Pluto “Dance Stamina”

2003-pluto-dance-staminaHere’s Pluto sounding very cool, with hints of the Stone Roses and early U2. Far removed from the comedy world of “Bananas in the Mist”, “Dance Stamina” gets very moody and sexy. Oh yeah.

The video opens with Pluto silhouetted in red light against a screen. When we meet the band, they’re bathed in red and blue lights, with lead singer Milan looking all hot and bothered. Also – fabulous cheekbones.

The video is directed by Kezia Barnett, who has previously proven her talent for using quality choreography in music video with “Buck It Up” and “Cement” for Goodshirt. But rather than the extravagant formation styles of the Goodshirt videos, “Dance Stamina” just uses one dancer, who is dressed very similarly to the disco goth vamps of “Cement”. Only this time there’s no ironing board. She dances in a separate space to the band. Are they even aware of her existence?

As the band are playing it so very straight and so cool, the dancer – with her black wig, pale make up and bloody mouth – is a lively contrast. But how much dance stamina does the dancer have? Three and a half minutes into the video, she collapses, but then rises again in silhouette form.

What if she’s an immortal vampire who can dance for a long time? Things would have been good with the dance marathons on the 1930s, but it’s slim pickings in the 2000s when indie bands would only record songs that are a measly four minutes long.

“Dance Stamina” doesn’t seem like it had the larger budget of Goodshirt’s videos, but the simple set, dramatic lighting, fab performances from the band, and of course the dancer all come together to make something very slick.

This video was a finalist at both the Kodak Music Clip Awards and the Juice TV Music Awards.

Best bit: the dancer’s layers and layers of faux pearl necklaces.

Director: Kezia Barnett
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… Sydney skate.

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