WATCH THIS:

I want to combine Icy Feet with hiplet - a sassy mix of hip-hop and ballet. These women can strut; they are as sexy as Kelis's vocal and as bad-ass as Sage the Gemini's rhymes.

They are the physical embodiment of Icy Feet!

IDEA:

I'd keep it simple. It's all about the women. Their moves and attitude must shine.

The fascinating thing about hiplet is that it uses the traditional ballet techniques but with a hip-hop twist. I'd make the most of that by letting these women loose on the most traditional stage of all: the concert hall.

Imagine a huge empty concert hall. No audience, no nothing.

Then we see a ballet dancer. Leotards; check. Ballet shoes; check.

She's stretching off, gearing up.

The base drops and BOOM she's strutting down the stage on her tip toes with a bad-ass strut that's bizarre, beautiful and hypnotic.

And then another woman joins her and they have a dance-off on their tip toes. They're tearing it up!

Then another joins them and wiggles her knees on her tip-toes in a way you've never seen before.

Then they're strutting down the seating aisle. Then they're in the VIP box. And in the orchestra pit. They're taking over the concert hall and they don't give a shit.

At the break, they surround one dancer who's wiggling her hips like crazy! The others encourage her.

As the track climaxes there's eight dancers on the stage dancing in unison, strutting, twirling their hips and waving their hands. It's an incredible display of skill and bad-ass-ness!

Then the curtain falls and it's back to being a boring old concert hall.

PERFORMANCE:

The woman are best when they look like they're having fun. This is important. They're enjoyment is empowering.

LOOK & FEEL:

Like the setting the visual style should be opulent and glossy. Beauty lighting, composed frames, smooth camera movements. Hiplet should be photographed as if it were ballet!

The stage and seating will be lit; I want to see it all. It's almost as if the woman have invaded the concert hall whilst everyone's out.

To show off the such unusual dancing we have to frame the woman full body, so we'd shoot 16:9 with wide lenses.

Editing-wise, I'd keep it wide at first to show off the technique and then I'd use more close-ups and cut between dancers to keep it dynamic and exciting. I really like how this video follows that kind of structure:

PRODuCTION:

As far as I'm aware there's only one group of dancers who have mastered Hiplet and they're at the Multicultural Dance Centre in Chicago: http://hipletballerinas.com/

We'd need to go to Chicago, engage about 10 dancers and their choreographer, spend a day or two choreographing and rehearsing (depending on how long they need), we'd find a concert hall and spend one day filming with a speedy but excellent local cinematographer, and then BAM, we'd got a Hiplet hit!

This will be a ballet extravaganza like no other, done the Icy Feet way!

Thanks for reading.

- Ian

Ian Robertson

film editor.