Day 184: Dead Body Parts or I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Listening: Go upstairs and change. We gon' do some things. I'm gon' tie ya down. Let's just move aroun'.

What's my problem? There are far too many lost arts, or at least arts that people will look at you strange about.

December ninth, Raphael Saadiq is going to be playing at the House of Blues, and I'm PSYCHED. For those of you who don't know his music it's neo-soul/Motown, and it makes me want to dance. His music has made me want to get up and dance since I was in middle school listening to Tony Toni Tone doing the Roger Rabbit and the running man.

When I think about going to this concert and his music, I don't want to just stand and bob to it. I want to dance. By dance, I don't just mean flail about by myself (which I have done before). I want to dance with somebody. I want connection and lead/follow. I want to groove with somebody.

Unfortunately, that doesn't happen much anymore in the modern world. For most people, partner dancing is reserved for wedding receptions where you have your carefully choreographed foxtrot, and your swaying back and forth dance with the father/mother of the bride/groom dance. If you're still in high school or middle school, partner dancing exists, I guess. But really is there any feeling in the groove, or are they just trying to cop a feel?

The problem exists in my mind that there is no casual venue where people can dance if they want to. I have friends who might disagree, who think, "Hey, there are several lindy hop/west coast swing/Argentine tango dances a week." That's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a place where the music exists whether the dance happens or not, and the option of dancing is exercised because of the music, not because of the dance. I want to go, listen to some good music, and groove with someone random without them looking at me funny because I'm touching their hand when I'm dancing with them, not grinding hips.

It's tough. As I think about art forms that I have participated in, a great deal of them are dead, dying, or just plain snickered at these days.

I am an ex-raver/ex-DJ. In the United States, the rave scene is dead. If you want to listen to electronic music, you have to go to clubs with Armani clad hipsters who are thinking, "Are you really wearing that?" That fun, welcoming, sweaty, underground scene that I used to be a part of died sometime around seven years ago. There are no more colorful flyers at record stores telling you that these twelve DJs will be playing here at this warehouse until six in the morning. There are no longer any active online rave bulletin boards or hotlines to call. The fun is gone.

The music is still there, both new and old. I listen to it often and want to jump around with kids in bright clothes who suck on pacifiers. By kids, I mean people over eighteen years old. I have friends who have babies who wear bright clothes and suck on pacifiers.

There are festivals around the world who cater to electronic music, but nothing you can find on any given day off. I remember a day when there were at least seven parties in a week that were all well attended by all sorts of folk, just showing up to dance to the music. Now I'd be lucky if I could find a decent club night once a month.

The truth of the matter is that though I say these art forms are dead or are dying, they're really just underground where they're just not as accessible, or they've changed to something less organic. Sure, I can go to Winter Music Conference in Miami in March to jump around to some killer DJs, but I want it where I live... continuously. And, sure, I could either go to a night to dance a specific step to specific music, or I could grab someone random out of the crowd at a concert hall to dance, but I don't want to feel like the only reason I'm there is to dance, or that I'm the only one who wants to dance like that.

I guess that's what it comes down to is organics. I want things to happen naturally. I want to groove with a girl, because the music moves us both, and we can move together in a natural, non-contrived way. I want to go to parties where the crowd comes together for the love of the music, not the love of the scene, the love of the booze or the love of the pills.

So, anyways, I had this thing that I wanted to tie in about how the art of dating is lost, but I think I've said enough about music and dancing. But, if you do like Raphael Saadiq and plan on going to see his show, and you do catch the groove and want to dance, I'll be there. If you don't know, here are a few clips of him.


Bear with the sound quality. It gets better.