How long has it been since you last had dance fever?

Let's fix that.

Dear Continuous Small Treaters,

How long has it been since you last had dance fever? For me it’s been less than 24 hours because last night I went down one of my favorite internet prairie dog holes: the absolute joy of watching dance videos.

This happens to me every few months (at least). It’s late at night and I should be sleeping but for one reason or another I click on a music video featuring incredible choreography… and I’m still there hours later. Smiling.

So, on the off chance you could use some good vibes, I put together a charcuterie plate of some of the delightful dance videos I’ve been watching lately. You can also find this public playlist on YouTube. This is not a comprehensive survey of the world’s greatest choreographers and dancers (though some of them are here!), just a tasting platter of some really joyful stuff that’s been bringing me joy lately. Many of these dancers are not professionals, they’re just people having fun.

First up is the short, perfectly bizarre dance sequence from the Alex Garland film, Ex Machina (2014). “After a long day of Turing Tests, you gotta unwind,” as Oscar Isaac’s character says. “I’m gonna tear up the fuckin’ dance floor, check it out.” Then he seriously gets down with a robot.

There’s a whole world of actors who are surprisingly great dancers. Like the always charming Sam Rockwell, who seems to dance just for the fun of it.

And of course, the iconic performance by Tom “Spiderman” Holland, dancing to Rihanna’s Umbrella in front of his girlfriend Zendaya. We are living in a golden age of “Billy Elliott”-trained male dancers, people!

Of course, Jenna Dewan Tatum did something similar, performing her husband Channing Tatum’s iconic “Magic Mike” power tools grind-down.

First, Channing’s version.

Here comes Jenna.

OK but these moves are not new! No offense to the Tatums, but this 1942 “sound” short film (with a 1973 proto-Disco soundtrack by Koke, added later to excellent effect) of the legendary Mills Brothers and their dancers is incredible! And shows their influence on every American dancer who followed. People were funky in 1945, OK? (Ignore the 1930s Chiron).

The 2006 film, Idlewild, features an incredible midcentury dance scene, set in a speakeasy in 1935 Georgia.

I’m a sucker for tight choreography like that, which is why I adore the work of New Zealand-based choreographer Parris Goebel. Check out the incredible performance by Goebel (who also dances) and dancers from her Auckland, New Zealand-based dance crew, The Royal Family.

You have seen Australian choreographer Jasmine Meakin’s work in videos all over the world, but here you get to see them performed by the amazing dancer and songwriter/producer/singer/actor/genius, Tinashe.

Speaking of getting nasty, here’s our old pal Will Ferrell’s interpretation of Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love.”

It’s important not to take these things too seriously. No one has more fun than the 750 beautiful people in this Troye Sivan video, basically a 1990s Bruce Weber photoshoot come to life. It’s gorgeous, fun, and a great hang.

All right, that’s a lot of dancing! I hope you love some of it like I do. If you have recommendations for more joy-inducing YouTube wanderings, lmk in the comments!

Let’s be good to ourselves. And have some fun. And tear up the fuckin’ dance floor.

xo Buzzy

PS: Here’s that link to the YouTube playlist again ;)