Health & Fitness
Chaka's Music Video Shoot! - 100 Reasons I Love Peekskill - Post 68
Magician and acupuncturist Margaret Steele blogs about living and working in downtown Peekskill.
Chaka's Music Video Shoot! On Sunday, the morning after the HVGCC Crystal Ball, I awoke happy to be a teatotaler. I usually see several patients on Sunday mornings - a favorite time for NYC commuters - and they deserve a hangover-free acupuncturist.
The afternoon promised to be interesting - a music video shoot to accompany Chaka Ngwenya's new CD. I was to do a streamer dance and also be part of the dance ensemble (although I'd missed the rehearsals).
Previously, I've only been in one music video, but it was a dilly. In 1998, I was an on-camera musician for the MTV video of When You Believe (from the animated movie, the Prince of Egypt) starring Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. We shot that over two days at BAM, and trust me, the backstage show was every bit as good as what the audience of screaming and swooning fans experienced. (You can see it on YouTube - I've included a screenshot - I'm in the orchestra in the back row, right in the middle.)
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Chaka's video was much lower budget and MUCH lower key. And instead of traveling to Brooklyn, I left 5 minutes ahead of my call time and walked two blocks to Energy Movement Center. When I arrived, Chaka was in front of the camera, lip-synching to his own recording and dancing in front of his own audience of adoring fans. He wore a tux and a fedora hat and was putting on the moves, Chaka style.
Chaka's dancers were teens from the Salvation Army's after school program, with a few ringers, including Chaka's producer, Brian Delma Taylor. The dance was easy and fun. Chaka's enthusiasm was infectious. Whitney & Mariah's video took two very long days. Chaka's took a couple of hours. And it's going to be great. Stay tuned!
