DANCE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 2
prod. Stuart S. Shapiro and Adrian Workman, 1990
Worldwide. 58 mins.
In English.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 21 – 7:30 PM followed by Q+A with Stuart Shapiro

DANCE INTERNATIONAL’s kaleidoscopic approach is on further display in the second installment, which initially focuses on the fusion of rap, funk and house (featuring Mike G from the Jungle Brothers, Afrika Bambataa and UK producer “Dancin’” Danny D) before refracting outwards to depict something called “Hyperstyle for the 1990s” in a cyberpunk montage of web 1.0 interfaces, gyrating young bodies and a depiction of emergent Virtual Reality worthy of Barry Levinson’s classic Seattle erotic thriller DISCLOSURE (or the Aerosmith video for “Amazing”.) The centerpiece of the tape is a look at the notorious Outlaws parties founded by Vito Bruno, infamous for paying off NYPD officers, supplying musicians with drugs and, in 2020, unsuccessfully running for New York State Senate as a “law and order” Republican. Along the way there’s a 10th birthday party for i-D magazine, a deep dive into the escalation of dancehall reggae culture, an interview with acid house legend Baby Ford and an impassioned screed from Boy George against mainstream pop like Kylie Minogue (“we’re in need of another revolution, like punk”) and bemoaning record labels for liking Black music yet rarely signing Black musicians.

“I have the old promoters, the new promoters, people who don’t even speak to each other working together, I have the Black promoters, the white promoters, the gay promoters, the rock promoters, the disco promoters… Tonight this sleazy little loading dock is gonna be the focal point of the entire music industry, of the entire world. It has that New York, decadent, horrible, rough, raw, raunchy feel to it and that’s what it’s supposed to be. All the fabulous people will be here.” – Vito Bruno