Jacob Jonas examines human vulnerability in visual for Patrick Watson’s ‘Can’t Stop Staring At The Sun’

A surreal performance shot amongst sand dunes from the Los Angeles-based choreographer.

In the visual for Patrick Watson’s track ‘Can’t Stop Staring at the Sun’, directed and choreographed by Jacob Jonas, dancers Anthony Bryant, Gianinni Semedo Moreira, and Nicolas Walton respond to the haunting instrumental with a strange and beautiful performance shot amongst sand dunes.

“During the lockdown I was really inspired and watching a lot of modern dance videos,” Watson says. “‘Can’t Stop Staring at the Sun’ felt like it was a dance piece from the beginning. I was already collaborating with Jacob Jonas on another project, so I asked him if he could make me a dance video. I gave him the song and he came back with this beautiful piece.”

“Our truest vulnerabilities are amplified when seen,” Jacob Jonas says of the inspiration behind the video. “The exposure to the light allows a witness to observe. The sun returns each day. Nature’s way to remind us to start again. We are scheduled by brightness. When dark, we are illuminated by the artificial. This narrative is about man’s dependence of sunlight and without it, he is caught.”

‘Can’t Stop Staring at the Sun’ is part of Watson’s recent three-part single ‘A Mermaid in Lisbon’ which was released in June on Secret City Records.

Earlier this year, Jacob Jonas The Company launched Films.Dance, a series of 15 free films shot during the COVID-19 pandemic, which have involved more than 150 artists from 25 countries. A second series of performances from the project launches later in September.

Credits:

Director/Choreographer: Jacob Jonas
Dancers: Anthony Bryant, Gianinni Semedo Moreira, Nicolas Walton
Cinematographer: Jessica Young
Art Director & Edit: Joe Pease
Production: Jacob Jonas The Company
Producer: Jill Wilson
Creative Producer: Emma Rosenzweig-Bock
Styling: Christian Stroble
1st AC: Anderson Collins
2nd AC: Wade Young
Color: Will Adashek