A new official video for George Harrison’s 1970 song ‘What Is Life’ has been released.
The clip contains no footage of Harrison, but features dancers Emma Rubinowitz and Esteban Hernandez.
What Is Life was the second single to be released from Harrison’s 1970 opus All Things Must Pass. The song was a top 10 hit in the US and several European countries.
Page last updated: 27 January 2017
that video is 2 years old
Ah yeah, so it is. It got uploaded to the official George Harrison VEVO channel in November 2016, though, along with a few others. I should have checked before posting this. Never mind though,
Here are the others: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS1YGiJZUVUTMqYADYG9frw
Emma Rubinowitz from the San Francisco Ballet. The guy is Esteban Hernandez from Mexico – both world-class ballet dancers
Why did she seemingly fall or lose her balance then more than once if a professional dancer?
I imagine it was purposeful: they ARE both professional ballet dancers and Emma, now ~28 yrs old, is a choreographer as well. My personal thought is that it was to convey being a naive child (the way she is dressed, cavorts in the playground, lies down in raked-up leaves like a kid, and skips like a pre-adolescent). Cheers!
I think it in a way is telling us to enjoy life like children ,with abandon and not be so serious. Thats kind of the way i interpret it. Innocence comes to mind also. Remember when you were a kid and did some of these things.? Didnt have a care in the world. The leaves i can relate to and just being carefree.
Go to http://www.laughingsquid.com where you can find an explanation of why Olivia & Dhani Harrison chose this video after holding a nationwide contest on who could submit the best one. “This one,” they said, “captured the spirit of child-like joy in the song.”
Spot on, perfect explanation; I’ll bet this young lady is quite the looker now, in the video she’s right on the cusp of turning into a young lady; as a man, to me she’s almost alluring until you back off & see it for what it is & what she still is, a child engaging in joyful, exuberant & playful dance.
Who are the performers in this video is what I want to know.
what cemetery are they dancing in? obviously a military one but where and for what war
The video was filmed at the San Francisco Presidio .
It appears to be filmed in the Presidio in San Francisco – the cemetery is for US veterans generally, not for any specific war
A National cemetery. With all the other cemeteries around they could have picked a different one to dance through, if you even call that dancing.
Look at what the judges say about it in deciding this was the one they’d use, joyful exuberant dancing with abandon by a couple of kids, capturing, they say, the spirit of the song.
Anyone know the story behind the choreography?
Emma Rubinowitz and Esteban Hernandez were with the San Francisco Ballet as part of the “Corps de Ballet” at the time of the video.
I don’t know who the choreographer was, but i suspect it a Francisco Ballet choreographer of the time this video was made.
Esteban is still there, as a “Prima” or “Soloist”, while Emma was there for a few years after this video, but went her own way the last few years.
The video was made partly in the Presidio, partly in woods nearby.
Has anyone given a theory on the overall video meaning as compared to the songs? Is Emma’s character leaving home and dancing through different stages of her life? I’d love to know folks interpretations.
This song was recorded about the time of peak Vietnam Era casualties, probably the best post-Beatle track. She is dancing thru the Presidio National Cemetery.
Were I a casualty of the era this would have been the soundtrack. I’m not sure if the family considered this way but it is…a bit of a memorial. Not to the war but those who had to go.
It’s appropriate.
I had easily found the multi unit dwellings in What Is Life video where Emma was dancing on 1330 Kobbe Ave. However I’m unable to find the house she’s in front of in the beginning of the vidio. Anyone know which house it is?
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7987021,-122.472772,3a,89.4y,140.8h,73.58t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sqPh-XbhBKxmB7PwaLlg3PQ!2e0?