DDR

About a year ago, I was helping out with the junior high and high school ministry at my church. There is a little thing called Dance Dance Revolution that worked magic with them. Something about a dance-off just resonated so deeply with them that they found themselves playing it all the time, every week, without fail (well, at least the juniors highers).

I was walking to my car the other night. It was parked in the Union Lot at school, which is a covered parking structure. As I entered the floor where my car was parked, I could hear music blaring from someone’s car. As I got closer, I was able to see that it wasn’t just someone listening to tunes, but rather, a dance lesson of sorts. This guy and girl were attempting to teach two other people how to dance. It was great. I was highly entertained.

So many songs prompt you to dance… As I sit here and think about it, a whole slew of songs came to mind. “Move Your Feet” by Junior Senior, “Untitled” by Modest Mouse where they tell you to “Dance, D-D-Dance, Dance and go crazy!” “Rock Your Body” by Justin Timberlake, and the “shameful indulgence” I just can’t seem to get enough of lately, “Dance Dance” by Fall Out Boy.

There are shows on TV – “So You Think You Can Dance,” “Dance With The Stars,” not to mention all of the music reality shows (such as Making the Band and American Idol) that require large amounts of dancing. For years, people have mimicked one of history’s greatest dance icons, Michael Jackson. High schools have dances, there are business establishments dedicated to being a house for dancing, and you can’t tell me that if you hear a good beat, your body isn’t in SOME way responding to it – whether it be breaking out your Napoleon Dynamite moves, or simply tapping your foot.

Movement, to some extent, is inevitable when it comes to music. I once had a friend, in sincerest honesty, look at me dumbfounded, unable to understand my statement: “I don’t like to dance.” He obviously loves to dance, and was completely baffled that someone would actually say they didn’t. I’ll say it. Typically, I don’t like to dance. It is awkward. Makes me uncomfortable. And I just don’t find it fun. Maybe that’s because I’m a bad dancer. Maybe it’s because I grew up thinking it was “bad”. I don’t know… All I know is, I don’t dance.

However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t like dance. I’m absolutely fascinated with it. I love to watch all sorts of dance… I remember torturing myself through the horrible movie “U Got Served” just so I could watch the amazing dancing. There’s something so cool about the way people can move their bodies to a specific rhythm and make it look artistic and beautiful.

Dancing… What a crazy, but artistic notion. Ballet. Tap. Hip-Hop. Interpretive. African. Modern. Polka. Jig. Square. And even video-game-induced. So cool.