Singing And Dancing In The Rain

Stephen Kaldon

Medium: video.

Public Domain artworks referenced in this piece

Disney, Walt, director. The Skeleton Dance. Animation by Ub Iwerks. A Walt Disney Silly Symphony, 1929.

Freed, Arthur, lyrics and Nacio Herb Brown, music. "Singin’ in The Rain." From The Hollywood Review of 1929, MGM Studios, 1929.

Artist Statement

What could be more freeing than singing and dancing in the rain? Pure abandonment. The elements envelope you and bring you into their sphere. You are becoming part of the wind and the rain. The view in front of you disappears.  An ecstatic and meditative trance. Now the skeletons appear to remind us of our mortality. "Enjoy this dance while you can!" they seem to be saying.

The song, “Singin’ in the Rain” (Hollywood Review of 1929, MGM Studios), plays over original video of a contemporary dancer dancing in the rain, superimposed with The Skeleton Dance (A Walt Disney Silly Symphony from 1929. Animation by Ub Iwerks.). The video has been slowed down to emphasize the dance moves which correspond across the decades. The past is skeletal. The present is flesh. Life and death meeting for a romp. A fire burns, signifying their connection and the ephemeral quality of the images. The use of black and white video gives a timeless quality and feel to the project, bringing the bygone in sync with the now.

About the Artist: Stephen Kaldon

Graphic Designer at NYU Reprographics

A life-long New Yorker,  Stephen J. Kaldon has been involved in the arts ever since his mother gave him construction paper and a tiny pair of blunted purple metal scissors. Since then, he has created photos, videos, audio, designs, writings, and drawings, hitting on themes of solitude and introspective moments in big cities. He is the coordinator for the annual NYU Administrative Management Council Art Show which takes place from May to September. His latest project is the Serious Ink Press Journal, a bi-annual magazine focusing on literature and the visual arts. Visit skaldon.com  and seriousinkpress.com to view more of his work.

Footnote

The Skeleton Dance directed by Walt Disney is freely available online:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Skeleton_Dance_(1929).webm 

Citation:

Disney, Walt, director. The Skeleton Dance. Animation by Ub Iwerks. A Walt Disney Silly Symphony, 1929. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Skeleton_Dance_(1929).webm 

To watch a streaming version of The Hollywood Revue 1929 in which the original version of “Singin’ in the Rain” can be heard:

https://search.library.nyu.edu/permalink/01NYU_INST/1d6v258/alma99103296781607871 

Citation:

Reisner, Charles, Buster Keaton, Conrad Nagel, Jack Benny, Joan Crawford, John Gilbert, Norma Shearer, distributor NYX Channel, and distributor Kanopy. The Hollywood Revue of 1929. San Francisco, California, USA: NYX Channel, 2025.