This past weekend, my parents came to visit to see our DanceWorks performance.
Naturally, I brought my parents to Chucks, the local bar on Marshall Street. When we arrived, my parents asked why no one was dancing and if they were what was this so called grinding they were doing? My parents are not used to this type of dancing. Chucks happens to play a lot of 80s music. My dad really appreciated that.
As Don't Stop Believing came on, my dad hopped on his bar stool and began dancing to the beat of the music. Naturally my mother stood next to him on the floor begging for him to come down and eventually gave up and danced herself.
Their dancing to the 80s rock music is so different than dancing to contemporary songs today. My mom did the step touch while my dad jumped up and down and did the air guitar. How is their freestyle so different from ours? When did regular dancing become so sexualized in college students?
I happen to think my mom and dad's dancing is more fun! And they appeared to start a revolution at Chucks as everyone started to dance with them.
How can we preserve the quality and sanctity of dance before it become too sexualized?
I've always wondered what made dance so sexualized too. I guess my conclusion is that it depends on the connotations of the music and the place, maybe even generational differences too.
ReplyDeleteOur generation has grown up in a much more hypersexualized environment than our parents and grandparents. Our music is much more sexualized too in certain genres, say in hip-hop/rap and pop for example.
Also, at the college age, we're used to going out to parties on the weekends where loud music is being played. I suppose alcohol and inebriation have a part to play too, as some people become a lot more open and do things they wouldn't normally do like dancing provocatively.
So short version of my idea: Society along with specific aspects such as music and dance have become more hypersexualized than past generations. We dance differently than our parents and grandparents because of these factors.
As for preserving the quality, I would say that there will always be genres of dance that aren't necessarily sexualized as much. If we continue to practice and acknowledge those dances as well, then we'll always have dances without the aspect of sexuality in them.
I always think clubs/bars would be so much more fun if people just DANCED, just like your parents. My parents who grew up in the 70's are similar in their views of today's "dance moves". It would be refreshing to experience something of that sort
ReplyDeleteOk, let me just start off by saying that your parents sound totally rad haha. I completely agree with Rihannon: there are so many factors in today's society that contribute to this sexualization of dance. The music obviously has a large part to do with it - a lot of lyrics today are very sexual and encourage sexual behavior. The demographic is also going to play a huge role - because you guys were at a bar on campus, it is not surprising to see more grinding and overly sexual dancing. Today's generation has grown up around/been surrounded by an environment that is more openly focused on sexuality than our parents'/grandparents' generations, so that of course plays a key role as well. But yes, I too feel that clubs & bars would be a lot more fun if people actually danced!!
ReplyDeleteOn that topic, I was recently reading a blog about a new dance that came out of Colombia. Check out the discussion:
ReplyDeletehttp://wayneandwax.com/?p=4905
I agree your parents sound like fun people! More on air guitar to come...