“Do the Dance” Music Video Out Now / Link in Bio
When writing “Do the Dance”, it was intuitively clear to me that the spirit of the piece was one’s search for home. No, not search, longing. The deep longing to find and exist in spaces that feel like honest, open, clear, warm, liberating breaths of fresh air; home. It was a fulfilling experience working on the video for “Do the Dance”. We shot it at the Malibu Hindu Temple and worked with UCLA’s Raas Bataaka dance team. Both of these elements feel like deep snapshots of my experience growing up Indian in California.
Growing up, I would frequently visit and perform at temples just like this one with my family. In high school, my Gujarati friends would bring me to Dandiya Raas events every year, and I vividly remember those nights being filled with the same excitement and joy we’d feel when going to school dances.
The Malibu temple has such a powerfully calming energy, grateful to have shot there. And big shout out to the girls from UCLA Raas for bringing a palpable joy to the shoot.
The final element that felt necessary was someone to embody this combination of search/longing/joy. I’m deeply grateful to Tanima for welcoming my request for her to be in the video. Her presence in it is effortless, subtle and powerful.
The Indian Diasporic experience in America is specific, layered and full of dimension. Tanima approached the creation of this visual with a true sensitivity, care and respect.
It feels like home.
Shouts to everyone involved:
Director – Tanima Mehrotra @bytanima
DP – Cam Roberts @cont4ct
Production – Muddy Water @muddywater / Studio Puja @studiopuja
EP: Farah Idrees @idr_farah
EP: McCray Sutherlin @mccray
Producer: Nour Sayeh @noursayeh
Associate Producer: Sahnah Dhrif @sahnahhh
Editor – Michael Rees @leadprotagonist
Colourist – Connor Bailey @connorjbailey
Stylist- Quinci Bryant @quinci
Clothing- @vihanga.co
Location- Malibu Hindu Temple @MalibuHinduTemple
Dancers – UCLA Raas Bataaka @bataakanushaak
Label – @defjam
(Got more ppl to shout out but my captions be too long for IG, gonna shout them out in the comments)
All love
1) Do the Dance at @iheartradioca with @evanguymandude
2) chanced upon this open area in Manhattan where Ganesha sat peacefully behind a fence
3) Prince with the gems
4) words
5) inkem inkem from last year’s show in HYD
6) a bit of a demo of an idea I made last week
7) flowers
8) Daniel Day Lewis with the gems
9) Kovil
1) Do the Dance at @iheartradioca with @evanguymandude
2) chanced upon this open area in Manhattan where Ganesha sat peacefully behind a fence
3) Prince with the gems
4) words
5) inkem inkem from last year’s show in HYD
6) a bit of a demo of an idea I made last week
7) flowers
8) Daniel Day Lewis with the gems
9) Kovil
1) Do the Dance at @iheartradioca with @evanguymandude
2) chanced upon this open area in Manhattan where Ganesha sat peacefully behind a fence
3) Prince with the gems
4) words
5) inkem inkem from last year’s show in HYD
6) a bit of a demo of an idea I made last week
7) flowers
8) Daniel Day Lewis with the gems
9) Kovil
1) Do the Dance at @iheartradioca with @evanguymandude
2) chanced upon this open area in Manhattan where Ganesha sat peacefully behind a fence
3) Prince with the gems
4) words
5) inkem inkem from last year’s show in HYD
6) a bit of a demo of an idea I made last week
7) flowers
8) Daniel Day Lewis with the gems
9) Kovil
1) Do the Dance at @iheartradioca with @evanguymandude
2) chanced upon this open area in Manhattan where Ganesha sat peacefully behind a fence
3) Prince with the gems
4) words
5) inkem inkem from last year’s show in HYD
6) a bit of a demo of an idea I made last week
7) flowers
8) Daniel Day Lewis with the gems
9) Kovil
1) Do the Dance at @iheartradioca with @evanguymandude
2) chanced upon this open area in Manhattan where Ganesha sat peacefully behind a fence
3) Prince with the gems
4) words
5) inkem inkem from last year’s show in HYD
6) a bit of a demo of an idea I made last week
7) flowers
8) Daniel Day Lewis with the gems
9) Kovil
1) Do the Dance at @iheartradioca with @evanguymandude
2) chanced upon this open area in Manhattan where Ganesha sat peacefully behind a fence
3) Prince with the gems
4) words
5) inkem inkem from last year’s show in HYD
6) a bit of a demo of an idea I made last week
7) flowers
8) Daniel Day Lewis with the gems
9) Kovil
1) Do the Dance at @iheartradioca with @evanguymandude
2) chanced upon this open area in Manhattan where Ganesha sat peacefully behind a fence
3) Prince with the gems
4) words
5) inkem inkem from last year’s show in HYD
6) a bit of a demo of an idea I made last week
7) flowers
8) Daniel Day Lewis with the gems
9) Kovil
1) Do the Dance at @iheartradioca with @evanguymandude
2) chanced upon this open area in Manhattan where Ganesha sat peacefully behind a fence
3) Prince with the gems
4) words
5) inkem inkem from last year’s show in HYD
6) a bit of a demo of an idea I made last week
7) flowers
8) Daniel Day Lewis with the gems
9) Kovil
Did something special today//
soon come
@tinydesk
The storm will come quietly
LPR • Manhattan • 5.2.23 (le) poisson rouge
Deep down I know that you’re the only one.
All, love
Made something with some cool people. It reminds me of the feeling of home. Gonna share it with you soon. How are y’all feeling?
🎥 @bytanima, @cont4ct
All love
The sunlight fell into the house beautifully today
There are no boxes
My mom’s probably going to ask me trim my beard down after watching this video
This hoodie I always wear is by @not__sari
Do the Dance out now (link in bio)
All love
Do the Dance music video out now!
All love, no hate
I’m 32, turning 33 in a few weeks. Normally I approach this time of year somewhat stoically. This year, however, amidst a whole lot of beautiful shifts, amidst mini emotional roller coasters, I’ve felt anything but stoic. I feel like I’m on a boat speeding through super choppy waters, engrossed in the frenetic grandeur of it all. And looking at sunlight refracting against water, I keep seeing versions of myself from the past. If I could speak to those nervous, excited, uncertain versions of myself, I’d say one simple thing. You can only be you, no one else. Nothing is perfect, everything can be beautiful. Embrace all of yourself, with a mighty warmth. There’s a lyric I wrote in a song I released recently that kind of sums up everything I feel most of the time “nothing’s normal, it never will be, it never was”. Loving oneself goes far deeper than a catch phrase or a post on the internet. But maybe it’s not all that complicated? Maybe it’s just a decision, and an embrace of self with a mighty warmth that is rooted in eternity.
Fault lines older than sunshine covered in gold
All love Malibu Hindu Temple
Fault lines older than sunshine covered in gold
All love Malibu Hindu Temple
Fault lines older than sunshine covered in gold
All love Malibu Hindu Temple
I recently performed Frank Ocean’s We All Try with @evanguymandude for @umusic live. I was singing it for maybe one of the first times since I covered it back in 2011 and it felt surreal.
All love
This song examines some powerful, profound perspectives. It is delicate and bold. It felt so surreal because I could kinda feel all the life that’s been lived from 2011 to now.
I sang the piece with the same urgency as I had then, but the urgency felt much more deliberate now. Big love to everyone involved in putting this together. You can listen to it on the UMusic Live YouTube channel
Thank you for being apart of this journey. A new music video tomorrow at 12PM EST.
All love
Bridges built in magical, beautiful ways
Love, gratitude and excitement in abundance. Joining @boniver on their summer tour in August!!
I love Bon Iver’s music so deeply and I can’t wait to go on this run with my brothers.
All love, no hate
