my last entry of dance hall days was so much fun for me. i actively remembered a time when the world was still spinning for me and life was much more carefree. that post was lovingly posted and published on icp. i encourage you to check it out and support the carnival of pozitivities. i love the carnival and i really love it's mission, which includes a much more global personal view of hiv/aids.
my dance hall days did include using drugs and alcohol, but i don't remember that as being the focus. i was also learning about relationship, about community, and about possibility. being around so many different people with so many different backgrounds and so varied interests, my interests and the possibilities i could see for my life expanded too.
it was a time in my life to test the waters, test the rules, reject the status quo and redefine for myself the rules i would try to live by. i had been "out" for about 6 years and really perceived that i had hit the jackpot. i had found a subculture that would work for me because it embraced difference(to a degree), it questioned authority, and it celebrated self-expresion and creativity.
underground was just that- hidden from the mainstream much like avalon. it was the beginning of alternative culture and spawned many different variations of that theme. punk, goth, mod, skinhead, all those subcultures rumbled across the cities like wildfire. all demanding discernment from each other, but all seemingly interconnected.
today's entry into dance hall days is a classic from the late 70's/80's. it wasn't played in all the clubs i frequented. but it was heard in the off-the-beaten path ones(where i had the most fun). it is a classic to me and is connected to early techno. slam-dancing was not unusual then and neither was this thing we called-kick dancing. and please note that the images cut to this song are banal, but i chose it for the song.
and don't lyrics like... let's make love- before we die- really foreshadow some things that were to come? (again, in the vid menu bar, there are other versions.. grace jones... trent reznor with peter murphy live(damn good!).
2 comments:
I had never been into the Dance hall stuff, or maybe we called it something different here. Just lots of drugs, parties, clubs, and of course the "hooker with a passport" days.
Sometimes I miss those challenging the norms days, but there are still ways to do that in healthy ways.
I guess the images are banal now but at the time this was art—video art—a new medium that has progressed rapidly. I concur with your recall of a time where everything seemed new and anything anything seemed possible. What's REALLY nice is that, though in a different way, that feeling has somewhat returned.
I don't really connect with the tune but i do with the times it evokes. thanks again for the Dance Hall Days trip to a magical time.
Post a Comment