Alex Orma presents a brilliant spin on the zombie apocalypse for Belgian band La Jungle.David Cronenberg meets Thriller - and inevitably plays upon the reality of the pandemic - when the population of Brussels begin displaying symptoms of 'dancing plague'. It starts with a bad cough and then it's all about the involuntary jerks and spasms, as the rhythms of La Jungle's Du Sang Du Singe take hold.The real reference is the Black Death in the 16th century, where the 'dancing plague' actually happened: a mystery virus caused people to dance non-stop until they eventually died from a stroke or exhaustion.The clip is a collaboration with choreographer Brandon Lagaert (performer in the Peeping Tom company) as well as with some of the most talented young dancers of the current Belgian scene.Orma, Lagaert, cast and crew do a superb job here, giving his horror-comedy the scale of a low budget feature, with the a sizeable dollop of Low Country black humour. Looks like it would be fun being a Rock Zombie...

Harun Güler challenges traditional definitions of masculinity, in his brilliant promo for Turkish artist Evdeki Saat.The impassioned dance and boundary-shattering performance brings masculinity and gender into conversation in a stylish and dramatic fashion, and ends on a hopeful note. "The film is about the double-life of a Turkish boy, stuck between ultra masculinity and their inner desire to break free," explains Güler. "When developing the main character together with our actor Eren M. Güvercin it was important for us to depict someone outside of any binaries. "I envision a society in which the question of what gender or sexuality someone belongs to becomes absolutely trivial.”

Turkish-born artist Emir Taha challenges expectations of masculinity in this delicately detailed video, directed by Josh Thornton-Allan. Shot on 16mm, the video opens with glimpses of sequins, elegant hand movements and Emir playing the guitar and singing into a darkened space as a lone dancer moves in its centre. The visual combination of 16mm film and dynamic lighting highlights the masculine form in an intimate and visceral way whilst simultaneously casting a dream-like gossamer over the scene. “Emir came to me with the idea of a male belly dancer and it immediately captured my imagination," says Thornton-Allan. "Exploring the subversion of societal norms through art is always an exciting prospect. I wanted to portray the dance in a way that both highlighted the dancers masculinity but also showed dance as the genderless act it can often be." Thornton-Allan adds that it felt perfect to shoot the video on 16mm. “Film has a texture and feel that is both physical and immediate whilst also feeling sensual and ethereal," he says. "It meant that everything could grow out of Gabh’s performance - rather than coming to it with a meticulous shot list it gave us the freedom to just explore the raw physicality of the dance.”The dancer in question Gabh Diniz, is revealed by bright light as we hit the chorus. The performance is just that, a revelation, the spectrum of gender fluidity and masculinity being explored in Diniz’s fluid and sensual movements. Emir performs understatedly in the background, a watchful narrator. The video is at once delicate, hypnotic, hazy and powerful in its dignified, meaningful artistry.

Max McLachlan directs an intriguing video for Naima Bock, exploring the power and importance of support networks.The video for Giant Palm begins in a series of dreary, cold interiors, with several characters mysteriously comatose in a house. As the visual progresses, each of them are slowly lifted and puppeted by dancers, helping them perform a daily activity (e.g. brushing their teeth, putting on a jumper, making their bed, etc.).Inspired by the song, McLachlan also used personal experiences to inform his approach to the subject matter, which is captured in DoP Sam Donvito's classy work on 16mm. I think coming out of lockdowns and long days inside, the winter blues have hit a lot of us hard."Listening to the song, Naima's evocative lyrics made me think about coming to peace with a lack of control in life, floating above everything," says McLaghan "[It] also made me reflect on all the times we needed a little help to pick ourselves back up."I think coming out of years of lockdowns and long days inside, the winter blues have hit a lot of us hard. Personally I walked into work one day and just had to lay my head against the desk for a while. Whenever I've been in that low a state, it has been my friends who have managed to help me back onto my feet."I wanted to explore that visually so took those expriences and turned them into a literal dance collaborating with the movement director, Evie Webzell, and a group of amazing dancers. I just hope it shows how much that support has meant to me over the years, and that I will always try to be there and help lift any of them up, should they ever need a hand (be it giant or small)."The escapist vibes at the end represent the breaking free of the cycle, culminating in a choreographed dance in a gold, saturated, sun-soaked field. Beautiful work from all involved.

Henry Scholfield directs a hypnotic, VFX-heavy extravaganza for Ed Sheeran featuring Lil Baby. The video for 2step shows Sheeran walking down an empty street in Kyiv, as the surrounding characters and environment start to vanish into thin air. This eventually builds to a sensational dance set-piece, and a mind-bending trip through warped cityscapes and slick choreography - which Sheeran enthusiastically dives into himself too, together with co-star Lil Baby. The project opens with a title card with a message from Ed Sheeran explaining that the video was shot in Kyiv before the Russian invasion of Ukraine two months ago, and that profits from the video streaming are going directly to DEC's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

London-based Ukrainian cinematographer Diana Olifirova has created a mesmerizing dance-based short film, on the subject of identity - in which she is also the sole dance performer.Olifirova enacts an improvised dance performance in a series of beautifully composed photographic portraits - self-portraits, in fact - that were filmed in Kyiv and London. These locked off shots capture her movement within intriguing spaces, interior and exterior, where Olifirova has maximised the impact by her inventive use of framing, lenses and exposure.It's both a traditional and timeless approach, made fresh by the passion which she pours into the piece - on both sides of the camera. And the film is complemented beautifully by a wonderful Ukranian folk-influenced soundtrack, called INTRANCE, created by electronic musician E.M.M.A., violinist/composer Eugene Feygelson, and editor/composer Karel Van Bellingen.It is, of course, also extremely poignant. We see Olifirova in numerous evocative locations in Kyiv. Although this was started before the Russian invasion of her homeland, it was edited as the war began, so it's also marked by that conflict, particularly as it progresses into its final stages. As such, it also acts as a representation of an indominitable spirit."From Ukraine to the UK and back I find myself spiralling through spaces redefining my identity, memories and future," she says. "From precipice of infinite possibilities comes a self-portrait INTRANCE exploring fear, resistance, bravery and change."The music came first and it was the source of inspiration for me - we went through the process of creating the track from scratch which was very new to me. Having spend ages collecting reference music (from Jon Hassel to Gaspar Claur to Ukrainian folk music) and talking over them in endless selfies videos trying to understand the nature of my interest that I have sent to the team, I finally got brave enough to get on with it and make a real recording session happen."From precipice of infinite possibilities comes a self-portrait... exploring fear, resistance, bravery and change.Oliferova brought electronic musician E.M.M.A. (whose track Glitter is featured on her previous film Quadrality) and violinist and composer Eugene Feygelson together at her place in London to create the track that became INTRANCE."After an inspiring session of gong bath we played E.M.M.A.'s original arpeggio and improvised on top with violin, guitar and piano, and jammed over and over again to come up with a melody I could use for a dance - that I also partly attempted at the recording session itself!" she explains."There is always an element of the unexpected with unplanned sessions," comments E.M.M.A. "But the shared focus and short timeline were very effective at instilling the parameters we needed for Eugene to apply his violin melodies, like a painter with brush strokes bringing the composition into sharper relief."Above: Eugene Feygelson (left) and E.M.M.A. recording INTRANCE Feygelson adds that the opening music - in 6/8 time, made of multiple strings - was really emotive for him. "It’s like a nostalgic tragic dance, something you remember from your youth, or an idyllic past, like the way an infant sees the world - or that feeling when you listen to the crackle of a 1920s record. It’s very Eastern European, and it’s something we can no longer access. Maybe it never even existed."That feeling is slowly eroded by these thumps, like a hatchet across a tree, knocking down your sense of hope, of idealism. It then turns into a power up - the electronic sounds from EMMA fill you with this zeal, a strengthening of self, for the fight, whatever that fight is. Driving and driving you forward."Feygelsen describes the music created as "feminine, lyrical, nostalgic and Eastern European, not a surprise, but nothing we had planned before the two days we spent in Diana’s apartment." Meanwhile, EMMA says that collaborating with Olifirova was like collaborating with another musician. "Which is quite unusual in itself. It made it very easy for us to work together as she completely connects to music with her heart and being. We can see this from the final film."But at the editing stage, as she worked with editor Karel van Bellingen, the horrifying events occuring in Olifirova's homeland started to impact upon the film."Having been influenced by the war that was kicking off in my home country, I started adding sounds of the military march and bombs which felt correct and very moving," she says. "Karel has also played a lot with the piece and collaborated with E.M.M.A. to come up with amazing and dynamic result. Having someone in the edit that is equally brilliant with music and rhythm made a process even more coherent and collaborative in-between the visual and the audio.""With the war in Ukraine the context in which we were making the score changed," confirms E.M.M.A. "The music shifted in response. Karel, an accomplished musician as well as an editor, heightened the music's sense of urgency for both the film and the times with layers of drums. The final result we are all very proud of." "Thé film finishes with something so painful, you can feel the steel of the strings against your ear, it’s so desperate as if nothing is left," says Eugene Feygelson. "The way it matches with Diana’s eyes, these are extreme sounds from the violin, performed brutally three note chords, and very close to the bridge, a decomposed version of that strong violin melody."It’s hard to detach from the pain we were all witnessing in the Ukraine war, and the conflict. It’s impossible to separate the composition from the contemporary event."