TV and Film | Comedic Chemistry: Dance as a device in New Girl and Gossip Girl

I am going to start this with a disclaimer: I am not a romantic.* I enjoy the build ups to big relationships, I like watching end-it-all declarations of passion but watching two people happily share spoonfuls of dessert? Not my kind of telly. (Sorry to any romantics out there).

 

But what does intrigue me, I have learnt this evening after watching an episode of New Girl, is the lingering chemistry between a couple that is no longer together. FYI, I really hate the word chemistry. (Can someone please think up a new word to describe that thing between two people. Buzz? Zing? Sazzle? Anything but chemistry). For those unfamiliar with New Girl, or unaware just how far behind the times the UK is, the episode formerly known as "Prince" has just aired. You know, the one with Prince in it? In an episode full of blurted out I-Love-Yous, the moment I latched onto most was between Schmidt and Cece.

 

Now, I'm not in a relationship, nor am I recently getting over a relationship so my comments are purely theoretical. But I think New Girl got it really right. There is no rule book explaining how long - if ever, in fact - that sazzle between two people lasts. (Yep, I went there). I love the way Max Greenfield plays Schmidt. He is by far my favourite character on the show and all the interactions between Schmidt and Cece are always so well written. Hannah Simone is equally talented and her Instagram feed is flawless, FYI. In the "Prince" episode, a scene unfolds between the two on a dance floor in Prince's house. Maybe it's because I have a life long love of dance, maybe it's because dance can, if infiltrated correctly, can offer touching, emotive moments in an otherwise heavily comedic half hour, but I just loved the way it was directed.

 

I don't know if you've ever had to dance up close to someone you did not foresee yourself fancying in the future, but it is one of the most awkward moments for everyone involved. (I have experience more than the average number of awkward moments which I am hoping to one day base a book upon, to make all other awkward teenagers feel better about their lives. You're welcome). It feels to me though, that it would actually be harder having to interact on that level of intimacy, with someone you are no longer supposed to be sharing such small space with. When I watched the scene play out, the comedic references to 'old friends' in light of Schmidt's hopes to gain new celebrity ones interjected a little humour but the core of the scene is, to me, very heartfelt. It instantly reminded of an episode of Gossip Girl, where Dan and Serena attend Lily and Bart's wedding ("Much 'I Do' About Nothing"). The clipped conversation that follows Serena telling Dan he can "let go now" to which he heart wrenchingly replies "I know. But I don't want to". I might be exaggerating a little on how heart wrenching it was, but the scene stayed with me long after the episode first aired. In both the cases, the couples are no longer together but are simultaneously not ready to be apart. The sazzle, the chemistry still exists but whilst Dan and Serena are mourning their (temporarily) lost love, Schmidt and Cece banter around it. I could turn this whole idea into a fully fledged essay on all the dancing in Gossip Girl alone. I won't, for the internet's sake, but I remain convinced dance is a great precursor of chemistry.

You can shove characters in a lift, sit them beside one another on a plane but I fail to see any other activity that forces two people to interact in heightened levels of public intimacy than slow rotations on a half-crowded dance floor. It's a genius plot device that often doubles up as a very poignant piece of TV.

Unless of course, you're Jennifer Lawrence and Jimmy Fallon. It is not possible for me to ever love a dance anecdote more than the one in this interview.

 

Jade x

 

* I would like to just clarify that whilst I am not a romantic, I do incidentally like romance. Of sorts. Baby gestures are better than big gestures. Some people want diamonds and matching tattoos; I'd settle for sugar ring doughnuts and dog walks in the woods. Future boyfriend, take note.