David Bowie: Let's Dance (1983) Online
- Original Title :
- David Bowie: Letu0027s Dance
- Genre :
- Creative Work / Short / Drama / Music
- Year :
- 1983
- Directror :
- David Mallet
- Writer :
- David Bowie
- Type :
- Creative Work
- Time :
- 4min
- Rating :
- 8.0/10
In the beginning the video featured Bowie with a double bass player inside the one-room pub at the Carinda Hotel and an Aboriginal couple 'naturally' dancing "to the song they're playing on the radio". The couple in this scene and in the whole video is played by Terry Roberts and Joelene King, two students from Sydney's Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre. As Bowie opted for real people, some residents of the 194-souls village of Carinda are in the pub too, watching and mocking the couple. They do not believe who David is nor what the take is all about, hence their behavior towards the couple as seen in the video is real. The couple wanders solemnly through the outback with some other Aboriginals, when the young woman finds a pair of mystical red pumps on a desert mountain and instantly learns to dance.
| Credited cast: | |||
 | David Bowie | - | Club Musician |
Bowie described this video (and the video for his subsequent single, "China Girl") as "very simple, very direct" statements against racism and oppression, but also a very direct statement about integration of one culture with another.
The music video (which uses the shorter single version) was made in March 1983 by David Mallet on location in Australia including a bar in Carinda in New South Wales and the Warrumbungle National Park near Coonabarabran.
Stevie Ray Vaughan played the guitar solo at the end of the song.
The song topped both the U.S. and U.K. singles chart.