Last night I was watching The Fear on The Park is Mine and decided it has some of the best ever examples of Jarvis's singular, expressive dance moves! The best bits are the arm-punch at 2.47, the side-kick-arm combo at 4.14 and the mesmeric vogueing from 6.53 onwards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xab73_aSjs
My other absolute favourite is the massive satsuma-eating scissor jump at the beginning of the No Stilettos version of She's a Lady - at 0.54. I guess it's easier to do something that looks extraordinary when your legs are that long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpluZLorhtA
Does anyone else have good examples?
Jarvgirl, you're bound to have some favourites, surely?!
OMG, I had forgotten about that version of Sunrise. And, of course, we can't forget shirt-removal at the Eden Project, can we? There are not words. That was Sunrise, too, right?
Just checked your Common People scissor jumps (there are two) at Finsbury Park. Love 'em!! The amazing thing about that performance is that every single bodily movement of Jarvis's perfectly expresses the feeling in the lyric. The singing and the dancing are in tandem brilliantly. Thinking about it, I don't think I have ever seen Jarvis give a performance that was insipid. He seems to inhabit the song every time, yet he must have days when he feels ill/off/in a bad mood, surely?
Underwear clip from Glasto: yes, fab finger work, I agree, not to mention the shoulders. Shoulder movements same as in first Babies video - angular and jerky yet amazingly cool. Not sure how that works!
I fear, that he wouldn't like it. Since I know, that he was jealous on the Beatles, I don't like him that much.
I've postet now three times the youtube links with one night and sunrise. But they don't appear.
Jarvgirl, you're right about the guitar kick. I guess by now it's become a reflex for him.
I know it may seem obvious, but one thing I notice is that Jarvis does dance better in flat shoes. I know of late he's been partial to a Cuban heel but it makes him walk across the stage with very bent knees, I think. He moves better a bit more upright.
By the way, seeing as we've mentioned The Park is Mine, can anyone tell me which end or which section of Finsbury Park the concert took place? I have Google Streetviewed it and can't figure it out. Unfortunately, I was not there all those years ago but I have always wondered.
Where else on the internet would one find a thread devoted to Jarvis Cocker's inimitable dance moves? Only Bar Italia x) I was planning on doing some college work but I've already opened the first link so that's not happening now.
Did a bit of inadvertent YouTube wandering for the last hour or so, almost exclusively watching Pulp performing live. Proper yearning to see them live, now.