Movies, Moves and Music - The Sonic World of Dance Films - Mark Evans

Movies, Moves and Music - The Sonic World of Dance Films - Mark Evans

The Essence and Momentum of Honey: An Interplay of Sound and Movement

Movies, Moves and Music - The Sonic World of Dance Films - Mark Evans

Diane Hughes [+-]
Macquarie University
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Diane Hughes is an Associate Professor in Vocal Studies and Music at Macquarie University. Her research areas include vocal health and wellbeing, music industries and recording, vocal artistry, emotion in song, the singer-songwriter and vocal pedagogy. She co-authored The New Music Industries: Disruption and Discovery (2016) with Evans, Morrow and Keith, published by Palgrave Macmillan. She is an advocate for music education and for multidisciplinary voice studies more broadly.

Description

Produced in 2003, Honey (Woodruff, 2003) is a dance film, featuring ‘behind the scenes’ music video production, in which the low socio-economic urban neighbourhood is juxtaposed with the affluence of the commercially oriented music business. These contrasting worlds are inextricably linked through shared commonalities of dance moves and musical beats in which the human body is portrayed as the expressive instrument. Featured choreography, predominantly commercial in style, draws on the energy and rhythms of ‘hood’ life and play. Pivotal to the film’s energy are the driving percussive and rhythmic qualities that culminate in a multifarious dance style finale. Honey is essentially a ‘backstage’ formulaic dance film and yet, even if at times predictable, it is also unique. Honey builds credibility through its exploration of ‘hip hop’ music and dance. Incorporated in ways to aid expressivity and cohesion, the relationship between sound and movement is consistently explored and crafted with the cinematography and music both serving to underscore such contrasts as street and club, video production and ‘live’ sequences. Contemporary industry professionals, with video and music production credentials, craft the choreography and musical elements. Adding to this ‘street cred’ are the cameo roles of featured artists. Supported through creative direction, it is the interplay of sound and movement that forms Honey’s essence and momentum.

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Citation

Hughes, Diane. The Essence and Momentum of Honey: An Interplay of Sound and Movement. Movies, Moves and Music - The Sonic World of Dance Films. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 108-128 Jan 2016. ISBN 9781845539580. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=27432. Date accessed: 29 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.27432. Jan 2016

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