Last September Lady Gaga, the hottest pop star in the music industry right now, gave another wacko performance (wheelchair comes out at the 2 min mark), which she’s quickly becoming known for, at MTV’s annual music video awards, the VMA’s.
Many viewers blogged about the absurdities in the performance, from the
use of gushing blood spurting forth on her white leotard to the reason
this blog exists: The brunette chic in the blinged-out wheelchair. What
did all of this mean, Lady Gaga?? Spill it.
Before we dissect the possible reasons, I first want to answer a couple
of things you may be wondering: 1) You‘re right, the woman in the
wheelchair is not disabled (as this great blog
from a real wheelchair dancer states). If you watch her legs as the
male dancer pushes her out, she’s trying hard to keep them still but
still flubs a few times, and lifts them to the music. Also, her legs
are in fantastic shape with phenomenal muscle tone. ‘Nuff said. So, I
bet she’s a backup dancer who was chosen for the starring “wheelchair
role” (and I wonder if she was happy about that?? hmmm).
And 2) Yes, it’s weird she was being pushed instead of pushing herself.
It would’ve been cooler if they had hired a REAL wheelchair dancer,
like Auti Angel,
the first wheelchair hip-hop dancer to get actual work (she's worked
with LL Cool J). Not only would she have pushed herself out, she
would’ve rocked out her chair so hard the world would’ve been in awe.
But maybe that wasn’t the choreographer’s goal. Maybe like this guy says
the performance was a homage to people suffering the Swine Flu ("Swine
Flu" ritual?). Lady Gaga was on a crutch afterall at a point in the
performance. So strange…all of it. Whatever the reason LG used a woman
in a wheelchair in her show, it was cool just for the fact that a
wheelchair WAS OUT THERE in the first place. I doubt a wheelchair has
even been used in a dance performance in the VMA’s, Grammys, and AMAs
combined.
Everything doesn’t have to look perfect, choreographers of the world.
Try to be more like Lady Gaga and use that immeasurable platform to
make a statement, to break stereotypes, to entertain, to make people
think. Haven’t we seen enough perfectly able-bodied dancers on TV? It
does get kind of boring. Mix it up, and use real wc-dancers next time. I dare you!
- Auti Angel Carves Out Niche as First Hip Hop Wheelchair Singer and Dancer
- Watch members of the mixed-ability dance troupe, Axis, move their stuff
- Wheelchair Dance for People with Disabilities
