Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Michael Silas: A Warhol Superstar or Just a Lady Gaga Dancer?

Joe Dallesandro

Michael Silas



















Michael Silas is one of Lady Gaga’s most adored dancers for two reasons: his rugged sexiness and how it contrasts with Lady Gaga’s flamboyant Monster Ball Tour. It’s this contrast that makes Michael such an anomaly in the Haus of Gaga, just like actor Joe Dallesandro was in Andy Warhol’s Factory crew of artistic types. Surprisingly, Michael and Joe share a lot more than having an eccentric boss.

The 27-year-old Texas-bred dancer may wear makeup and earrings (sometimes) when performing on Gaga’s electro-opera The Monster Ball, but his calm toughness still shows through. On The Monster Ball, Michael has two shining moments for every tour stop: the famous Jesus Loves Everybody duet with Gaga (read about this duet here http://bit.ly/9JD48O), and the kiss between him and his boyfriend Asiel Hardison (another Gaga dancer). During his Gaga duet, Michael is a bloody vampire twisting his body sexually to roaring guitar riffs and Gaga’s vocal ad-libs, while during his kiss with his boyfriend, Michael is dressed as a Roman gladiator in a feathered headdress. Despite occasional voguing, Michael maintains his macho demeanor.

Michael Silas and Joe Dallesandro are beautiful, macho men who provided the masculine element to their respective crews—for Michael, the Haus of Gaga and for Joe, Andy Warhol’s The Factory—and wear their masculinity like bad asses, but there’s tenderness underneath the hard exterior. Both are aware of their sex appeal, but they act like they could care less, as if they wouldn’t mind you looking through their bathroom window seeing them naked after they stepped out of the shower; they might just shrug and acknowledge you silently with a friendly face.

Although Michael and Joe both have sad eyes, square jaws and lean, muscular bodies, they have different backgrounds. Michael is a Black/Latin/German army brat who trained at various dance schools in ballet and hip-hop, while Joe was a troubled Italian-American kid who went through foster care because his father couldn’t take care of him and his mother was incarcerated; Joe stole cars and ran from the police. Although their backgrounds are different, Michael and Joe became Superstars—Michael a Gaga Superstar and Joe a Warhol Superstar—and never looked back. The Warhol Superstars were a group of people gathered by Andy Warhol, Paul Morrissey, and Gerard Malanga to be in Warhol's films and accompany him in his social life, while the Haus of Gaga is a group of people gathered by Lady Gaga to be in her videos, concerts and accompany her in her social life.

Below check out the photos of the Monster Ball mentioned in the article:



Michael as a Roman gladiator.


Michael during Jesus Loves Everybody duet with Gaga.


Michael in Ace Bandages and a lot of eye shadow.

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