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“Dark Ballet” thread


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1 hour ago, Shane said:

Can you imagine Britney, Janet, Kylie, Pink,  or Katy doing anything like Dark Ballet?  No.  There is a reason that many fans of Kate Bush and Bjork and PJ Harvey love Madonna. Madonna is an artist of the highest order.

This. 

M continues to be a cut above the pop tarts.

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MUSIC

Mykki Blanco Is a Trans Joan of Arc in Madonna’s “Dark Ballet” Video – Watch

While presenting Madonna with GLAAD’s Advocate for Change award last month, Mykki Blanco hinted that a collaboration with the queen of pop might be imminent. Sure enough, the self-described transfeminine rapper stars in the video for “Dark Ballet,” the final track to be released in the lead-up to Madonna’s new album, Madame X.

Directed by Dutch Ghanaian visual artist Emmanuel Adjei, “Dark Ballet” echoes the themes of Madonna’s infamous “Like a Prayer” video, awash with Catholic iconography and a storyline revolving around a persecuted black person. But that’s where the similarities end. The singer only briefly appears in the clip, behind a black veil, and the burning crosses of her 1989 video are traded for a ceremonial burning at the stake.

The video is frenetic and non-linear, opening with Blanco held captive in a stonewalled room, wrapped in a dirty white robe. Wrists bound with rope, he’s led by clergymen to be executed for an undisclosed crime. He’s then seen dancing, first in a cathedral—pleading with the men, who forsake him—and then in the church’s sanctuary, dressed in a gold corset reminiscent of the iconic one designed by Jean Paul Gaultier for Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour. Madonna is, in effect, all over the video, but her casting of a queer person of color as the oppressed, rather than herself, spotlights the disproportionate impact of the patriarchy on minorities.

Produced by Madonna and longtime collaborator Mirwais, the song itself is an ambitious electro suite featuring a heavily Auto-Tuned denouncement of gender, lies, and fame, before the track breaks into Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Reed Pipes” from The Nutcrackeraccompanied by a robot Joan of Arc proclaiming her faith. (There’s a brief, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot from Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 film The Passion of Joan of Arc near the beginning of the video.) The song is a reminder of the wacky magic Madonna and Mirwais are capable of cooking up together.

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Just watched the music video, it's the best among all other Madame X videos.

11 out of 10.

Musical wise, the lyrics is the darkest but I wish it has more tunes.

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1 minute ago, cruncher9123 said:

I get that Madonna is not interested in melodies (or songs per se) anymore, but the video is great!

The song has a good bunch of melodies. Crave is a melodic song and Medellin has two choruses. 

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I think that is Madonna in the middle of the other woman in that one pic. Glad the song and video is getting great reviews.

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1 hour ago, karbatal said:

It's so impressive that she left out so many beautiful shots of herself and focused on Mykki! 

She s leaving those shots for the visual album and or tour visuals I would imagine (-;

 

No way girl would do hair and makeup and only leave herself in for 2 seconds (-;

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1 minute ago, Eltacubo said:

She s leaving those shots for the visual album and or tour visuals I would imagine (-;

 

No way girl would do hair and makeup and only leave herself in for 2 seconds (-;

I hope so cause she looked STUNNING that day. Do you remember seeing that video of her toasting champagne and singing happy birthday to someone? She called them a bitch I think? She looked SO GOOD! It was on the same day, she was wearing that same headpiece. 

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12 minutes ago, MichaelDieker said:

I hope so cause she looked STUNNING that day. Do you remember seeing that video of her toasting champagne and singing happy birthday to someone? She called them a bitch I think? She looked SO GOOD! It was on the same day, she was wearing that same headpiece. 

Yes it was 

https://instagram.com/isamayaffrench?igshid=1nvi2y7z0uttc

 

From the pic on instagram trailer it looks like M is speaking to Mykki before she will get burnt at stake, kind of like a Mary magdalene.

 

368652AF-0151-41A3-BF96-6F3560E5A4E5.jpeg

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Azealia banks replied to m’s instagram video upload of dark ballet.. saying «Waaaaait ». Which in internet lingo indicates she’s impressed/excited/curious... sort of like « wait this might be good’

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I'm thoroughly enjoying the mad craziness of DB, but what is really tripping me out is how playing the 5 songs that we have so far in their album order is changing how I perceive them... e.g., Future sounds way better after DB. The pieces of the puzzle are dropping into place. This album is shaping up to be her most artistically ambitious since ROL(!)

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7 hours ago, Marcelox said:

The first one is a screen cap from @Paulozgur IG story..  It was a video actually..  There was a crane and people dress in medieval clothes,also Emmanuel Adjei was there..  The second was from isabelita, the third don't remember.. But they deleted the video in less than and hours..  

They film Dark Ballet on April 8- 9.. And Batuka 10-11..

Thanks!!! 

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5 minutes ago, beautyiswhereIfoundit said:

why didn't I received an e-mail with the update on my purchase to download the track?

Was wondering the same!

I emailed them about it but got auto response saying they'll respond within 72 business hours.

 

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I wrote this on Youtube: Very very thought provoking piece of work! Break free of incarceration and condemnation of thyself! Groundbreaking, provocative cinematic and religious all at the same time. You will need time to digest. 

ps: I kept thinking about the Woman in Black (2012) movie starring "Harry Potter"  Daniel Radcliff - the image of the woman in black is exactly the same as Madonna's character.... which was a angst, hellish character.... btw, ifyou like gothic and horror movies, its a great one over the weekend!

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To me, Dark Ballet is a supreme work of art. Madonna begins this song as a pop ballad, singing thoughtful lyrics about the superficial nature of the world over beautiful piano. Her voice is clear, but somewhat raspy with the weight of the world. The melody sounds like classic Madonna. In the second verse, an electronic beat joins the piano, giving us a juxtaposition of classical and modern. Madonna continues to sing this melodic song, and suddenly she is abruptly cut off by the piano solo and the interpolation from The Nutcracker. This is jarring as the best art pop can be. As we enter the second movement, we hear frantic demonic vocals by Madonna that put us into Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush territory.  There is a slight feeling of foreboding. After this segment, we return to Madonna’s normal voice for the poetic spoken word passage that is haunting but in a less creepy manner than the middle passage. These lyrics I find to be the most moving of the song although they would be an utter disaster delivered by many other singers. Her voice in this section is her classic voice, but smoother than in the sung vocals from part one.  She blows like the howling wind, and then we are treated to more piano, this time somewhat sorrowful in tone. Dark Ballet has taken us from defiance to sinister to poetic to sorrowful. As Madonna comes in for one final sung line “it’s a beautiful life,” we have come full circle back to the beginning of the song. Her delivery here, over the now quite somber piano, breaks my heart and stands as one of the saddest moments in her history of song. What brilliance to deliver such an optimistic lyric in a melancholy fashion. The journey of Dark Ballet is now complete although that of Madame X is just beginning. 

This is high art.

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