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Monday, July 22, 2013

Musik Monday: Rammstein's "Du Hast" performed by The Schwaben Dancers

It's crunch time (Bar exam is a week from tomorrow and I'm more freaked out than I can explain), but I saw this video and had to share.




For those of you not around in the late 90's, not into German music (I don't know how you got here then, but welcome!), or not into metal, this is a German dance group performing to Rammstein's most famous hit (at least in the USA) "Du Hast."  The dance group calls it the "Rammertanz" (Rammer, short for Rammstein and Tanz, which means dance).

I saw more traditional German folk dances in the past year as Steuben Parade Princess than in my entire life before then, but I never saw anything like this.  The group took this heavy metal song and put it to traditional folk dance moves.  I love unexpected crossovers so this was a complete treat for me.  



As I may have mentioned in a previous post, I used to hate Rammstein.  To me, they weren't great and stole the spotlight (in America) from the musical talent in Germany I thought was better.  I grew a slight fondness when a guy who knows no German performed the song during karaoke in our dorm one night.  Then, when I studied in Heidelberg, I took a course focusing on popular German music in the 20th and 21st centuries.  We listened to Schubert's opera version of Goethe's "Der Erlkönig" one day and I (being the wannabe teachers pet...I can't tell you how much I loved the class) mentioned that Rammstein did a song inspired by the poem called "Dalai Lama."  The professor decided I should do an extra credit project on the group.  I dreaded it at first, but I'm a sucker for clever lyrics and dark/twisted themes so the band grew on me fast.  Now they're one of my favorites.

About the dance group:  They are called the "Schwaben Dancers" and are based in Ontario, Canada.  They seem to travel everywhere and even performed at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Torch Relay.  They do more traditional dances with traditional music, but are more famous for their non-traditional dances, like the one above.  They have their own youtube channel if you're interested in watching more!
Enjoy those videos!  I'll be back on a more regular schedule in a couple of weeks!  (And wish me luck!)

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