Vincent Paterson on Madonna and her work now

[XXL]

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/-Legendary-choreographer-Vincent-Patersons-Smooth-moves-/47212.html

When people see great work over the years, sometimes it is about the man behind the scenes. Such is the case with Vincent Paterson. A choreographer to the stars, this man has left his mark in the entertainment world without an ounce of ego.

Some of the world's most famous moves—from Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" video to Madonna's grabbing her crotch in "Express Yourself"—will be burned into the memory of many viewers over the years. For millions of fans, the Blonde Ambition tour was his creation from top to the bedroom, where Ms. Ciccone grinded on a platform bed.

Captured in a documentary titled The Man Behind the Throne, Chicagoans have an opportunity to witness a backstage pass to iconic artists with a candid movie at Chicago International Movies & Music Festival this week. We called the puppeteer in L.A. one day to hear about his story Nunn on One.

WCT: What do you think of Madonna and her tours now?

Vincent Paterson: Look: Madonna is an amazing artist. She's incredible. Personally, I thought she was a vanguard for women, opening up doors for them all the time, when she got into her fifties I thought she would understand that women are valuable as mature women. Sometimes she plays to a younger audience only. That is a selfish desire. I wish she would be a little mature in the work that she does. I love the fact that she directed the film and she did a gorgeous job directing it a couple of years ago. The tours are spectacular and she has always been at the forefront of that.

I prefer the work from before, personally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlbdQvrV0MI

[Nightshade]

I understand his point, but there is also something to be said for Madonna not taking the "expected" route for an older woman. After all, I would never have believed a 50 year old Madonna would be swinging her arms in a sheer top for "Vogue" (see: Sticky & Sweet Tour) but she looked fabulous and pulled it off. I just don't think the rules apply to her as much as people would expect them too.

I do love Vince's work though. Some of her best dance performances were because of him.

[acko]

Vince is brilliant, but some of the Girlie Show work is even better.

[Jazzy Jan]

I understand his point, but there is also something to be said for Madonna not taking the "expected" route for an older woman. After all, I would never have believed a 50 year old Madonna would be swinging her arms in a sheer top for "Vogue" (see: Sticky & Sweet Tour) but she looked fabulous and pulled it off. I just don't think the rules apply to her as much as people would expect them too.

I do love Vince's work though. Some of her best dance performances were because of him.

Nightshade, totally agree with you. Madonna seems quite ageless really and it is a shame that people continually comment about her age. However, Vincent spoke very highly of Madonna and her influence and was not nasty or over-critical. Just gave his opinion.

[Starman]

MDNA , 3rd segment was very mature

[tumbleweedt]

I understand his point, but there is also something to be said for Madonna not taking the "expected" route for an older woman. After all, I would never have believed a 50 year old Madonna would be swinging her arms in a sheer top for "Vogue" (see: Sticky & Sweet Tour) but she looked fabulous and pulled it off. I just don't think the rules apply to her as much as people would expect them too.

I do love Vince's work though. Some of her best dance performances were because of him.

Agree + those "rules" need to be broken to show they are sexist, agist crap. Luckily M takes the opportunity to do so.

[San]

MDNA , 3rd segment was very mature

Precisely. Sometimes I think people are blinded by their desire to pigeonhole M into some false notion they have of her.

[Guest Rachelle of London]

Yeah but outside of her fan base who knew about the 3rd section of MDNA. Every press report had pictures of her in the majorette costume.

[Starman]

Yeah but outside of her fan base who knew about the 3rd section of MDNA. Every press report had pictures of her in the majorette costume.

[MeakMaker]

Another person still believing that once you reach a certain age you just have to give it up or tone it down... Yawn..

A big example of how all these new women in pop culture are boring, uncreative and so predictable is the Met this year. Maybe Madonna would have never pulled off that "nude" look but i find her Instagram picture more appealing and entertaining than anything i have seen at the gala. Even these so called new icons like Rihanna and Beyonce were boring beyond belief; i mean come on girls you're young and beautiful.. what you scared of? Spice things up, be more inventive.. I sense Madonna was certainly missed at the Met this year....

[Guest Rocco Papa]

I don't think just because you reach a certain age, that you should act a certain way. If some people want to put their clothes on, that's fine. But if you don't want to and can still pull it off, then why the hell not? I don't think Madonna is doing anything out of character. I don't think she's doing anything that doesn't suit her. This is what she does. What do people expect her to do? A fucking folk album???

[madonnasuperfan01]

Well he's just giving his opinion, he wasn't nasty or anything so there's no problem. I don't really agree with him in the way that Madona shouldn't "act her age" just because she's in her 50's but i still respect his opinion.

[Guest Rachelle of London]

Well he's just giving his opinion, he wasn't nasty or anything so there's no problem. I don't really agree with him in the way that Madona shouldn't "act her age" just because she's in her 50's but i still respect his opinion.

+1

[Mad_On_Her]

The fact is the only people who enjoyed any of the MDNA era are hardcore fans. The whole era was weak. Vince is right, I never thought after the then new found maturity of the late 90's and early - mid 2000's that Madonna would do something like MDNA

[Jazzy Jan]

The fact is the only people who enjoyed any of the MDNA era are hardcore fans. The whole era was weak. Vince is right, I never thought after the then new found maturity of the late 90's and early - mid 2000's that Madonna would do something like MDNA

Well, the MDNA tour was certainly popular and loved. A lot of fans love MDNA the album as well. I think your personal dislike of MDNA is making you think most Madonna fans hate it. Every album Madonna makes has divided opinion. Some people loved Erotica, some hated it, ditto with American Life, Confessions on a dance floor, Evita, Bedtime stories and Hard Candy. I have enjoyed all of Madonna albums, some more than others, but I never think of MDNA as weak.

[Mad_On_Her]

Im not fond of it. The tour had its moments, but when you can't stand most of the music in the show its not going to very enjoyable. I think that a lot of fans loved MDNA, the whole album/tour. But there are a lot of us that think it was weak. Most of the people who loved it are hardcore fans not casual fans

[Carta]

Casual fans don't visit these forums, though. Anyone who's going to take the time to establish an account for an artist's forum is not a "casual" fan by any stretch of the imagination. MDNA was loved by a lot of people, and it was disliked by many, too.....just like every other Madonna album, as JazzyJan pointed out.

[XXL]

The fact is the only people who enjoyed any of the MDNA era are hardcore fans. The whole era was weak. Vince is right, I never thought after the then new found maturity of the late 90's and early - mid 2000's that Madonna would do something like MDNA

I completely disagree with that in the sense that her 3.6m and 2.2m attendance figures for S&S and MDNA respectively are hardly reflection of a strictly hardcore fandom interest. To me hardcore fans are people posting on a Madonna forum dissecting and commenting on her career. I doubt you can fill stadiums with that otherwise all these younger acts would be able to pull off the same thing when in many respects they aren't.

[XXL]

In regards to Vincent Paterson's comment, I can understand what he's saying but only up to a point because keeping fit and being able to afford to show off her body even at her age is not automatically synonymous with being immature. It's obvious that Madonna stil does relish having a couple of songs thrown at radio for commercial purposes, hence the Britney, JT, Timbaland etc etc play on her part.

But songs like Falling Free, Masterpiece, Gang Bang and many others are very different from GMAYL and GGW. Madonna is also very smart with her single choices because she knows young people pay a lot of attention to what's being played in clubs and she's always been the primary queen of clubland

I don't find her 40s majorette outfit out of place or a desperate desire to clinge to her youth at all considering that at the time she was doing W.E. and had a song with a cheerleader theme and she kind of mixed the two things. As far as aestethics and sound go MDNA is the example of someone who only got even sleeker, more detail-oriented and mature in their work

If he's talking about his particular field of expertise I can only say that obviously a BAT choreo can be seen as the apex in terms of elaborateness in Madonna's career on the dancing front but the great thing is that not only she's kept fit but she's evolved and learned new dancing styles and choreo themes in the 24 years that have elapsed since BAT.

She's kept everything fresh and engaging at the same time and that's only commendable in my opinion. Take GGW choreo, no other way to describe that as sleek, elaborate and elegant at the same time. If playing to a younger generation only means that she gets to expose her previous work to new groups of people that can only be good for her in the long run

[Guest Rachelle of London]

To be fair a lot of the attendance figures for MDNA were made up of people that never heard MDNA. Most non or casual fans go to her shows to see her not because they have an opinion of her latest album.

[roma]

A common opinion, l regret that we have not seen Madonna confidently do what she does best...pure pop with the best melodies and hooks ever...including ballads, not just pure dance (l know we get the token balled per album now). In one sense rather than challenging age stereotypes she is caged into the pop marketing machine stereotype and you can almost see the thinking in her work that she has to play to a young audience to remain popular and avoid the old label. Confessions was pure but since its been marketing over substance. The exciting thing about Madonna music used to be what style she would incorporate next, now we pretty much know exactly what to expect and which market its aimed at. I remember the surprise of LAP, Vogue, Frozen and especially Secret. Happy to be proven wrong but l am not expecting any surprises from the collaborations announced, not saying it wont be good but that's not the same as surprising and inspiring.

[madonnasuperfan01]

In regards to Vincent Paterson's comment, I can understand what he's saying but only up to a point because keeping fit and being able to afford to show off her body even at her age is not automatically synonymous with being immature. It's obvious that Madonna stil does relish having a couple of songs thrown at radio for commercial purposes, hence the Britney, JT, Timbaland etc etc play on her part.

But songs like Falling Free, Masterpiece, Gang Bang and many others are very different from GMAYL and GGW. Madonna is also very smart with her single choices because she knows young people pay a lot of attention to what's being played in clubs and she's always been the primary queen of clubland

I don't find her 40s majorette outfit out of place or a desperate desire to clinge to her youth at all considering that at the time she was doing W.E. and had a song with a cheerleader theme and she kind of mixed the two things. As far as aestethics and sound go MDNA is the example of someone who only got even sleeker, more detail-oriented and mature in their work

If he's talking about his particular field of expertise I can only say that obviously a BAT choreo can be seen as the apex in terms of elaborateness in Madonna's career on the dancing front but the great thing is that not only she's kept fit but she's evolved and learned new dancing styles and choreo themes in the 24 years that have elapsed since BAT.

She's kept everything fresh and engaging at the same time and that's only commendable in my opinion. Take GGW choreo, no other way to describe that as sleek, elaborate and elegant at the same time. If playing to a younger generation only means that she gets to expose her previous work to new groups of people that can only be good for her in the long run

:clap: :clap:

Marry me now

[Guest Pud Whacker]

In regards to Vincent Paterson's comment, I can understand what he's saying but only up to a point because keeping fit and being able to afford to show off her body even at her age is not automatically synonymous with being immature. It's obvious that Madonna stil does relish having a couple of songs thrown at radio for commercial purposes, hence the Britney, JT, Timbaland etc etc play on her part.

But songs like Falling Free, Masterpiece, Gang Bang and many others are very different from GMAYL and GGW. Madonna is also very smart with her single choices because she knows young people pay a lot of attention to what's being played in clubs and she's always been the primary queen of clubland

I don't find her 40s majorette outfit out of place or a desperate desire to clinge to her youth at all considering that at the time she was doing W.E. and had a song with a cheerleader theme and she kind of mixed the two things. As far as aestethics and sound go MDNA is the example of someone who only got even sleeker, more detail-oriented and mature in their work

If he's talking about his particular field of expertise I can only say that obviously a BAT choreo can be seen as the apex in terms of elaborateness in Madonna's career on the dancing front but the great thing is that not only she's kept fit but she's evolved and learned new dancing styles and choreo themes in the 24 years that have elapsed since BAT.

She's kept everything fresh and engaging at the same time and that's only commendable in my opinion. Take GGW choreo, no other way to describe that as sleek, elaborate and elegant at the same time. If playing to a younger generation only means that she gets to expose her previous work to new groups of people that can only be good for her in the long run

always wonderful darlin'.

[XXL]

I understand his point, but there is also something to be said for Madonna not taking the "expected" route for an older woman. After all, I would never have believed a 50 year old Madonna would be swinging her arms in a sheer top for "Vogue" (see: Sticky & Sweet Tour) but she looked fabulous and pulled it off. I just don't think the rules apply to her as much as people would expect them too.

I do love Vince's work though. Some of her best dance performances were because of him.

[XXL]

Always wonderful darlin'

[lori]

I LOVED the choreography on MDNA. Even songs that I was not particularly fond of like Revolver, GMAYL and Candy Shop became a highlight because of the choreography. The show truly showcased Madonna's versatility as a dancer. Although BAT was of course a groundbreaking show, if we're talking about just the dance aspect alone, I think MDNA was more multi-dimensional & intricate.

[Guest bluejean]

I think it's impossible to compare her old work with her new stuff.

In those days it was groundbreaking and the first of it's kind. There have been so many technological advances now of course MDNA looks grander and more impressive. But BAT like Madonna's career itself can never be topped.

[latinbold]

His predictable comments are another proof of how she remains fresh and not in the mood to conform of what is expected.

[XXL]

I LOVED the choreography on MDNA. Even songs that I was not particularly fond of like Revolver, GMAYL and Candy Shop became a highlight because of the choreography. The show truly showcased Madonna's versatility as a dancer. Although BAT was of course a groundbreaking show, if we're talking about just the dance aspect alone, I think MDNA was more multi-dimensional & intricate.

I remember when I was 15-17 It was in between the ROL and Music albums and it was all about ballad donna, minus ROL, Beautiful Stranger of course but being a child in the 80s and early 90s I didn't know much about her previous work and her elaboate dancing routines.

I remember discovering the VT in the summer of 2000, followed by BAT Nice and I am like (looking at the KIT and EY routines alone) "these are difficult, elaborate, sleek choreos". She's moving her whole body and so gracefully effortlessly. It was the year of the Britney/JLO (derivative of Janet's style/dancing ability) videos packed with choreos and I thought "WOW this stuff this woman did in 1990 in particular just blows everything else easily out the water).

Anyway I'd like to point out that this is very mature and beautiful to look at on Madonna's part and it seems like Paterson is mainly nostalgic saying what he said, nothing wrong with that but Madge kept on working/growing and improving, learning and adapting new styles and sensibilities:

[XXL]

All of the above hardly looks immature on Madonna's part. That said, he is obviously entitled to his opinion and I am grateful to him for the BAT choreos alone but some people need to justify their opinions adequately, Madonna's current work is not just 4 minutes and GMAYL. Just give credit where credit is due, that's all