Let’s dance: Diversified depictions of queerness in ensemble dance music videos

Abstract

As delineations of queer and LGBT culture continue to be complicated in academic and community settings, queer musicians are pushing the boundaries of their own gestural expression within their music videos and utilizing the medium of dance to further broaden their self-definitions. Using choreographed group dance, a common convention in mainstream music videos, Sam Smith, Janelle Monáe and Christine and the Queens (and their production teams) make particular creative choices that allow them to expand expressions of identity and solidarity within both the queer community and society at large. In this article, I employ detailed analysis of the aesthetic qualities of three music videos and synthesis of scholarly perspectives as they relate to queer expression to argue that the creative freedom and collaboration inherent to the ensemble dance form provide a rich platform through which these artists can experiment with fluid conceptions of their identities and bring to popular culture the kinds of non-determinative outlooks explored in conceptualizations of queer theory.