I wanted to write a song about love that knows no boundaries, sex or race, about the beauty of people, no matter who they are or what they do in their lives. I wrote the song “Supernova” to simply say that every person should be treated as the brightest thing in this universe “like a supernova”.
The music video for “Supernova” take us to a ballroom studio, where a man invites another man for a dance: a moment of a social dance gesture between two men in a ballroom dance setting.
Why ballroom dancing? Because it’s sexy, intimate and also artistic.
At first the audience is completely shocked and resentful, showing hateful facial expressions and body language. But as the dance carries on, the uptight crowd gets mesmerized by the beauty of the dance and transforms to accept the two men, appreciate their artistry and join the song’s message of loving people for who they are. By the end of the song the ballroom’s crowd sings the chorus lyrics and becomes one voice: “You are so beautiful inside, let the world see who you really are!” (Supernova Chorus)
Supernova’s dance is indeed beautiful as it features two great ballroom dancers with a top level performance: Ernesto Palma and Nikolai Shpakov, who won the 2014 World and USA Same-Sex Ballroom Latin Dance Championships. Ballroom dancing is all about relationship and chemistry, and it was important to me to feature dancers that have danced professionally together before.
The beauty of art is that it knows no boundaries and hence can be utilized to tell a story and carry out any message, I have been using that magical power of music to deliver powerful messages with my violin music. “Supernova” is not only a “feel-good” music, it promotes the message of tolerance, diversity and the idea of being true to who we are while appreciating our differences.
In the past ten years, I have been privileged with the opportunity to run creative programs with my non-profit organization Gedenk, and promote tolerance in schools with creative programs, that use arts and culture such as music, writing and visual arts as platforms for self-expression. We strive to make a difference by increasing tolerance and ethnic understanding to safeguard a peaceful society. The students who participate in our creative programs have shared with us that our artistic approach gave them a voice to express themselves and influence others. Our unique program the “Gedenk Award for Tolerance” is in its third year partnership with “Scholastic Art & Writing,” we ask students to create original works of art or writing that reflect upon the lessons learned from the Holocaust, and other genocides, with the intent to raise awareness of the importance of increasing tolerance to safeguard a peaceful society. In the past three years Gedenk received an unprecedented amount of thousands of submissions, which showed us that many young people today are passionate about promoting tolerance, diversity and ethnic understanding.
Since Ballroom dance may refer to almost any type of partner dancing, there has been a misconception that ballroom dancing is "gay," perhaps because of its music originated in the extremely gay 1930s; Women dance with each other while their husbands are preoccupied watching men in tight pants play American football on T.V. (according to http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/). Indeed, while searching for dancers for Supernova, I discovered an entire world of same-sex ballroom dancing, which includes a same-sex Ballroom Dance Championship, events and classes. It was nice to learn that gay people, who love ballroom dance, have the opportunity for to go dancing with their partners.
After all, even in our progressive days the LGBT community still suffers from discrimination. There is no federal law that explicitly bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Activists have tried for years to pass such a law, first the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and then the much broader Equality Act, without success. These days it seems as the future of President Obama’s executive order banning anti-LGBT discrimination is unfortunately uncertain. It is our responsibility to lend our voice in order to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations.
It is also important to support the art of ballroom dance, in light of the recent breaking news regarding the change in the U.S. Immigration laws for artist work visas, which now classify ballroom dancing as a sport and not as an art. The recent change in classification could potentially destroy the ballroom industry and hurt its community. Ballroom dance is a beautiful art; it should be treated as such, which is why I chose it as a medium to deliver the music and message of Supernova.