Music

Hey Everyone!

I have to be honest.  I've been sidetracked from releasing my second DVD set because of another project, which I'm sharing with you now.  It's been an adventurous year for me, scary at times, but in the end, everything seems to work out OK.  I also have you, my students, to thank, for the support and kind words I've received in my contributions to you. 

It's also been 10 years since "The Sunscreen Song" was released and I wanted to squeeze a 10 year tribute in before the end of this year.

I made this video compiled from clips of my adventures  and activities over the past few years.  It's been 10 years since this song was released, I've never really gotten sick of it, and I guess wanted to share how I lived it out.  I'm not trying to tell everyone to do everything possible, but rather inspire people to live more freely - and that you can start today by doing something simple, such as dancing in your living room!

Definitely, the "DANCE" part in the song really inspired me.  I really wanted to communicate that I really enjoy dancing and I believe in what I teach - that dancing is fun, freeing, and something we should all give a try.  I want to make dancing easy and available to everyone and have people dancing together and having fun all social situations.  Please share it with anyone you think who would like seeing it.

My Youtube Channel.

Link To My 10-Year Tribute To The Sunscreen Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJew4fxHl1U

I've recorded and released a web lesson and dance practice to give you guys something to work with while I work furiously around the clock putting together my jam-packed Level 2 DVD!  In the web lesson, I cover basic musicality to the song "Dangerous" by Kardinal Offishall featuring Akon.  I've covered transitioning moves in my Level 1 DVD, but here it is put to use dancing to a real club song.

If you have a Youtube account, please show your support by rating my videos generously!   Click here to visit my Youtube channel.

Also, at the request of some students, I've put up a forum.  It's empty right now because I'm super busy making a quality video for you guys (and girls), but I intend to get active on it once I release my Level 2 DVD. 

If you're reading this article and are wondering how to get notified for more lessons, make sure you sign up on my email list!

Again, thanks for all your support!

Support the artist and buy the song.

I'm curious about something - why did disco die? Almost forty years ago, club dancing existed in the form of disco dancing (or nightclub dancing). It was cheesy, fun, and uninhibited. No matter how young you are, I'm sure you've come across a re-enactment dance of Saturday Night Fever or heard the songs "Stayin' Alive" or "I Will Survive" at some point in your life.

The disco and funk era was something for sure. I'm a big fan of the two genres, pulling lots of elements of their dance styles into my own dance style, particularly locking (a street dance style). In fact, when I talk to girls, I often mention that I should have grown up in the 70's. I'm still throw in arm rolls and pointing left, right, and center in heaps while I dance.

More importantly, guys and gals danced and interacted with each other on the dance floor through lots of partnering work. You could either do it freestyle, or pick up some formal moves from disco schools and learn "the hustle", "cha cha", or "touch style". Obviously, if you wanted to dance like John Travolta and be one up on the other guys, you would take some lessons, and of course, learn how to point with confidence.

Somehow, through the 80's and 90's, disco died, the partnering dance patterns disappeared and only reappeared in the form of swing and especially Latin. What was left in the clubs were guys giving girls awkward turns, twisting arms, and later on, just dirty grinding. There was a disco backlash that killed the music genre in North America for a while, but why did partner dancing in clubs fade away?

Was it too hard to learn? Not everyone wants to or can pick up dancing. With formal steps, it also becomes too rigid - ballroom dancing doesn't need to be revisited in the clubs.

Is it not in men's natures? Obviously, women go out for girl's night outs to dance while most men would definitely not be doing that - rather, hanging out at a sports bar, strip club, or watching the latest UFC event at a friend's house is the preferred choice. If guys are at the clubs, then it's only to get drunk enough to muster enough confidence to either 1) approach a girl 2) grind up against a girl 3) forget that they're there.

Maybe it was due to the popularity of breakdancing? I was watching the 80's move Back To The Future the other day, and a breakdancing (or breaking) scene made me notice that the 80's started to give way to hip hop culture and breaking. Somewhat male-oriented, girls in high heels and short skirts can only dance on the spot and watch on the edge of the dance circle. They can't even squat like the boys.

You could be the best breaker and dance a storm for all the girls to watch, but what they really want is part of the fun and action. I've seen and heard it many times. Guys who break, pop, and lock asking me what to do. Nothing wrong with breaking. I love it, but it doesn't work so well in clubs.

There could be many other reasons, but simply, partnered dancing in clubs simply died. However, thanks to recent dance shows like "Dancing With The Stars", "So You Think You Can Dance?", and ""America's Best Dance Crew", a resurgence of dance interest, particularly from girls, has ignited. Girls have always wanted to dance, but now the pressure's on for guys to dance. All the partnering and flirting of dancing with the opposite sex is coming back and I want to be on the front lines making it happen.

I don't call it Nightclub Dancing anymore, so it's not confused with Disco Dancing, but simply Club Dancing. Club Dancing, or what I call the Club Dance Style, is simply taking basic street moves (which I mostly cover in my Level 1 DVD) and mixing it with some time-honored and some new partnering moves. For example, taking some cuban salsa turn patterns while doing lyrical hip hop movements.

We're not competing for a dance show, so I want to keep my Club Dance Style as freestyle as possible, meaning to minimize the formal steps while maximizing the fun factor. Keep your eye on it. If all the guys following my dance lessons pick it up, you'll see it show up in a club or social near you.

In this second part in a series presenting the different nightclub music styles to beginners, this article presents urban music played in nightclubs - Hip Hop, Contemporary R&B, Reggaeton, and Funk .  Urban music is by far the most popular style rounding the clubs today.  Its roots stem from black culture and urban music is fantastic to dance to because of the freedom in style and interpretation.

Regardless of the music categories, dancing to Urban Music can generally be placed under hip hop dance, which includes breaking, popping, locking, and freestyle, amongst other styles.  I use elements from all these styles in my nightclub dance syllabus.

Whatever style of dance you do, what's important is musicality - how well a dance move fits the song.  For example, if the song has a hard, pronounced beat, such as in the below Kanye West song, then you definitely want to pop (flex your muscles to come to abrupt stops) at times.  If it has some soulful vocal sections, then perhaps some body waving or a slower, smooth dance move should be used.

If you have no knowledge about the different music styles/genres played in a nightclub, then this series of articles will help you sort out the confusion. By recognizing different styles of music, you can match your dance style to the music, have a lot more fun in the club, and show a bit of musicality to impress the ladies.

I generally prefer clubs that cater to a general club crowd (Top 40) and play a bit of each genre, so that I can switch up my dancing. though I go salsa dancing at least once a week to keep myself sharp as well as go out to a music-specific nightclub once a month. I've included samples from imeem.com (allow some time for the players to load).  If for any reason any of the links are down, contact me and I'll put up new playlists.

Introduction 

In this article of a series of three, I'll introduce some different categories of electronic dance music - specifically Club/Top 40 Dance, House, and Rave.  Rave is actually not a style, but it refers to music associated with a rave.  I've put the sub-styles together since this article is only an introduction and rave music isn't as pronounced in most nightclubs.

Electronic dance music is usually the easiest to dance to because of a consistent beat.  Regular nightclubs that play all kinds of music will often play a lot of Club Dance, some Classic House, and almost no Rave music.   However, if you find yourself on a dark nightclub with lots of lasers and lighting, and where only electronic dance music is played (no Hip Hop/R&B), then you'll hear a little Club Dance, some Hard House, and lots of Rave styles.

Club/Top 40 Dance

This style of electronic music is heavily associated with pop and is characterized by catchy vocals.  If you listen to a Top 40 radio station, it's the "danceable" songs you'll hear.   Madonna's current hits are great examples of Top 40 Dance as are songs by Kylie Minogue.  Visit Billboard.com's dance chart "Hot Club Dance Play" for more examples.  Often, pop songs are remixed to be danceable club songs and fall into this category.