PICTURE CREDIT: DoktorJohn.com
I have always loved dancing. It is absolutely one of my favourite things to do and if I had my druthers, I still go dancing every weekend like I used to when I was in my twenties (or three nights a week like when I first turned nineteen). There is something liberating about the act of dancing. It is primal. It is exhilarating. It is uninhibited. When I dance, I completely lose myself in the music and forget everything else around me.
Unlike most people I see in dance clubs today, I prefer to dance by myself. No dancing in a circle, looking at my friends whilst we shuffle our feet back and forth because to do more would break the circle. I can’t stand when people do this, although, I understand why they do–there’s a certain safety in numbers I suppose or a sentiment of “I won’t look stupid if I’m with my pals.” No, this is not for me and I hate it when I have to conform to this dancing approach, such as at weddings or parties and events of that nature but in a way, I feel like I have to. At a club though, I love nothing more than to saunter on the floor on my own and just let loose. Now that’s what I call freedom!
The first dance I ever attended as a tween was at a local Jellystone Park campground. They would have a dance every Friday in the pavilion. Yogi, Cindy, and Booboo were all there. It started off as kid-stuff but as the night wore on, it was a teen dream. I had great fun dancing with my cousins. Then in high school, I attended every single dance my school ever put on–I seriously don’t think I can remember missing a single one. Even when it was no longer “cool” to go to the dances as a senior, I still went with my friends. We would request songs like The Clash “Should I stay of should I go,” New Order “Blue Monday,” The Smiths “How Soon is Now,” and of course The B52’s “Rock Lobster.” With “Rock Lobster,” I can remember how when it got to the part when Fred Schneider was belting out “down, down, down…,” we would all drop slowly to the floor and anyone who was a “rookie” to the dance experience would be looking around like “What the heck is going on around here?” It was far too fun!
With a spring birthday, I was one of the first among my peers to be legally of age for the bar scene. I remember going to a dance club with one of my older cousins, J9, and sneaking in her sister (who was the same age as me only her birthday was in the summer) around my birthday. This is when I found my niche and expanded my musical horizons. Enter the Goth scene. Here I found a bunch of other people who liked to dance like me….by themselves and with complete and utter abandon. It was great. I would enjoy many years on the scene and I can say that I had some of the best times of my life on the dance floor.
Here are some of my favourite club hits:
High School Years
Alternative/Goth Years
and now….I think I’ll go dance….in my kitchen.
