Heck Of A Guy

Webb Sisters Cartwheel On Video Into Your Hearts

A decent video¹ of the entire White Girls Dancing, Synchronized Cartwheel Modification, an obligatory floor exercise in contemporary Leonard Cohen concerts, has finally surfaced.

The History Of Dancing In The Future

Ongoing readers may recall  from a previous post, According To Leonard Cohen, The Future Has White Folks Dancing, which outlined the progression of this phenomenon,  Cohen has been illustrating the first instance of “white man dancing” in the lyrics of “The Future” with increasingly elaborate steps.

There’ll be the breaking of the ancient
western code
Your private life will suddenly explode
There’ll be phantoms
There’ll be fires on the road
and the white man dancing
You’ll see a woman
hanging upside down
her features covered by her fallen gown
and all the lousy little poets
coming round
tryin’ to sound like Charlie Manson
and the white man dancin’
[emphasis mine]

~From “The Future” by Leonard Cohen

By July 2008, the second “white man dancin’” had transformed into “white girls dancin’,” which was synchronized with the Webb Sisters joining hands for a  rather prim dance turn. It wasn’t long, however, until things started to slide, slide in all directions.

Specifically, the Webb Sisters moved it up a level, shedding their jackets to perform cartwheels on the “white girls dancin’” cue.

Despite the seeming superfluity of YouTube uploads from the concerts, however, the Webbs had not been videotaped in full cartwheel mode – until now.

The Leonard Cohen Oakland  Concert Video

Because of the dedication and exemplary skills of YouTube contributer, Bgood11, this cinematic milestone has been reached.

The setting is the Paramount Theater in Oakland, California. Leonard Cohen is midway through his performance of “The Future.” The camera is focused on Cohen while he sings, “There’ll be phantoms / There’ll be fires on the road,” and moves into his “White man dancing” choreography.

As Cohen sings “You’ll see a woman / hanging upside down,” the camera pans out, capturing the full stage contingent: Leonard Cohen, the band, and the three backup singers.

On “her features covered by her fallen gown,” the Webb Sisters remove their jackets.

And, just as Cohen growls, “Yeah, the white girls dancin’,” Charlie and Hattie²  turn, execute simultaneous cartwheels to enthusiastic applause from a seemingly surprised (apparently non-Heck Of A Guy reading) audience, and return to their places alongside Sharon Robinson.

And it’s all on camera. ³

Leonard Cohen – The Future (Oakland Paramount 4/13/09)

Now, if someone could get a closeup of those cartwheels, …

Credit Due Department: The image atop this post is from The Art of Stage Dancing: The Story of a Beautiful and Profitable Profession by Ned Wayburn (1925)

Update: This photo of the Webb Sisters in cartwheel mode, taken by gussifer | thecolorawesome.com, is also from an Oakland Concert, albeit on a different date :

Leonard Cohen Oakland Paramount Concert (April 14, 2009)

Click on image for better viewing.

1. The criteria for a “decent video,” in this case, include the following: the picture is reasonably clear, the camera is steady, the shot frames the pertinent performers, and the sound is good.↩
2. Yes, I’m on a first name basis with the Webb Sisters. Well, I know their first names – and they know their first names; they just don’t know who I am.↩
3. The video should automatically begin just before the desired sequence. Unfortunately, I do not have a practical means by which to automatically stop the video before the end. The viewer can, of course, simply turn off the player at any point. To see some or all of the video that takes place before the automatic start, drag the indicator (the circular button on the bottom bar) to the left.↩