How Dancing Should Be

I recently posted about dancing and why I don't understand it. There's a video that's been making the rounds though, that I feel captures my personal understanding of dance.

In my previous post I talked about how I don't quite understand why people are moved by dances. They can look sexy and impressive, but in the end I felt that dances were not very emotionally moving - at least for me.

That being said, I personally enjoy dancing. I think it's a great way to just let go, and be yourself. Enjoying music is often not just about listening, but moving to it. It's for this reason that I used to go to raves back in the day, because unlike clubs, there's a true sense of everyone being themselves. No one is judging how you dance, and no one cares - in fact, if anything, you get compliments for doing the strangest, craziest dances. Why the compliments? It's not mockery: It's a recognition that they are really getting into it, and really enjoying it.

That got me thinking, that perhaps dance is supposed to be emotionally moving because you can easily relate to the experience. I was comparing dance to music, or paintings, or film... but perhaps it's a very different type of art. I think the way to enjoy dance is closer to the way that we enjoy someone else smiling. It's contagious, we recognize what it means, and it makes us feel something because we know what it's like to be smiling, to let go and be laughing. Just like a smile, when we see a good dance, we can relate to that moment of musical immersion. It's that ability to relate to that moment, which makes us enjoy dance.

So, for me personally, the dancing in the next video is much more moving than most choreographed works. It's honest, it's spontaneous, and it's fun to see this immersion and how it spreads across several people. We all want to be there! How great would this be? How awesome is it that the guy who starts the whole thing is completely into it and doesn't care?



I think that part of the reason - because there's more reasons than just the dance - that the "where the hell is matt" videos were so big is because of this (if you don't know what I'm talking about, go here. If he was doing the same thing but just standing there, I suspect it would not have been as popular as it became.

What do you think?

Screaming Dance Music

It's funny how life works. A couple of posts ago I talked about the art of screaming, and now I come across this...

I have to admit I wouldn't actually listen to this on my leisure time, but it's certainly an original idea. I'm sure it fills a niche that never existed before!

What am I talking about? Ever wonder what would happen if dance music incorporated death metal screaming? Me neither. But someone did, and here's the result. Whatever you think of it, I think we can all agree it's worth listening to once, because this is definitely different:



I checked out their other videos, but they seem to be more of a rap group than a dance group. Screaming and rap didn't surprise me as much, so I posted this video instead. If you like it, they are called brokeNCYDE.

Dancing?

I've posted about different aspects of music here, from instruments, performance, vocals, and even music videos. I think all have the potential to move people, to touch people in ways that are impossible to describe in words. However, I had a very awkward realization when it was made apparent that I have not talked about dancing.

What made me realize this? This is even more embarrassing - the youtube video from "So you think you can dance", where all the judges were crying. I guess I will embed it here. The performance is supposedly extremely moving.



But I don't get it. Nada. I thought it was entertaining to watch, but in the same way that I am impressed with gymnastics. I felt nothing watching this. Believe me, I tried though. Hard.

So it is with this realization that I reflected upon my understanding of dancing, and came out wondering: Am I missing something here? Because I really don't think I get it. Perhaps the above video is just a bad example, but I still have yet to ever see a dance that moved me. Dances can look sexy, can look strong, can look impressive...but I can't imagine a dance that could make me feel something the way music can, the way a painting can, or the way that actors can (for me personally).

If anyone has any thoughts on this, please feel free to share! I would love to understand dance. It's so utterly tied with music, yet I am completely ignorant of it.