A Not-So-Tiny Dancer In The Pitchfork Crowd

By JoshMogerman in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 22, 2013 3:00PM

Mat Churney dancing at Pitchfork [jmogs]

Our eyes were averted from the on-stage guitar maelstrom of Swans at Pitchfork Music Fest yesterday by an oddly familiar face…or…actually whirling, flailing, dancer. The impossible to miss herky-jerky, all-in moves from a tall guy in green and yellow shorts had us thinking of last year…when we took video of a tall guy in green and yellow shorts displaying some amazing moves.

Sure enough, the dancer was the same. Frankly, we were pleased to see him still among the living, given how his moves ended in 2012:

Things haven’t changed much in a year. Here’s the equally hard-charging 2013 version:

That spectacular footwork belongs to one Mat Churney, whose dances are a fixture at shows in Chicago. After Swans wrapped up, we showed him the vid from last year and he was psyched to see his gyrations saved for posterity's sake. Talk to Churney for a minute and you can tell that he truly feels the music: while attention-getting, his dances are not a put on. Fred Astaire he ain't but we are always glad to find interesting folks like Churney in the crowd at Union Park.