Dancing, shall we say, isn’t something I do. Oh sure, after a tremendous amount of booze, I may rock the generic Ibiza one-two step while at one of New York’s “clubs” (such as Mansion, where I’ll be this Saturday supporting up-and-coming DJ and producer Vincent Voltaire), but generally, no bailo. So imagine my trepidation upon being invited to an event, DNCHRD IV, unofficially billed as some sort of “technology-dance fusion” deal. Sounds like oil and water, right?
Wouldn’t you know it, I enjoyed myself. That so rarely happens anymore.
The organization behind the show, LVHRD, has been around since 2004, and its goal is to “get people excited about creativity.” Nothing wrong with that. This particular show, held at the Art Director’s Club here, was some sort of dance competition, with participants asked to wear a specific color; I wore red for the first time since the third grade. Not a big fan.
The tech part of all this, and why I even mention it to begin with? The DJ, Ecletic Method, in addition to being a disc jockey—knowing full well that everything is laptop-based these days—was also a video jockey. Kinda. Clips from movies and shows and all sorts of good stuff was mixed and matched and projected upon one of several screens. A video on EM’s MySpace shows what it’s all about. Maybe I’m biased because I’m into that whole DJ scene, or at least pretend to be, but it made for a fine spectacle. Oh! The guy’s setup looked like Pioneer.com. I remember I used to be on a first name basis with some of the Pioneer folks because I kept bugging them to try out some of this equipment. And look where it got me!
And when one of the DJs told me that commercial labels represented by the RIAA actually support the show, I was like, “What? Really? They hate anything that’s not a radio station or shiny plastic disc.” Nope, acts like Brittney Spears and Christina Aguliera—oh my god we’re a gossip blog now—would send in acapella version of their songs to be part of the fun.
It was pretty much the most absurd thing I’ve ever been to, but in a good way.
For the record, the purple team won. Get it together, red.