Lexus Tries Its Hand at Automotive Choreography

I am one of a rare breed; the combination of professional ballet dancer/director and automotive journalist isn’t a common one. It’s not the only time in history that it has happened, and there might be another of my ilk warming up in the proverbial wings of the blogosphere as you read this, but (as usual) I digress. The reason I’m babbling about centuries-old European performance art’s intersection with automotive journalism is that Lexus recently posted a video entitled Dance of F.

It’s a dance of cars driving in formation and tandem drifting around a race course, and it’s indeed very cool. As an act of performance driving, it’s flawless, but as a piece of choreography, I have a few notes. You should have known this was coming, Lexus, because we talked ballet at the RC-F event at Monticello.

• The beginning is immediately grabbing, but the end doesn’t “pop” in the same manner. It’s always said that the audience only remembers the beginning and the end of each piece clearly, and that makes them of the utmost importance.
• The movements are cool, and the music is cool, but they have little to do with one another. A dance is performed to music, and the synchronization of the movements and the music’s tone, power, and rhythm is a big part of what makes it successful. This music was clearly added in post-production.
• The choice to stay on the track was very limiting, and while limitations can sometimes help creativity, I feel the piece could have been more dynamic if areas like the pits, the access roads, and parking lots had been used.

That said, it was a solid effort. Just know that I’d be showing you up if 95 Octane had Top Gear‘s budget.