Christine And The Queens Krumps Along To Shakespeare In Video For Comme Si
Thursday, 11 April 2019
Written by Helen Payne
Chris has released a video for her track, Comme Si.
Always hailed for her energetic and innovative dance moves on stage, the latest video from Héloïse Letissier sees a routine choreographed by Alexandre Moreau and inspired by Sir John Everett Millais’ painting Ophelia.
The routine sees Chris krumping—a street dance popular in the US as a way to powerfully express emotions in a non-violent way—her way through a natural pool in Thailand as a reimagining of the story of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Leissier explained in a statement:
For me, the whole idea of the video is to twist the terrible ending of Ophelia, as a myth, an idea. In Hamlet, Ophelia is, of course, the unlucky lover, the rejected one; but her madness and the suicide that ensues is also symptomatic of a whole era: the young girl, unwanted, unloved, simply cannot live. She’s doomed, she disappears, she melts with nature. Insanity is also really interesting in this play, for it is the sign of a mind deranged by rejection, as if she couldn’t remain in the world after being unwanted by Hamlet. Looking at Millais’ painting, and thinking of ‘Comme si’ as this erotic reverie of subverting rejection with self-empowerment, I started to dream of giving that myth a welcomed, witty twist. Let’s undo that tragic ending; let’s cheat death, if you will.
Let’s bring Ophelia back from the dead, to express her desire and madness with exhilaration, as something that elevates her, instead of pushing her to the shores of death. With that fantastic what if, everything became possible; what if Ophelia is oozing with a strange power, her own? What if we brought something extremely modern like Krump to express lust, to bring humor and creepiness, to make Ophelia our own hero? What if it was time to tell a new story, one that brings us more ecstasy than the one we’re used to being told? The choreography uses the idea of unrequited love, like in the song’s lyrics, but since it’s Krump, we can add dark humor to it, cartoonish vibes if we want. Krump is perfect to me because it’s wild, sometimes with the childish energy of mime, sometimes with the pure stamina of jabs, and it can tell all the nuances of crazy love, use darkness as something contagious. Ophelia, raised from the water, battles furiously with it, and the original painting is suddenly shattered by a powerful feminine figure who finds another way to be unforgettable.”
Christine and the Queens released ‘Chris’ last year, and will headline All Points East Festival in London on May 26.
Christine and the Queens Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
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