The car that made Arsenal stars to dance

Precious Odoeme Reporting

It is not everyday that you find football stars taking to the dance floor on account of a car. Citroen, the elite auto maker, succeeded in doing that when it got Arsenal stars to try their hands (or feet?) at ballet dancing in a TVC (television commercial) promoting the new Citroen DS5.

The advert saw stars of the English Premiership side such as Alex Song, Wojciech Szczesny, Bacary Sagna and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain displaying their skills as ballet dancers.

The Arsenal stars were put through the complicated dance routine by dancers from the English National Ballet.

“The advert starts with the players arriving for rehearsals and being shown how to bend and stretch and warm-up at the barre as the music from the pas de quatre from Swan Lake plays in the background,” said one eye witness.

“The lads jump up and down, bend and cross their legs and try and elegantly hold their arms out in front of them before they revert to type and actually start doing pre-match warm up moves,” the eye witness added.

As the Arsenal first-team stars stand around looking pleased with themselves, the ballerinas show them how it should be done.

The advert shows the girls leaping and prancing across the floor, pirouetting in front of the players who attempt to copy their moves before practising holding the girls and lifting them in the air.

The footie stars then stand out with their arms towards the girls who dance towards them before launching into the routine.

Assessing the performance of the Arsenal stars, one analyst said: “They gave it their best shot, with a couple of them even managing to look rather graceful in the process.”

Citroen has been Official Vehicle Supplier to Arsenal Football Club since 2008, providing the club with a full fleet of Citroen’s award-winning line-up. In 2011, Citroën and Arsenal confirmed a new three year extension to the partnership.

Vinai Venkatesham, Head of Global Partnerships at Arsenal, said: “This has been a great activity to kick off the newly extended partnership between Arsenal and Citroen.”

“Our players really enjoyed the shoot, and the chance to demonstrate that their qualities of strength, agility, balance and focus are just as much a part of ballet as they are in football,” he added.

Update news