#9: Holiday from Blond Ambition 1990

Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour featured cinematic nods to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis; introduced the “robo-ponytail” and the now iconic Jean-Paul Gaultier “cone bra”; as well as taught people the proper way to “strike a pose.” Out to support Like a Prayer, this tour represents the brilliance of Madonna as a communicator, taking references that are older or fairly obscure and creating a platform in which to present them to a larger mainstream audience.

The tour was documented in 1991’s Truth or Dare, a film where life off stage is seen in black and white; (real?) life on stage in bright color. With all the references that run throughout the show, it’s the dance classic, Holiday that stands out for its fun simplicity.

Madonna is seen sans “robo-ponytail, a logistical move implemented during the European dates to keep the hair out of her headset. Director Alek Keshishian captures the joy of this final section of the show. As the song starts, the percussionist Luis Conte is highlighted as Madonna patiently spins in a circle waiting for her time to shine; the stage lights flip up and Madonna prances her way to center stage. It’s the footage at 1:35 - 1:45, and later at 4:30 - 4:40, that captures what it’s really like to be in an arena at a Madonna show—the point in every Madonna experience where the crowd feels like one gigantic ball of excitement, where we will do anything she says.

The backing vocalists, Niki Haris and Donna DeLory, who started with Madonna in 1987, provide soulful support. (Haris and DeLory backed Madonna on four consecutive tours—’87; ’90; ‘93; ’01. DeLory continued without Haris for the ’04 and ’06 tours.)

Madonna’s male dancers provide playful support. Although donning an attire of polka-dotted shirts, tight white jeans, and black boots, almost every dancer wears his shirt in a different manner, turning what could’ve been a super-structured performance into a relaxed expression of individuality amidst uniformity.

They “all together now” create a dance floor where the line dance, The Bus Stop, is weaved into the choreography—another example of Madonna’s knack for bringing an older (‘70s disco) reference into a current context. BSo