Ever make a home movie that was then seen 8.4 million times? Apparently that is now possible with a few clicks of a button.
This 1:30 minute video was posted in late February, and has now collected an astounding 40,900 ratings, 17,600 comments, and more than 20 video responses.
Home videos of kids are very popular on YouTube, and though this degree of appeal is uncommon, it is by no means unique.
15.8.08
Star Wars According to a 3 Year Old.
7.8.08
Tiffany Mills Dance Company
I wrote the following article for the Oregon Daily Emerald. Tiffany Mills is a distinguished graduate of the University of Oregon, and I attended her lecture on Monday. I'm not sure I communicated the extent of her success, but I figure that most people who are interested in the dance industry will understand my meaning:
Lithe figures writhe around each other in a chaotic jumble onstage, each being lifted high by the others before being pulled back into the group. The six artists are clothed in layers of tattered clothing and remind the viewer more of struggling survivors than the professional New York dancers that they are.
However, in time an order begins to take hold. The frenzy slows to a controlled movement. A lone woman emerges, balancing carefully upon the backs of the others. The men and women form a human chain, slowly guiding their cargo offstage.
Applause. But this isn't a live performance, the video, part of a larger piece entitled "Landfall," is part of a presentation by UO honors graduate alumnus Tiffany Mills. She visited the university campus on Monday, Aug. 4, to talk about her experience founding a successful New York dance company.
Mills spoke at the UO Robert D. Clark Honors College to a room of more than 15 faculty and guests, several of whom had taught Mills during years at UO.
"She's doing really cutting edge work," said Theresa Picado, the honors college communications coordinator. "It's really quite exciting."
Mills’ presentation comes at the end of a month-long visit to the Northwest with her husband, Andrew. She says she regularly returns to the West Coast during the summer to visit family and to teach.
This year she spent a week teaching at Conduit Dance in Portland, and three weeks at the Velocity Dance Center in Seattle, where she created a new piece.
“My language is movement,” Mills said.
In her presentation to the honors college, Mills said she is a Eugene native whose interest in dance began in her early years with tap lessons and gymnastics, and eventually involvement with musical theatre and the Eugene Ballet.
After graduating from the University in 1992, she received a Master's in dance from Ohio State and moved to New York in 1995 to work as a dancer and choreographer. Five years later, she had started the Tiffany Mills Company, a nonprofit dance studio.
Mills says she wants to use the company to diversify interest in dance as a medium for communication. To expand beyond the "same people at the same concerts," and to grapple with broader issues that affect a wider audience.
"'Modern' dance is a problem word," Mills said. "We're neither modern nor post-modern. We are contemporary but that's not the right word. We are creative moving beings. We need a title."
Following that creative vein, Mills' work in progress is entitled "Tomorrow's Legs," which incorporates movement and speaking to explore real stories in the dancers' lives.
Produced in collaboration with British theatre artist Peter Petralia, Mills used a Skype-equipped laptop to allow Petralia to work with the company from his home in England. "Tomorrow's Legs" will premiere in February at the St. Mark's Church in the East Village, New York.
To prospective dancers and choreographers who want to make their living in the industry, Mills has both words of warning and encouragement.
"Cultivate lots of skills," Mills said. Competition is forcing many professional dancers to work at several dance companies at once. Dance companies like hers, with a dedicated cast, are a dying breed, while "pick-up companies" with one-time dancers are becoming more popular.
"Gotta love what you do," Mills said. "That carries you on."
The Tiffany Mills Company offers internships to university students interested in the dance industry. More information can be found at http://www.tiffanymillscompany.org/.
Lithe figures writhe around each other in a chaotic jumble onstage, each being lifted high by the others before being pulled back into the group. The six artists are clothed in layers of tattered clothing and remind the viewer more of struggling survivors than the professional New York dancers that they are.
However, in time an order begins to take hold. The frenzy slows to a controlled movement. A lone woman emerges, balancing carefully upon the backs of the others. The men and women form a human chain, slowly guiding their cargo offstage.
Applause. But this isn't a live performance, the video, part of a larger piece entitled "Landfall," is part of a presentation by UO honors graduate alumnus Tiffany Mills. She visited the university campus on Monday, Aug. 4, to talk about her experience founding a successful New York dance company.
Mills spoke at the UO Robert D. Clark Honors College to a room of more than 15 faculty and guests, several of whom had taught Mills during years at UO.
"She's doing really cutting edge work," said Theresa Picado, the honors college communications coordinator. "It's really quite exciting."
Mills’ presentation comes at the end of a month-long visit to the Northwest with her husband, Andrew. She says she regularly returns to the West Coast during the summer to visit family and to teach.
This year she spent a week teaching at Conduit Dance in Portland, and three weeks at the Velocity Dance Center in Seattle, where she created a new piece.
“My language is movement,” Mills said.
In her presentation to the honors college, Mills said she is a Eugene native whose interest in dance began in her early years with tap lessons and gymnastics, and eventually involvement with musical theatre and the Eugene Ballet.
After graduating from the University in 1992, she received a Master's in dance from Ohio State and moved to New York in 1995 to work as a dancer and choreographer. Five years later, she had started the Tiffany Mills Company, a nonprofit dance studio.
Mills says she wants to use the company to diversify interest in dance as a medium for communication. To expand beyond the "same people at the same concerts," and to grapple with broader issues that affect a wider audience.
"'Modern' dance is a problem word," Mills said. "We're neither modern nor post-modern. We are contemporary but that's not the right word. We are creative moving beings. We need a title."
Following that creative vein, Mills' work in progress is entitled "Tomorrow's Legs," which incorporates movement and speaking to explore real stories in the dancers' lives.
Produced in collaboration with British theatre artist Peter Petralia, Mills used a Skype-equipped laptop to allow Petralia to work with the company from his home in England. "Tomorrow's Legs" will premiere in February at the St. Mark's Church in the East Village, New York.
To prospective dancers and choreographers who want to make their living in the industry, Mills has both words of warning and encouragement.
"Cultivate lots of skills," Mills said. Competition is forcing many professional dancers to work at several dance companies at once. Dance companies like hers, with a dedicated cast, are a dying breed, while "pick-up companies" with one-time dancers are becoming more popular.
"Gotta love what you do," Mills said. "That carries you on."
The Tiffany Mills Company offers internships to university students interested in the dance industry. More information can be found at http://www.tiffanymillscompany.org/.
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