Marianne Machin, Author at Marianne Machin

MFOR. Dancing on My Own #2. Bedsitter

July 27, 2020 By Marianne Machin Leave a Comment

And now I’m all alone
In bedsit land
My only home

This track holds an important place in the evolution of my lockdown playlist. Because it was the OG. The absolute first time I heard a song on the radio and thought ‘hey, those lyrics really speak to this situation!! That’s so crazy! OMG, I’m think I’ll make a playlist!’ (Q: Is an original thought an original thought if everyone else is having it at the same time???? A: probably not). Back in March 2020. When I didn’t know. When I was oblivious to the fact there were literally hundreds of songs out there just waiting to sing the lockdown song.

And so to Bedsitter…yeh, it’s really great. I had the 7-inch when I was a kid – too young to even know it was cool. That innocent time when records were just records. You either heard them on Radio 1, saw them on TOTP, or they made an appearance on the Now! compilation albums you got given for your birthday, and you formed an opinion from those things alone. I would expect this to be a side 4 kind of a song. Although it was a big hit so it might have made it onto side 3. But, in spirit, it was def side 4. That’s where you found the more offbeat tracks that probably just grazed the top forty. It’s where I made some alt-pop discoveries that have stayed with me to this day – Duel, Party Fears Two, Young Parisians etc. etc. Sadly, I seem to remember swapping my Bedsitter single for something way more pedestrian. Ah, the folly of youth.

This routine is super easy. It requires a certain attitude more than any type of skill or technique. Wear black.

Watch on YouTube here

Disclaimer: These are not virtuoso performances. Just me, in an attic, grappling with an iPhone, creaky floorboards and a bad haircut. The sound is a bit ropey and the elements make numerous uninvited appearances! No left or right instructions – do whatever feels most natural to you…mirror me or flip it and use the same arms and legs as I do. Dancers’ choice. The routines are as simple or as complex as want them to be…and remember, repetition is key. Happy dancing!

For Sue. Obviously.

Previously: Screwed. Janelle Monáe
Up next: Level of Concern. 21 Pilots…

MFOR. Dancing on My Own #1. Screwed

July 22, 2020 By Marianne Machin Leave a Comment

Let’s get screwed
I don’t care

It seemed like an appropriate place to start.

The lockdown playlist is a many-splendored thing. Sigh. Who even knew? But then this crisis is everything isn’t it – our health, our livelihoods, our very existence on this planet – so maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise to find a ready-made soundtrack? And what’s been interesting is how the playlist has evolved as the narrative has unfolded. From the early days, back in March – when we were all feeling frankly terrified – with songs about the virus itself (probably the least tasteful phase – Hot in Herre, Doctor Doctor, Cough Cough, Catch) and the new realities of lockdown (All by Myself, Isolation, Same Old Scene, Ghost Town) and social distancing (Don’t Stand So Close To me, Party Fears Two). Coupled with coming to terms with this idea of a global meltdown…what was even happening? (It’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine), Mad World, It’s Over). Moving to the NHS with the lack of PPE (No Scrubs, Cover Me) and the Clap for Carers (Applause, She Bangs the Drums). Then, the prospect of millions of people losing their jobs (Shutdown, One in Ten. If there is a song out there about being furloughed I need to know! Money for Nothing???)

It was all pretty serious and felt crass at times. But there were sweeter moments…the unexpected arrival of a certain online platform in all of our lives (Zoom, Who’s Zoomin’ Who? – that’s it, right??) and issues with not being able to go to a hairdresser (Cut Your Hair, anything by The Roots…). Boredom songs (I’m Bored, Time (Clock of the Heart)). Reading songs (Wuthering Heights). Drinking songs (Red Red Wine). Relationship songs (D.I.V.O.R.C.E). And now it’s June and we’re moving into a new coming-out-of-lockdown phase (Parklife, Back to Work, Emerge, Shopping). No doubt there are plenty more surprising places this epic playlist will take us, but I’m pretty sure it won’t get more random than the hands down most unexpected entry of the entire list. In with a bang, May 2020, Roger Whittaker with Old Durham Town. Did not see that one coming (there’s a vision joke in there somewhere?).

And so to my first choice for a lockdown bop…Screwed by the goddess Janelle. Double lockdown interpretation. Perhaps we are all screwed – has it ever felt more like it? And, on a cheerier note, maybe some of us have been having more fun time with our partners whilst shut in a house together 24/7? (Btw, you can give yourself a gold star if song title, lyrical content and artist name all fall into lockdown territory, as in Red Red Wine by UB40. Good luck!). This routine is pretty simple. Barely moves off the spot. First one I did so probably the best. Enjoy.

Watch on YouTube here

For Chris. Devil’s avocado
For Michal. THE DRAMA!

Up next: Bedsitter. Soft Cell…

MFOR. Dancing on My Own

July 22, 2020 By Marianne Machin Leave a Comment

A Lockdown Project (yawn)

I didn’t want to do it but I just couldn’t help myself…

March 2020 and here we are. Plunged into the strange and unfamiliar end time that is ‘lockdown’. For me, the waters barely stir. I continue going to a workplace. I am never lonely. Life trots along pretty much as normal which is weird in itself. But I do miss dancing – the losing-my-shit-in-a-studio kind of dancing (as opposed to the gingerly-tiptoeing-around-my-bedroom-‘your-internet-is-unstable’ kind of online dancing). And, like everyone else on the planet, I make a lockdown playlist (LDMFOR – see below) which becomes the inspiration for this little project.

To explain. MFOR*. Money for old rope. The idea of tired old shit that gets pitched as something new and great but is actually a giant obvious boring cliché. I’m not a fan of the cliché. But I am interested in the existence of the cliché. The concept of MFOR (or my version of it) is something I’ve been pondering as a potential project for a long time. And lockdown gifted us with all manner of MFOR (LDMFOR, if you will). Baking. Learning Mandarin. Jogging. Zoom. The Tiger King (see also: Normal People). Having a bookcase behind you when being interviewed on TV. Filming a home haircut. The lockdown playlist (ha!). Blah blah. You know the score.

And here I am, late to the party, with my own LDMFOR project…a series of routines choreographed to songs from my lockdown playlist. Obviously, if I was savvy in any way, I would have done this from day one and taught the routines live online. But I’m an asshole and I didn’t start to think about filming until I was six routines in and lockdown was practically over (and my carefully curated bowl haircut was in collapse and no longer fit for public consumption). No matter. It was a joy making some bedroom art and, true to my ‘modern life is rubbish’ stance, I’m happy to have done something for no other reason than I fancied it. Plus, MFOR (the brand!) is now officially open for business. Yay.

I’ll talk more about the songs in the individual blogs, but a little word about the routines. For me, to choreograph in a full out way I need a studio. I want a studio. I want to be free to DANCE. But, I can do simple stuff in my bedroom. Thus, this project has been perfect for these indoor times. My aim has been to create slightly better than average ‘flashmob’ choreography. Ha ha. Reaching for the stars! It’s harder than it sounds – making simple stuff interesting is challenging and I have sweated over these moves. I hope the result is a series of routines that are easy enough to learn in a few minutes yet full of tiny surprises. I hope they feel like LIVING.

*The influence of the four letter acronym in the City of Bristol, England. Yeh. It’s a thing here. DTYM. WTOQ. ESDR. I want in.

Up first: Screwed. Janelle Monáe…

Sparklemotion

June 14, 2016 By Marianne Machin Leave a Comment

Pop life…

It’s hard for me to separate myself as a choreographer from my dance troupe Sparklemotion – where one ends, the other begins. All my achievements have been under the Sparklemotion umbrella and I see everything I do as being a Sparklemotion project.

I’ve tried to create something original, but with an old school charm; a dance troupe with a knowing twinkle in their eyes and killer routines in their pockets. l guess my choreographic motto is pretty simple: to make interesting work with a beating heart and a great soundtrack.

Over the years we have performed with and for a diverse and colourful array of artists ranging from the ultra kitsch to the mega cool. We’ve danced with cabaret stars and hipster bands; in nightclubs and art galleries; at music festival and weddings. Anything goes and that’s what makes Sparklemotion so exciting for me, it never sits still. Bring on the next adventure…

Rick Astley

June 14, 2016 By Marianne Machin 4 Comments

Rolling. With Rick.

Amazing. Mega. Random much? Oh yes, another surprising Sparklemotion adventure sallies forth. This time with (is this really happening?) Rick Astley. He of PWL tea boy fame. The man who shocked us all on TOTP back in the day. And let’s not forget THAT meme.

When I got the call about this job you could have knocked me down with something much lighter than a feather. It’s all thanks to AMAZING director Michael Baldwin — a man who previously made us look pretty damn good in a Cocknbullkid video and who seems to like what I do. Lucky me.

So, the brief this time was “badass angels”…saving our hero from a nasty demise in a Soprano’s-style “to the bottom of the river you go” scenario. Dancing-wise the challenge was to come up with something nonchalant and cool, a bit cute and a lot sassy.

Shoot day and once again we’re in our usual industrial setting. It seems that Sparklemotion will only do a video if a hi-vis vest has to be donned to go to the lav. Ha ha!

It was actually a beautiful day — sun shining and everyone working hard to get the job done. Taught the routine in a shipping container, got angel-ed up in our customised leather jackets and kicked up some dust with our bad-ass moves. And Chrissie even got a kiss!

Result? A totally fab video. WOW. Michael Baldwin you are my hero. And as for Rick – what a superstar. His album is called 50. Ha! Love that.