'Does your Mother Know' as performed in Mamma Mia, the film... it's about a seduction ..no it's about Tanya's rejection of Pepper's attempted seduction of her but 'seduction' is not the right word really but it might be a suitable enough word to use at this stage. So this is what Mamma Mia's 'Does your Mother Know', Tanya's song, is about. The song seems to have been written for a man talking about a girl....here it is a woman (Tanya) singing to a young man. This article aims to try and capture the mood and meaning behind the song and the mood and meaning are certainly important for good choreography and performance of the song. Of course, the setting has already been decided. The setting is generally the Greek island and the song/dance is performed on a beach but there would obviously have to be an artistic decision to perform this song/dance on a beach. The beach setting implies a lot re: costuming and actual choreography and performance but this article here is about the mood/meaning.
The interesting thing about this song, 'Does Your Mother Know' is that it turns into a big dance act as do many songs such as Dancing Queen. Here 'Does Your Mother Know' turns into a kind of sparring between men and women, boys and girls..or at least Tanya against the young men. Still Tanya is supported in a way by the young women. This is interesting because the young men seem to be making a direct hit for Tanya and so seem to be rejecting the young women their own age. Still this may not necessarily the case. Also the lyrics are generally about an older man/woman's feelings towards a younger woman...and 'feelings' is not necessarily the right word...They are about a woman trying to push off the attentions of a younger man and she has her own reasons for doing this.
In the performance of this song in the film, there are obvious elements of machismo etc around and the young men are just trying to be truly macho and such. They need to be taught their error of their way perhaps and so that is why the young women are needed. Above all it is an interesting fact that the young women are there on the scene but then one might ask why are the young men there..Isn't the song about two people...But Pepper is supported by the men and Tanya by the women and so the song turns into a great performance which has true meaning and excitement because it is a kind of sparring between men and women...Besides this, the choreographer has chosen a beach scene and here, on the Greek island, the beach is a place for young men and women..there is a certain sexual tension but it is more a sexual playfulness perhaps and there is also a kind of frenzied atmosphere..apparent in a kind of mad longing to conquer Tanya....
Tanya 'dances against' the young men and it is normal for some kind of support from the young women. Still the song is Tanya's song...and it is really Tanya who is the feminine performer.
The young women look on and Tanya, a sole performer, dances 'against' the young men..The 'boys versus girls' thing allows for a greater purpose in the choreography because it allows the young men to dance together as a unit...they have a common purpose..i.e. 'against Tanya. Yes this is the common purpose..or one type of common purpose...The 'women come together and perform together but not like Dancing Queen, from the film which turned into an all-women performance but certainly a kind of joyous celebration of womanhood....perhaps a kind of 'women together' dance was what 'Dancing Queen' became.
The dance and choreographic progression follows the lyrics of the song...Here you can say that the choreography is kind of subservient to the lyrics of the song...If you listen to the words.. you can find Tanya trying to tell the young man off, trying to mock and upstage him...trying to reject him as a lover and the first part of the performance ends with Pepper in diaper.. Also, in the song...there is mention of a kind of game, a game of love, and Tanya just doesn't want to play the game of love with the young man. Maybe this is because of the obvious reason that he is too young or too immature or too concerned with machismo. Thus Tanya feels that and he is trying to seduce her for the wrong reasons. Yes one of his reasons seem to be a pure machismo.
Look at the lyrics of the song: There is reference to 'a kid like you...' 'that look in your eye'..'your feelings are driving you wild..' 'you're only a child..' 'does your mother know that you're out....' 'slow down boy..does your mother know...' 'play it nice and slow'.
In the second half, Tanya plays with the young men as a group and dances 'against' them doing a kind of seduction of them but it is false...She is flirting with them and maddening them..She says: 'you're pretty young to be searching for that kind of love..'
If you listen to the lyrics, there are interesting lines which communicate Tanya's general thought process and why she rejects him...She talks about 'you're so hot teasing me', 'its something I couldn't do', 'but you're only a child..' , ' I can dance with you honey...flirt a little..', 'does your mother know..' , 'that kind of fun', 'maybe I'm not the one', ' you're so cute...that flash of your smile..but you're only a child...' , 'flirt a little maybe..' 'I can dance with you honey..'
The dance leads into the final victory of Tanya who is supported by the girls. The men's machismo is beaten down by Tanya with her skillful use of words..For she does make a good and powerful case for rejecting him but above all she beats the men by her performance, her dance...The choreography is used to show Tanya's final submission of the men..She shows up Pepper by putting on a diaper etc, then she dances against the young men...maddening them etc..and finally she blows them away both figuratively and literally...Thus in the actual choreographic performance as well as in the underlying lyrics, Tanya has truly blown not just Pepper but the other young men away...The women celebrate that the men's false machismo has been shown up.
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