Dancing on a Cloud, 2005-2007
with Tommy Mintz
Dancing is a form that I use to embody my Jewish grandfather, who was a ballroom dance teacher and social director at a Catskills resort. As “Uncle Bob", I don an ill-fitting tuxedo, carry a turntable, and lead Conga Lines throughout art spaces and street festivals. Tommy Mintz, Bob's personal paparazzi, snaps countless photos of the festivities at each "affair". Bob and I are the maestros of escapist revelry, and our dance steps emerge from Arthur Murray’s colonialist convictions about the “simple Natives” mastery of the Conga Line in How to Become a Good Dancer. In addition to trailing Murray’s footsteps, Bob strives for a middle-class impeccability that misses the mark. His toupee teeters from his head, and the sugary sustenance of the lower-classes – chocolate, Mountain Dew, and antacid tablets - spill from his hands and pockets and render a sticky dance floor.
with Tommy Mintz
Dancing is a form that I use to embody my Jewish grandfather, who was a ballroom dance teacher and social director at a Catskills resort. As “Uncle Bob", I don an ill-fitting tuxedo, carry a turntable, and lead Conga Lines throughout art spaces and street festivals. Tommy Mintz, Bob's personal paparazzi, snaps countless photos of the festivities at each "affair". Bob and I are the maestros of escapist revelry, and our dance steps emerge from Arthur Murray’s colonialist convictions about the “simple Natives” mastery of the Conga Line in How to Become a Good Dancer. In addition to trailing Murray’s footsteps, Bob strives for a middle-class impeccability that misses the mark. His toupee teeters from his head, and the sugary sustenance of the lower-classes – chocolate, Mountain Dew, and antacid tablets - spill from his hands and pockets and render a sticky dance floor.
