What are the typical pressures/difficulties you encounter as a dancer on the shoot for a video clip?
Ilona: Maintaining your energy and vibe for the entire shoot. Music videos can take hours to shoot, so there is a lot of waiting around whilst lighting and camera angles are changed. You need to be able to switch your energy and character back on as soon as they say ‘action’. It’s a lot of stop and start. Kevin: Difficulties vary. Sometimes it’s weather. Sometimes the surface you are dancing on. For example, I was shooting a video in NYC and they kept wetting the street with a fire hose to create a certain atmosphere. It made the ground really slippery and dangerous. In circumstances like this, a lot of times you will be given a bump in pay called ‘hazard pay’. There is also huge pressure to maintain your stamina because you will do the dance multiple times sometimes, back to back, without a break in between – just enough time for makeup touch ups and a quick drink of water. Marc: Mostly the hurry up and wait rule. It’s like they get you in early for wardrobe and makeup if necessary, a
