The film Bomb It portrays graffiti as the “biggest art movement in humankind.” With any movement there is opposition and many see graffiti or tagging as mere vandalism. Art or vandalism—where do you spray the line? “Graffiti is energy” says Bronx graffiti artist T-Kid and “it represents life” says artist Pose 2. The same can be said about dance—dance is energy—and it represents life in nearly every culture across the globe. The graffiti photos below show dancers and different types of dance around the world. Many images in this set were painted in the popular form of stencil graffiti. 14 photos and 3 videos.
01Shake, shake, shake—a youthful Elvis Presley in the Latin Quarter of Paris, France painted by well-known French graffitist Jef Aérosol. Aérosol has stenciled cultural icons all over Europe (and beyond) including the Clash’s Joe Strummer—one of Aérosol’s early inspirations—in London (map). A fan on Flickr writes, “Jef, your art spans decades but always looks new and fresh.” (Jef Aérosol and flickr/wallyg)
02Happy dancing music notes brighten a dark wall in Manchester, England. Music thrives in Manchester, known for its Madchester scene in the late 80s–mid 90s which blended ecstasy use with bouncing clubs whose music meshed indie rock, psychedelic rock, and dance. (Wikipedia and flickr/nualabugeye)
03A man and woman dance powerfully on a warm cracking urban wall in Seville, Spain. The bodies seem joined by the dance—balanced by the language of the soul—as they blur into one. (flickr/pixelhut)
04Yin yang of the heart? A heart-split man dances with a woman in opposing sea colors in Adelaide, Australia. Our hearts are positioned in the middle of our chests but often thought to be on our left side—this couple is either facing away from each other or the woman’s heart is broken inside the man. (flickr/badjonni)
05“I am dance” stencil near the University of Sheffield (map). The city of Sheffield, England has delivered dance music for decades—especially synthpop, electronic, and techno. (Wikipedia and flickr/hippie)
06A businessman dances as he burns his briefcase in Lisbon, Portugal. He’s either liberating himself from the corporate world or possesions (Fight Club style) or he’s a madman—it’s your call—does the orange fire reflect the man’s energetic rage, changing times, or the heat of the bright Lisbon sun? (flickr/discofiasko)
07A couple dances the Tango in Fitzroy—a suburb of Melbourne, Australia known for its music venues and street art. With both Spanish and African influences, this dramatic Argentine dance connects couples chest-to-chest, hip-to-hip, or thigh-to-thigh depending on the global variations. (Wikipedia and flickr/peterjohnchen)
08A Flamenco dancer in Valencia, Spain. Flamenco is a colorful, social art that portrays intense emotions. A spontaneous energy can be sparked and the dance is said to take on life of its own inside the dancer—a concept known as duende. Flamenco originated in the Gypsy culture of southern Spain’s Andalusia region and is performed in both informal and formal settings. (Wikipedia and flickr/semerssuaq)
09Josephine Baker was a creative, iconic, American-born French entertainer and activist. Here—wearing her banana skirt—she performs the Danse Banane that contributed to her rise to fame in Paris during the 20s. Baker pushed for civil rights, and by refusing to perform for segregated audiences she accelerated racial integration. She is also famous for aiding the French Resistance during WWII, and for being the first Black American to star in a major motion picture. (Wikipedia and flickr/megpi)
10Dancing Star—a dancer “moves it” on Hosier Lane, a city lane in Melbourne, Australia renowned for its vibrant ever-changing legal street art. The city shook up its art culture in 2006 by launching an assault on graffiti before the Commonwealth Games, and again by introducing strict anti-graffiti laws in 2008. The city’s current stance is Do Art Not Tags. Legal street art yes. Illegal graffiti and tagging no. (Wikipedia, Lifelounge, DBTC, Matador Network, Upstart, The Guardian, City of Melbourne, flickr/runnerone)
11Located in New York’s East Village (map) and painted in 2008, this mural is a tribute to Keith Haring—a New York City-based artist in the 70s and 80s famous for creating vivid public art that portrayed life and unity. In his later years Haring used art to “generate activism and awareness about AIDS”, the disease that stole his life at age 31. (Wikipedia and flickr/katiecowden)
12B-boying (breaking or breakdancing) and graffiti are both cultural elements of hip hop and its strong beats and breaks. B-boying involves expressive standing moves (toprock) and gymnast-like floor moves (footwork and power moves). Other trademark moves are freezes and suicides, where the b-boy or b-girl freezes in a stylish, inverted, or painful pose. NYC crews popularized breaking during the 70s—this head-spinning mural by Ewok is in Williamsburg (map), Brooklyn, New York. (Wikipedia, oM, flickr/wallyg)
13The blue silhouette of a ballet dancer floats on the this mountain-textured wall in Trondheim, Norway. Through airy movements, practiced ballet dancers can hold positions in the air and appear to defy gravity—an ability called ballon. Ballet is a highly technical dance form that developed mainly in France, Italy, England, and Russia—it is now popular on all seven continents. (Wikipedia and flickr/irdaones_pix)
14Michael Jackson RIP graffiti in Times Square, Manhattan, New York. Jackson’s death crushed hearts around the world in June, 2009. Dubbed The King of Pop, Jackson was a master performer and a paramount inspiration to dance—he popularized the moonwalk, and evolved music videos by using them as movie-like, choreographed, storytelling tools. (flickr/joeppo)
