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Favorites: Top Five Twin Peaks Dance Moments

Here at 25YLSite, we handle a lot of heavy lifting. Analysis, interpretation, deep discussion, introspective interviews… you name it, we’ve got it. “Favorites” takes a lighter approach to the material we normally cover. Each week, we will take you through a list of favorites – whether it’s moments, scenes, episodes, characters, lines of dialogue, whatever! – in bite-sized articles perfect for your lunch break, a dull commute, or anywhere you need to take a Moment of Zen. So, sit back and enjoy this week’s offering: J.C.’s favorite dance moments from Twin Peaks.


Twin Peaks has made us all feel many things: elation, fear, madness, and even mania. But there are many more times that have made me laugh out loud and feel an overall sense of happy—okay, happy with a side of crazy, but happy nonetheless.  I decided we need to revel in the happy and groove to the sweet sax of “Dance of the Dream Man.”  This is my first Favorites for 25 Years Later, and it is a topic I know a lot about since I have been feeling the music under my feet since I was five years old.  Here are my Top 5 Favorite Dance Moments in the Twin Peaks Universe.

5. Lil, The Blue Rose Dancer of Fire Walk With Me

From the minute we see Gordon describe his cousin Lil to Chet Desmond and Sam Stanley, we know this is not your normal jitterbug.  Lil obviously has a purpose, as we see from her interpretive dance that follows.  Being Gordon’s mother’s sister’s girl, she intrigued us with her sour face, one hand in her pocket, the other a balled up fist, spinning around and stepping in place.  We also got our first taste of what a Blue Rose case was to be.

4. Leland’s Back! Ben, Jerry, and Leland perform “Mairzy Doats.”

This scene is framed perfectly for this quick rendition of “Mairzy Doats.”  (Side Note: My mother used to sing this song all the time when I was a child.  I loved this song.  Upon seeing it used in Twin Peaks, it now gives me the chills every time.)

Richard Beymer and David Patrick Kelly shine with brotherly love in this scene.  From Kelly’s worm to Beymer’s time step on his desk, this moment captures the madness we all love in Twin Peaks, but also gives us taste of a good old fashioned movie musical moment.

3. Denise and Andy dancing at the Milford Wedding

What do you get when you have Special Agent Denise Bryson and Deputy Andy Brennan dancing at the wedding of Dougie and Lana Milford?  Magic, my friends; pure unadulterated fancy feet magic.  Their dance together made me smile as wide as David Duchovny’s playing Denise.  It seemed like the whole cast was having some fun down time in this scene, but none more so than David and Harry.  Just watch the chemistry between the two.  It is like watching Fred and Ginger

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2. Audrey’s Dance

One of the most iconic memories from the first season, and now The Return, would most likely be “Audrey’s Dance.”  I know I may get some flak for picking this one as my number two choice, but this is my list, and as much as I love Audrey, there is one dance that I loved slightly more.  From the minute we hear the music, Audrey’s most quoted line “God, I love this music.  Isn’t is too dreamy.”  Then her saunter up to the middle of the RR, swaying as if the music compelled her body to move with no control, no care of who was watching, was something to see.  It’s a moment that stayed on our minds for 25 years, until we got to view it again; this time with the purple background of the Roadhouse, and the band playing the music just for her, she was able to feel that moment again to the fullest, even though we as the audience were propelled into unknown territory as to where Audrey was upon Charlie ‘getting her out of there’.  Where was Audrey?  Perhaps we will never know, but it was still one of the best dance moments of Twin Peaks.

 

1. The Arm dancing to “Dance of the Dream Man” (Dale’s Dream)

Let me just begin by saying there has never been a piece of music that has affected me the way the instrumental “Dance of the Dream Man” by Angelo Badalamenti has affected me. From the minute The Arm gets up, you hear that familiar snapping, the swell of the sax comes in, and he begins his dance in the middle of Cooper’s dream, I was hooked.  The music, the red suit, the iconic sway of his dance, Cooper looking confused, mesmerized, and contented all at once while Laura leans down and kisses him softly make this moment THE dance moment for me.  It is not just the dancing, but the entire scene.  This is what made Twin Peaks one of the best television shows in history for me at twelve years old.  It is also what makes it continue to live in my heart to this day.  Now excuse me while I go find that gum I like, I heard it is coming back in style.

For more from J.C; you can follow her on Twitter at @JHotch726.

Written by J.C. Hotchkiss

J.C. Hotchkiss is a Office Manager by day and Managing Twin Peaks Editor for 25YL Site the other 16 hours of the day. When she isn’t writing of her love of FBI Agents with a penchant for doughnuts, coffee and pie, she enjoys getting lost in a good book, sipping a damn fine glass of wine among friends, chatting with her "TB's" about Cevans and Fleabag's Hot Priest, and trying to keep up with the latest cartoon craze via her 6 year old. She lives smack in the middle of the Big Apple and Beantown, so for a girl with many different interests and tastes it's the perfect place to be.

2 Comments

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  1. You left out one: Andy’s dance when he steps on a loose board which smacks him in the face 😉

  2. Don’t forget Laura and Donna larking around on their picnic and that every time Leland danced it probably meant that BOB was gaining more control over him. Funny to watch but heart breaking at the same time.

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