It is said that it is not always necessary to reinvent the wheel, but I believe that it is useful to repair old ones from time to time, because at the end of the day, everything new is often wonderfully merged old things. Back when LMT added a second wonderful but separate thing to its classical prepaid card – endless Internet – we decided to continue these combinations and bring together equally classical and different values from the worlds of dance and music.
In looking for the most unexpected combinations, we found ourselves facing a very interesting question – how to combine different things so that they not only appear to be organic, but also appear to be SURPRISINGLY organic. It turns out that different things are either so different that they resemble hamburgers with whipped cream (and I immediately apologise to anyone who feels that that is not a bad thing), or they are so organically harmonised that they do not seem to be anything new. We ourselves have had to make fairly many somersaults and unexpected trips and falls on the Internet and in the depths of our experience to deal with this. It turns out that just as is the case with the product, emotions require a healthy balance between that which is unexpected and that which has been long awaited. Leaning too far in one direction or the other means a loss of value. What is the result of these thoughts? A crazy swamp triangle, metallically sharp ballroom dances and a hip hop march.
LMT karte / Viss jaunais ir labi savienots vecais / Turku maršs un hip hop polka from DDB Latvia on Vimeo.
When the combinations were identified, we realised something else – particularly flexible people would be needed to achieve this. Yes, you will say that this is not a problem for dancers, but our heroes had to be flexible not just in physical, but also in spiritual terms. In short, we needed people who are ready for anything and are prepared to pursue any goal. Thus we found a couple from the Dzintars dance club, and the evening before we taped our ad, the two dancers won their second Latvian championship in sports dance. We also found the Dancis folk dance ensemble from the University of Latvia, with choreographer Krišjānis demonstrating his creativity and openness for LMT ads for a second time. The break dance team Camelot Crew proved to be particularly flexible and open to the challenge. It, too, has won Latvian and European championships several times over. It is clear that there were no doubts at all about the professionalism of the dancers in terms of dancing, but their professionalism in terms of their attitude led me to tip my non-existing cap and create the feeling that we were all on the same page.
Because of the director Raitis Ābele, we cannot wait for the X Factor talent show to appear in Latvia, because it turns out that he can not just talk about his comments, but also present them in dance – sports dance, folk dance or hip hop dance. These may have been the only moments in the saturated day when all those who were present fell silent. In other senses, too, the project was instructive and full of new experiences. We learned that in an age when baring one’s body no longer seems to be anything special, true shame is hidden in an uncovered dance shirt button. It also turned out that the triangle could not be played by someone in one kind of folk costume as it could do with someone in a different costume. Our break dancers did not encounter classical music for the first time, because the team is currently appearing in a new production of the opera Carmen. We also learned that the “crazy swamp ram” would be a great innovation for a dance festival, because the drawing of the crazy ram might be particularly interesting when viewed from above.
LMT karte / Viss jaunais ir labi savienots vecais / Roberts Gobziņš un latviešu tautas dejas from DDB Latvia on Vimeo.
The main discovery, however, was that it turns out that dancers have a completely different language. We talk about squats, they talk about plie. We talk about getting up our tiptoes, they talk about relevé, etc. In other words, this is the old story about tagliatelle versus noodles. After trying to reach some kind of understanding, the director finally shrugged and decided to use terminology that was understandable to the dancers. Before making comments, he ambitiously asked the dancers, “OK, what do you call running in your language?” The dancers looked at one another for a few seconds, and then one of them replied, “It simply means running.”
LMT karte / Viss jaunais ir labi savienots vecais / Skyforger un modernās balles dejas from DDB Latvia on Vimeo.
This campaign once again allowed us to conclude that when it comes to dance, advertising and life, it is basically very helpful to step into the “dance” shoes of others from time to time, but to do that, you first have to step out of the comfortable shoes that you have been wearing for years.
Behind the scenes gallery
