An image taken of Charlene Bosiak during the filming of the music video. (Submitted photo/Charlene Bosiak)

By Derek Cornet

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A music video sponsored by Dance Saskatchewan has been released showcasing the unique talents of La Ronge’s Charlene Bosiak.

The video, which is six minutes and 34 seconds in length, was released on Sunday after spending months in development. It features Bosiak dancing in a forest setting to a song written about her called Charlene by musician Peter Abonyi.

“I am happy with it. I think it turned out quite great. I would like to do another one in the future,” Bosiak remarked.

“We filmed it in several locations. We went near a stream and then we were in a park and then we were in a deep-wooded area and then we found a cement slab in the woods where I could spin easier.”

The music video was choregraphed and directed by Yasmina Ramzy, a well-known teacher and director of raqs sharqi (belly dance) whom Bosiak has been studying under since 2006. Manuel Garcia served as the videographer and the song was released on The Whiskey Jerks 2018 album Baba was a Bootlegger.

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The video was shot in three hours in August 2024 while Bosiak was in Toronto to participate in an intensive Arabic and Egyptian dance workshop hosted by Ramzy.

“Yasmina specializes in Middle Eastern music, so Peter is a Western musician that does not have an Arab background, so the music itself is very Western cadences in how it flows, but he tried to put a little bit of a Middle Eastern sound to it, so it is very interpretive and modern,” Bosiak explained.

“With that, we didn’t want to do a traditional belly dance to it because it just wouldn’t fit perfectly, so we went with more of this wild gypsy kind of fantasy in the forest kind of thing. That’s why I am doing a lot of throwing myself back and forth and sways, and later on you’ll see me rolling on the ground like a wild woman. It is a really wild, free-spirited, almost like a spiritual woman in the woods kind of ambiance.”

While the music video (which can be viewed online here) is new, the song Charlene was written several years ago. Abonyi was inspired to write a song about Bosiak after watching her perform at a private party in Saskatoon.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com