FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Is This the Most Awkward Dance Party Music Video Ever?

Dance your androgynous sweater off with Moscow-based experimental sound artist Maria Teriaeva’s first-ever music video.

Photo by Jenia Filatova

Russia’s unforgiving winters inspired the fluffy sweaters and awkward dance moves of experimental sound artist Maria Teriaeva’s first music video, "Меринос" ("Merino," like the wool). With the Moscow-based Teriaeva on Buchla synthesizer, her friend Vadik Korolev on vocals, and a live trombone to round it all out, the track is a fun blend of musical aesthetics. The artist’s concept for the piece, she explains to The Creators Project, was to combine avant-garde Buchla melodies, a pop style, and lyrics which would evoke, “the feeling of frost.”

Advertisement

This funky sound highlights the comedy of the video’s protagonists’ (Teriaeva and Korolev) minimal movements, as well as that of the androgynous winter clothing they wear. “It’s impossible to understand who is under all those layers of snow and clothes in winter,” Teriaeva says, “there is no notion of sex. Gender lines are blurred, everything becomes less important.” In "Меринос," this idea is translated into a choreography of cold. With sweaters pulled over their heads, Teriaeva and Korolev sit expressionless, fingers tapping to the music as if waiting impatiently for spring to come. While later, under the weight of thick, boxy, matching jackets, the pair whips out their dance moves with all the grace of two automatons.

See more of Maria Teriaeva’s work on her Facebook page and her Soundcloud. She will also be performing at the upcoming Geometry of Now group show in Moscow, Russia.

Related:

Dance, Religion, and Ritual Collide in an Abandoned Pool

Experimental Animation Meets 90s Clubbing in a Psychedelic Visual Feast [Premiere]

Val Kilmer Meditates in Oneohtrix Point Never's Latest Music Video