Youth Radio - Topic: Dance

Prom: Join the Party!

Tso — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:03:12 -0500

Spring has arrived. And you know what that means? It’s prom season. The night all lowerclassmen wait for, the night the upperclassmen enjoy, and the night all parents worry about. All in all, it is a night that can change your high school life. Prom is something you do not want to miss out on.

Some people out there don’t think prom is worth the time and money spent on preparations and the night itself. I was one of them. I didn’t believe that spending a hundred bucks on the ticket itself was worth it, let alone the cost of my dress, shoes, hair, makeup, and not to mention a boutonniere for my date. Girls can easily spend up to several hundred dollars preparing for prom. However, there are some ways to save money. All the worries and troubles you may have about how to do your makeup or hair is no sweat when your girlfriends are on standby.

I know I was worrying about what to wear, which shoes would match, everything, seeing as I more or less decided last minute. No problem, my friends stepped in and set me straight. I got a gorgeous dress for less than 35 dollars, shoes for less than 30, and hair and makeup for free.

However, it isn’t just the financial cost that turns high schoolers away. Before we got caught in the pre-prom excitement, my friends and I had decided on not going. But something’s aren’t in your control. I ended up going and so did most of my friends. We did this crazy last minute rush to submit our forms and a hurried shopping spree for our prom dresses. It was crazy, but the craziness matched the energized environment of the whole school. Everyone was talking about it—pre-prom plans, after-parties, it was something to enjoy being part of. That was one of the reasons why I decided to go; not only was being part of the excited group of prom-goers just really fun, but I didn’t want to miss out on an experience that is just once in a lifetime.

I decided to take a leap of faith because someone once told me that those who overcome their doubts enjoy life the most. I won’t tell you what happened at my prom, because what happens at prom stays at prom.

Everyone’s prom experience is different; so go and experience yours. It may change your life.

Dance Passion

dwilliams — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:11:00 -0600

Since I was 11 years old, dancing has meant a lot to me. Dancing is my passion. I like to use my body movements to express myself. It takes total control of my body. It’s my everyday responsibility. If I don’t dance, I don’t feel like myself. I want to entertain the audience and to lure them to the craziness and intensity I’m giving out.

One song that makes me crazy and intense is called “down on me” by Jeremiah featuring 50 cent. The song is full of excitement. It gets me hype. I even hear the mini beat that can’t let me sit still. It makes me want to dance and sing along with it too.

Dancing wasn’t a choice for me; i dance because my soul tells me too. When I was young i found out a lot of interesting things about dancing. I have watched other performers dance and seen how excited and happy they where while showing off their moves. So I kept on dancing and dancing, because practice makes perfect.

When I was in 8th grade i had my first performance. I was so nervous yet I still had enough confidence in me. I was dancing to the song “elevator” by Flo-rida. I was under a lot of pressure but I was taught that when you perform you shouldn’t be afraid. I was also taught that even though I mess up I should not be too worried about it, because it’s how you deal with the pressure and overcome it. I’m curious to find out more about different styles of dancing. I want the chance to learn more about the world and others craft and skills. I also want to learn about its history in order to become a better dancer today. And as I keep on dancing, my skills will began to improve and blossom hopefully into my own style.

"Thrill The World" Sets Record For Simultaneous MJ Dance

rgee — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:02:38 -0500

In preparation for the spookiest night of the year, zombies from all over the world will rise from the dead... and get down to Michael Jackson’s "Thriller." That’s right. “Thrill the World” - the annual worldwide simultaneous execution of MJ's famous “Thriller” dance takes place on October 23.

Last year, the Thrill the World event broke the world record for the most people simultaneously dancing to "Thriller" (see video below). This year, creator Ines Markelle wants one million dancers to participate. Markelle began Thrill the World in Canada, and it has spread all over the world. According to the Thrill the World website, Markelle began dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" at age three.

Amada Anderson started the Thrill the World New York City team in April, 2009. She stumbled upon the event through a YouTube video. “Last year in January, I wanted to do an exercise regime," she said. "I decided I was going to learn Thriller after I saw the movie ‘Thirteen Going on Thirty.' So I started searching on YouTube for a video of the dance. I found a video made by this girl in Canada, Ines Markelle, who organizes Thrill the World. I ordered the DVD that she created and I started learning the dance.”

After that, Amada’s interest was thoroughly peaked. “Eventually I registered with Ines, so that I could start my own Thrill the World event in NYC. I recruited volunteers from Facebook and Craigslist. I quickly learned the ropes of New York City permits, and began getting sponsorship from Halloween stores.”

Last year, Anderson held Thrill the World NYC in Astoria, Queens. Because it was their first time, they ran into a few difficulties. “It was pouring rain!” said Anderson. “We only had about 100 dancers, and I ended up paying a lot of money out of pocket.” But, worldwide, Thrill the World raised about $50,000 for charity.

After that, Anderson began designing a website and getting sponsorships from dance studios in New York. Everyone pays $20 to register their event, and they have the choice of directing the money they raise towards a charity.

“This year, I’m charging $20 to take the Thriller class, or $10 + either a pair of pajamas or a children’s story book,” said Anderson. This year, Thrill the World NYC is raising money for the Pajama Program, a non-profit organization that collects pajamas and books for kids in homeless shelters or kids who have been removed from their homes.

“This year, we are holding two events in NY,” said Anderson. “One at 7 a.m. in Times Square and one at 7 p.m. on Coney Island.”

The best part for Anderson last year was actually doing the dance. “It’s about bringing the community together,” said Anderson. “There were kids dancing but also people in their 60’s and 70’s. Once it actually stopped raining and the music was blasting, it was electrifying.”

Now, she’s really enjoying teaching the classes. “I love seeing the light bulbs go off in people’s heads when they say, ‘I got it!’ The dance is taught very simply and once you get it, you’ll never forget it. It’s ‘thrilled’ into your body!”

Anderson wanted to emphasize that this event really is a tribute to Michael Jackson. “To him and his music. Not that you have to be a huge fan, but for some reason, his music bridges gaps between people of all races and ages. He was also a big philanthropist. So this event is also becoming a living memory of him,” she said.

According to Anderson, groups who have put on Thrill the World events went on to learn the dances to ‘Beat It’ and ‘Smooth Criminal’ as well. Some groups have started cleaning up their communities, going around as “trash zombies,” and raising awareness for the environment.

“I had almost given up on this event so many times this year, but I’ve seen how important this even is. I even saw a couple fall in love in one of the Thriller classes!” said Anderson.

The Dougie Sensation

denise — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:55:21 -0500

Another dance sensation has become a hit on YouTube, Dougie. This dance has the potential—if not already—to top Jerkin’s popularity. People are posting their “teach me how to Dougie” videos and getting thousands of hits. Even Chris Brown is going around teaching people how to Dougie.

The Inglewood group, Cali Swag District, is getting major play at clubs with their first single, which has reached Number 1 on Billboard Heatseekers. The dance move is not difficult. All you have to do is put your arms in front and lean side-to-side. But if you still aren’t sure how to Dougie, check out the videos below. Also, check out an exclusive interview with the group on All Day Play

Contra Dance Comes Alive

rgee — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:02:04 -0500

Some of you might have read the July 23rd YMI post, “You Call That Dancing?” - articulating how today’s dancing can be uncomfortable. You commonly see chaperones at school dances pulling kids apart because of “inappropriate” dancing. Well here’s an unexpected dance trend that combines the very old, with the new. Contra Dance is back.
According to a recent NPR story, young people are reviving this style of folk dance that originally began as a 17th century French court dance. 16-year-old Kathleen Fownes said in the NPR interview, "You move up and down the line in sync with the music, which is in eight-beat phrases, and the caller tells you like, which moves to do and how to do them. It's just amazingly fun." Today, you can find hybrid forms of Contra Dance, like techno-contra and hip hop contra.

The Four Steps to Jerkin

denise — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:20:27 -0500

Do you jerk or do you do the reject? A lot of people think by doing the reject they're jerkin, but in fact, the reject is one of four steps that make up the famous jerkin dance. The reject is a dance that you do with your feet. The logistics of it basically consist of stepping forward and stepping back—but it looks more elegant than that. The New Boyz joined forces with Hot Topic to create Jerk 101, a video that teaches the four steps to jerkin.

If you're going to join the jerkin movement make sure you've got the following steps locked down.

1) The Jerk

2) The Reject

3) The Dip

4) The Spin Drop

Once you've mastered these four steps you can successfully say you're jerkin

Previously:

How Andres Barboa Celebrates Cesar Chavez

nmexico — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:40:20 -0500

On Saturday, March 27th, the KUNM Youth Radio Project attended the Cesar Chavez march in the South Valley of New Mexico. KUNM Youth Radio members, interviewed several people in the community who attended the march to find out what Cesar Chavez meant to them. In this video, Abby Magnus interviews fourteen-year-old Andres Barboa and finds out more about his thoughts on Cesar Chavez and his role during the celebration.

Separation in the Dance Emphasis

igodfrey — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:50:03 -0600

I used to be in the dance emphasis at Oakland School for the Arts. One of my friends is still in the dance emphasis and she has been very depressed lately. In the dance emphasis there are two groups, dance troop and foundation troop. These two groups are separated from the okay and the really good. All the people in dance wants to be in dance troop because it is a huge challenge, but it is even more difficult and more drama. The dancers usually don’t talk to anyone else except the people in their group. There is always drama and someone is always critiquing or talking bad about someone. The drama usually occurs when a performance is coming up. My friend performed and her under wear was showing through her leotard and everybody was talking about her. If people knew, why didn’t they let her know before she got on the stage? The dance teacher was talking about her and all her so called friends started going behind her back and making up rumors. It is interesting how people front and act like they’re your friend but once something happens they change. It wasn’t even a big deal that her underwear was showing and if it was such a big deal then someone should have told her. I told my friend she should confront her so called friends and let them know if they have something to say they should let her know. She told me that she didn’t want to start anymore drama. I am glad I left the dance emphasis because I think I would have handled the situation very differently. I don’t like the division and separation. I don’t think there is any way to really solve the hate in the dance emphasis. I have a problem with this because I probably would have stayed in dance if there wasn’t so much drama and competition. I hate to see my friends in a bad mood and depressed so this situation has really bothered me. Separation, competition, and fake friends are the problem.

A New Dance: Daggering

miguel — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:43:31 -0600

This story was produced as part of the Introduction to Radio Production class at the Department of Television and Radio at Brooklyn College.

AUDIO STORY BY Jenna Romany

The Caribbean is known for many things; beautiful beaches, calypso music and dances like the conga line. But now, there’s a new dance that’s sweeping the region.

That dance? Daggering-- which takes dirty dancing to brand new, uh, heights. Forget your tangos and even your lambadas, daggering is straight to the point as the titles to daggering songs like "Bend Over" and "Up In Her Belly" proove.

Jenna Romany thinks this takes the partying reputation of her Caribbean culture to an unnecessary extreme.

A transcript of the audio story is available after the jump...

[Ed. Note: This transcript reflects an experimental approach to narrative, and as such omits some of the track information our transcripts usually include.]

The Caribbean is known for many things; beautiful beaches, calypso music and dances like the conga line. But now, there’s a new dance that’s sweeping the region.

"I think that my expression when daggering first came out was the same as everybody else. It was shock and awe. It was like what the hell is going on here?"

The dance is called daggering, and it’s far from doing the conga line. It was developed by Jamaicans. You wonder what it looks like? Here’s Cherelle Dinchong:

"Daggering for me is when someone aggressively thrusts their pelvic bone, into your derriere."

Wow!… ok. Some dancers go for more daring moves… like the one where the women are in handstands, with their legs spread part? The problem is that the dances can get out of hand and go terribly wrong. Here’s Cherelle again:

"They were daggering on a ledge and the next thing you know, the guy picked her up and threw her but his friend didn’t catch her so she actually fell and hit her head on the ground. "

Like the Macarena or the electric slide, a dance is nothing without music. Ok, it’s not exactly the same, but there are several daggering songs. Cherelle doesn’t really like them…

"The music is the worst. All of the songs are about sex and all of the songs are about men doing what they please to the women."

And here’s Omari Williams AKA DJ Official’s take on the music.:

"So basically, it starts with the rhythm; Secondly it’s the lyrics; the lyrics will have pro daggering lyrics. So you can take for instance, the RDX song, RDX has a song called “bend over”. Would you like me to sing some lyrics?"

OOO kay?

"There’s a part where he goes “girl let me push it inner inner inner inner inner inner inner”.

Busy Signal lyrics "Up in her Belly”: When me force it all up in there there, on the wall she crawl up...

Ok… I Did you catch that? If you didn’t, let me translate it for you. He’s saying “when I force it all up in there in there, on the wall she would crawl up in there in there…” Umm… I think you get the idea. I thought the lyrics blatantly objectify women. And I am not alone.

"When you look at daggering it shows women in a very, very poor light."

That was Joel. But I found that some people disagreed with this view. Here’s Sherice:

"In every society or every culture they have something similar in my opinion even if it’s r&b you know you rubbing or you stroking on someone so I don’t think it degrades women."

I guess that music and dances represent a culture and life style. So I wondered… is daggering an accurate reflection of the Caribbean culture? Here’s DJ Official:

"I don’t think that it’s a one sided or reflect the culture as a whole. But, West Indian culture has the ability to talk about sex and look at sex not as something so taboo as America would look at it"

And here’s what Cherelle has to say about it:

"In many ways the music can reflect a big stereotype that Caribbean women are passive and just allow their husbands to take control of them and do as they please"

As a Caribbean person I am worried that the world will see this dance and associate it with my culture. I understand that we enjoy music and have carnivals… and we party in the streets and all but… to me this is vulgar and offensive. It has taken partying to the extreme.

Bad Music and the Fans Who Dance To It

skhan — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:36:07 -0500

It seems as though a lot of current artists have run out of new ideas. Nowadays, you hear silly songs that rhyme about the simplest things and somehow make it big in the charts. A few years back, Lil Mama created a hip hop sensation with her single "Lip Gloss," which goes into the psychological depths of how her lip cosmetic of choice is so cool and how it will make all the boys chase her after school. Soulja Boy had tweens across the country singing about a comic book hero-inspired sexual act with his hit single, “Crank that (Soulja Boy).” And most recently, the New Boyz have got youth all over my neighborhood calling each other jerks with a track that they first recorded in a closet. A lot of people argue that what these songs lack in lyrics, they make up for in the toe-tapping beats and and hip-shaking dance moves that they introduce into youth culture. This phenomenon makes me wonder about what creates musical success: the song or the dance?

It seems that dancing is key and that the internet has something to do with it. Soulja Boy’s instructional dance video for “Crank That” is the most watched viral entertainment online, but is now vying against Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” for that spot. I think that only in the age of the internet, when anyone can be a star on YouTube, could the “King of Pop” have to compete with the jesters of that genre.

As a serious dancer who has studied hip-hop and belly dance, I cringe at the comparison between Michael Jackson and the likes of Soulja Boy. Unlike them, Michael Jackson wrote amazing music and lyrics and made the most complicated dance moves seem effortless and smooth. As a dancer, I can say that his moves are extremely difficult to execute. And a new generation of R&B artists like Justin Timberlake and Usher has done a pretty good job trying to emulate his style. But, the dance moves that go along with the silly songs out today aren't that well thought out. It seems like the singers just come up with a weird move that requires the dancer to jump around at random. Maybe the internet has democratized dance itself by making it accessible to all?

I asked some teens what they thought of this genre of music that I think doesn't warrant a second, or even first, listen. Why do they think these melodies and beats dominate the minds and bodies of today's youth?

Mayra, 18, doesn’t really like this music and doesn’t think anyone else does either:
“I don’t really listen much to mainstream music nowadays because it seems to me that people tend to sing about random things that don’t make sense. Lil Mama’s song about lip gloss, there was no reason for that song just that her lip gloss was poppin. People don’t really like the songs, they just to listen to it because of the beats […] and they can dance to it.”

David, 16, wouldn’t say the songs are his favorites, but finds the music to be addictive:
“A lot of the times it’s the beat because the lyrics are a little bit dumb sometimes especially the one about the car and the candy bar. The thing that catches my attention is more the music than the dancing because the dancing changes from every song, but if the song is really good, and it has a nice beat, then you’ll listen to the song whether you like the dancing or not.”

Previously: