You Need to Know About These 4 Dance + Pop Culture Moments

January 26, 2017

You know it’s been a good week for dance when Isabella Boylston, Lil Buck, Unity Phelan and Mandy Moore are all in the pop culture news. Here’s what has us talking this week:

1. Puma debuted its new line of ballet-inspired activewear, a collaboration with New York City Ballet. The ad campaign is spot-on, thanks to some of our favorite members of the corps de ballet. It’s a welcome respite from some of those cringe-worthy dance-themed projects featuring non-dancers we’ve been seeing lately.

2. We learned more details about Red Sparrow, our latest ballet-on-the-big-screen obsession. We knew Sergei Polunin was involved in the Jennifer Lawrence film. Now, we’ve found out that J Law’s body double is none other than February cover star Isabella Boylston! Plus, rumor (and IMDB) has it that Justin Peck will be contributing choreography to the film.

3. La La Land swept the Golden Globes with a record-breaking seven wins, and has been nominated for a record-tying 14 Oscars. And even though (in our humble opinion) much of the movie’s success is due to its brilliant use of dance, neither ceremony recognizes choreography. That’s why teacher and choreographer Liz Imperio has started a campaign to get the film’s choreographer Mandy Moore an honorary Oscar next month. It’s not unprecedented—Gene Kelly, Jerome Robbins and Onna White all received honorary Oscars during their careers. Check out Imperio’s Facebook page to find out how you can help get Moore the award she deserves.

4. The dance world’s favorite jooker meets…luxury cars? It turns out Lil Buck can do everything—including selling the new Lexus. Just days after the release of his gravity-defying AirPod ad, he’s once again doing the impossible, this time beautifully complementing the architecture of the car with his smooth footwork and off-the-wall (literally) stunts. The commercial is set to air during the Super Bowl, but you can watch the extended cut in advance.

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