Kate Bush Christmas Special
For witches who don't care about Christmas
Behold: it is 1979 and the BBC decides that yes, the best way for the esteemed television network to celebrate the holidays is to invite a 21-year-old Kate Bush to do whatever the hell she wants for an hour, whether it is Christmasy or not.
Which is why this holiday season, 45 years later, I highly recommend this special to anyone who is sick of saccharine advertising and endless Christmas music, but who still enjoys some glitter (bodysuits) and magic (green screen editing). Welcome to Kate Bush’s brain:
There is so much here to unpack, and while I can’t dig into every single moment, I do want to share at least one favorite move from each dance number. Even saying “dance number” feels like stretching it here, since I would classify a lot of what Kate Bush is doing as “inspired movement.” As I mentioned the last time I talked about Kate Bush, she was trained by a mime, and it shows. She is at her mime/acting/sound-and-movement peak.
Allow me to break it down for you song by song (not counting interludes):
Violin
There is only one real move in this song, in which she shows of the majesty of her sparkly cape. It’s a great way to kick off this special, and I always love a cape! She’s like a cabaret bat:
Honorable mention to this moment when the life-size violin tries to kidnap her:
Symphony In Blue
There are no moves happening here but someone please find me this rad blouse/cardigan:
Them Heavy People
I don’t understand the costume and choreo choices here. Apparently the song is about enlightenment and religion, but she’s shimmying and swaying with two dudes who look like cheap private eyes.1 OK!
The best part is this side-to-side jazzy shimmy:
Honorable mention to this very slick jump where Kate uses her mime skills to transform into an instant mannequin:
I also have to call out how casually violent this gets at the end, with Kate looking all coquettish after knocking that guy out with a chair:
Are you feeling the Christmas spirit yet??
Here Comes the Flood
No moves here but hello, little baby Peter Gabriel!!
Ran Tan Waltz
HUH?
I guess they decided to take the lyrics of this song very literally—a husband is distraught because his wife is sleeping around and he’s stuck home with the baby—but this looks like Kate and friends raided a high school theater department’s costume closet. Kate is Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, guy on the left is Dolly from Hello Dolly, and guy on the right is… the Broadway Baby from Follies??
They do a great job with this small playing area, even flipping Kate around pinwheel-style, but my favorite part has to be this very contemporary popping-and-locking that she and Broadway Baby do while looking so very sad:
December Will Be Magic Again
This is another piano-only moment, so no moves, but note that this is the only part of special to acknowledge the existence of Christmas. It also opens with the lyrics “December will be magic again / Take a husky to the ice.” Huskies on ice?? Yes please!2
The Wedding List
At the start of this I thought Kate was in some kind of sauna, but no, silly me, it’s the dust of an old western town where she’s exacting her revenge on the man who killed her true love! DUH.
And what else screams revenge like quasi-Thriller arms?
And if you thought the chair fight earlier was a weird choice, this song ends with Kate shooting a man with a rifle, somehow killing herself, then being lifted into the air by her dead zombie groom:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Another Day
This was probably very high tech for 1979, and I love that Peter is back, but no dancing. Next!
Egypt
This whole thing feels uhhhh…. a little racist? It was probably made with good intentions, but it comes off like she just got back from her first trip to Egypt and got a little too excited to show you all her home videos and describe “how the natives act.”3
That said… I do like this scream that dissolves into quiet passion:
Honorable mention for this double image that looks like a deleted scene from Dune and is also how I want to enter every holiday party:
The Man With the Child in His Eyes
At first we’re fooled into thinking it’s just another regular piano song, but no, there is a second little Kate Bush here, wearing the best bodysuit of all time4 and positioned like she’s sitting on the grand piano! It’s like she hired herself as a feelings interpreter rather than having an ASL interpreter.
The movement here is all cautious undulations, as if she’s afraid of toppling off the piano. This dramatic sweep is the best part:
Don’t Push Your Foot on the Heartbreak
More cine-magic here, as Kate goes into a trashcan wearing her tinsel bodysuit and then emerges behind a fence looking like Sandy at the end of Grease, again with her backup dancers. While I do like the move that looks like they’re all Sandy putting out the cigarette, my favorite is definitely this group pelvic thrust:
And then it’s just over! No taking of bows, no farewells, no group sing of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Just some spinning of trash can lids and BYE.
I hope this post and this entire special are a good reminder that the holidays can be whatever you want them to be. Want to sit at the piano and sing a sweet song about December snow? Fantastic! Want to dress up like Tevye and dance out your marital frustration? OK! Whatever you celebrate, it’s a good time of year to listen to your gut and do whatever you need to do to feel restored. Just maybe don’t do the Egypt thing.
REMINDER! My friend Sharon and I are bringing back our storytelling show, Gems, for a one-night-only special event at UCB NY this Sunday, December 29th!
Go get yourself a ticket for Gems2K: Apocalypse Stories on Sunday, 12/29 8:30pm! We would love to see you in person, but if you’re out of town, you can also get a livestream ticket and watch it from the comfort of your home/childhood bedroom/bathtub in real time OR for seven days after. So many options!!
Happy holidays and happy new year, my friends! I am so thankful to all of you who subscribe to or follow The Moves. It’s truly the best gift to know others enjoy reading my words and to connect with other like-minded nice people out here on the internet. I can’t wait to share more with you in 2025.
Love and jazz hands,
Molly
Same look in the official video for this song.
Also shoutout to King, the husky that my neighbors had when I was kid, who did indeed come sliding around on the ice with us and was the best dog of all time.
Much like that SNL sketch about visiting Cuba.
Like she’s covered in tinsel, perhaps? Maybe this counts as a holiday moment?