undoing, a symbolic opening to new shapes that include more... bodies, energies, vibes, colors, radiance... IMP is a-bun-Dance of US. - May we continue to discover ourselves anew - Marci Javril - www.youtube.com/marcijavril

Arlys:
"No think - just move, no think - just groove".