Talk:The Dead Dance

Some promo

• https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/08/29/lady-gaga-new-song-dead-dance-wednesday-netflix/
• https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lady-gaga-dead-dance-release-date-wednesday-1236054723/

--Another Believer _(Talk) 19:22, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

• https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/lady-gaga-dead-dance-event
• https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a65933178/lady-gaga-wednesday-graveyard-gala-outfit-gotchic-ensemble-fly-wings/
• https://entertainmentnow.com/music/lady-gaga-new-music-wednesday-season/
• https://www.instyle.com/lady-gaga-sheer-pantaloons-heels-surprise-appearance-11800486

CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 19:33, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for sharing ---Another Believer _(Talk) 19:43, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

You’re welcome — glad to help strengthen the sourcing. CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 19:57, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2025/09/03/lady-gagas-new-wednesday-single-shoots-straight-into-the-top-10/ --CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 01:47, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

  We can't use this source, per WP:FORBESCON, but thanks for sharing! ---Another Believer _(Talk) 15:18, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Use of image in the article

Hi, just to clarify — I replaced the Burton photo with a screenshot from the video since it directly illustrates "The Dead Dance". I considered keeping both, but wasn’t sure if the Music video section would look too crowded. Maybe the Burton photo could instead go in Background and development, where he’s first mentioned? CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 15:54, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Sure! (Also, preference for right-align, as left-aligned images directly under section headings is irksome, IMO) ---Another Believer _(Talk) 18:34, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

@CHr0m4tiko0 Or the Reception section, since he is mentioned there several times. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 18:39, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Sounds good, thanks! I think this placement works well and keeps things balanced. CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 19:00, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

I suggest we go back to right-side alignment for the photo of Tim Burton, per MOS:IMAGELOC ("Most images should be on the right side of the page, which is the default placement.") I am under the impression left-aligned images should not be directly below section headers. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 14:23, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

If the article gets long enough, we might consider adding a photo of Parris Goebel. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 01:26, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

I don’t think it’s really necessary for this article in particular. It might make more sense to add a photo of Parris Goebel to "Abracadabra", where her work is more central. I can also commit to expanding the Reception section of that article, since it’s currently quite short. For "The Dead Dance", I think the coverage we have is already sufficient. CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 01:34, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

GA review

This review is transcluded from Talk:The Dead Dance/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: CHr0m4tiko0 (talk · contribs) 23:53, 29 January 2026 (UTC)

Reviewer: ErnestKrause (talk · contribs) 00:24, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Start of review

Full review may take a few days, though here are a few comments to start things off:

(1) In synopsis for the music video opening sentence could read something like "Gaga perched" changed to "Gaga perched unconsciously..."; something like that since the video starts with her entirely motionless.

Done.

(2) I'm not sure on first reading that the song is matching up with the set list for the concert and its separate Wikipedia article (Mayhem Ball); it seems to be fully ignored on the set list listing on the article for the tour. It's clear that the song came out after the tour started as I recall, though it would be nice to see the song recognized fully in the modified set list after the song came out (maybe adding the date when it was added and where in the set list). Was the stage set changed to anything special when Gaga performed it during the tour?

The tour article reflects the original set list from the opening show, and later additions are documented in notes. In this article, we've specified when the song was added (September 11, 2025, in Toronto) and its placement within the show to maintain consistency between both pages.--CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 01:53, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

(3) I'm recalling that the use of the song in the Wednesday series was played up quite a bit; two of the characters had choreographed a routine for it and performed it in front or a large party audience. Should any of that choreography, etc, be mentioned in the article aside from the actual music video already covered in the article?

The choreography and use in Wednesday are already covered across multiple sections, including promotion and release, the music video and its reception, and live performances. The episode and the dance at the Nevermore Gala are also mentioned, so I believe the topic is sufficiently addressed in the article.--CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 03:16, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

The version of this I've heard is that the choreography was done by the dancers and without being given the track for the song in advance; they were given some thematic hints and somehow figured out to do "the thing" movement of their hands and fingers crawling up their arms. There should be RS available on this. ErnestKrause (talk) 13:38, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

I've added a brief note with sourced context about how the choreography was developed during filming, using a reliable source. Let me know if that works for you. CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 15:22, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

That should get things started. ErnestKrause (talk) 00:24, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Second set of notes

(a) It might be nice to see a little more Burton here in the article. You mention him in the lede which is good. Did she learn anything about the song writing by talking with Burton about her film part in the series? That is, it seems like the part must have guided the song, rather than the other way around. What do RS say about it?

(a') Burton used the imagery of dolls at the beginning of one of the Wednesday episodes where Wednesday foils a psychopath; is it related to the dolls in the video used by Burton again?

(a) and (a'): I wasn't able to find reliable sources connecting Burton's involvement to the songwriting process or linking the doll imagery in the video to specific elements from Wednesday, so I haven't added anything further there.

(b) During the September 29, 2025, concert in London, Wednesday cast members Emma Myers and Evie Templeton joined Gaga on stage for the performance of "The Dead Dance" and "LoveDrug".

Addressed.

(c) The digital release of the album did include the song as track #9 in the Digital reissue edition.

Addressed.

(d) The Apple Music edition includes the music videos for "Disease" and "The Dead Dance" at the end of the tracklist.

I did not include the Apple Music video listings, as they relate more to the album release rather than the song itself.

(e) Youtube count is 68 million views after 7 months; is this covered in the article?

I couldn't find reliable sources discussing the YouTube view count.

(f) There is a transition in the video from b&w to color towards the end in the last half of the video which was intentional and effective; should it receive more comment. The majority of the video is predominantly b&w; is there a reason why?

(g) Gaga's eyes are wide open in the video when it starts, however, throughout the video many of the other dolls had their eyes closed. Did Burton mean anything by having Gaga start with eyes wide open?

(f) and (g): I didn't come across sourced interpretations or statements from Burton regarding the visual choices (black-and-white transition or symbolism), so I avoided adding unsourced analysis.

There's also an indexed comment in the previous set of comments which I've added. Writing is fairly good in the article which is a good sign. ErnestKrause (talk) 13:38, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Ping me when all done, and let me know which ones didn't have RS if none were available. ErnestKrause (talk) 18:54, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Just a side-note to the nomination. Per WP:ATODAY, the archive.today links should be replaced with an alternative (web.archive.org, preferably). There are 36 of them in the article. Sricsi (talk) 15:33, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

ErnestKrause: All done! I've addressed the points where possible; for the rest, I couldn't find reliable sources. I'm also in the process of replacing archive links with web.archive.org. Let me know if you'd like me to revisit anything.--CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 01:15, 18 April 2026 (UTC)

That all looks pretty good, as well as the updates to the related articles for the tour, etc. For the video transition from bw to color, then there is the plot line of Gaga being emotionally wiped out by a manipulative boyfriend which she tries to snap out of; she does this largely by coming back to life gradually along with many of the other 'dead' dolls surrounding her. She finally revives four of the friends to enlighten their broken hearts and they start their choreo dance together in full color. I'm conceptually linking the lyrics to the video content here which someone in RS may have done. What do you think of this? (I'll try to do a final read through sometime over the week-end; the writing for the article looks fairly good so far.) ErnestKrause (talk) 03:21, 18 April 2026 (UTC)

@ErnestKrause: Thanks for the suggestion! The video section was built as reliable sources became available, but I haven't seen much analysis linking the narrative directly to the lyrics. I also revisited the reception sources and didn't find anything substantial to add. CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 01:23, 19 April 2026 (UTC)

Closing: That's pretty much what was needed; don't let it get you down that you were being given a hard time at some of the sibling articles. The current article is well written and the images check out on media. The citations are all formatted and useful to the article. Basically you've covered what is needed to move the article forward. If it were going to go to featured article status some day then I'd have more to say, though for now the article covers its main points well. Nice going. ErnestKrause (talk) 02:34, 19 April 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for the review and helpful feedback, and thanks as well to the other contributors who helped improve the article! CHr0m4tiko0 (talk) 17:39, 19 April 2026 (UTC)