Best popular dance books according to redditors

originally posted in: https://www.reddit.com/r/aves/comments/58ikxy/can_someone_define_rave/d90p5io/

The definition is different depending on who you talk to.

Personally I think of a rave as a recontextualized space in a Temporary Autonomous Zone spirit with a sound system playing electronic music

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Over the years I have grown to appreciate "freedom" as a very important aspect for ravers especially in the underground scene.

Going back out to a macro scale - with electronic dance music culture having grown and spread over the last 30ish years, there now exist differing layers of "rave culture" or as academia likes to call it "EDMC" (electronic dance music culture)

If you take people who have only gone to top 40 night clubs with stringent dress codes/discriminatory entry policies, then you plop them into something like EDC, they might think "wow this is so much freedom, I love raves"

But if you take those people and plop them into a free tekno rave, they might not even know what to do with themselves. "it's just a sound system in the woods, what am I supposed to do?!?" In the perfect case, the answer is: "whatever you want" - but not everyone gets this point of view, or is even interested. People make tradeoffs between music styles, sound system/visual production quality, personal freedom, personal opportunity costs (price of event/time to get there), feelings of safety, level of acceptance, etc. when deciding what to do with their lives.

Everything from the most basic of club nights to the most farout bunker rave, people will call "rave" - I think it's good to ask what people think the term means, but I personally wouldn't get too hung up about anyone's individual definition. It's been re-used for different purposes by people/groups that want to market a specific element of "original rave" (e.g. the sound system/electronic dance music) without including the freedom/friendly anarchy/TAZ aspects. I don't blame people for using the term in various ways, especially people who haven't studied or researched the culture, or haven't been to a free party themselves.

If anyone is interested in reading about EDMC on a global scale and its sociological/cultural impact, I highly recommend checking out Technomad by Graham St John and also the authors who contribute to Dancecult

Yes, quite a lot, actually!

Depends on the size of the space, but you can usually practice fundamentals like driving, balance, etc. in a small space. Waltz is a good vehicle for practicing all of these; try doing a single half natural/half reverse or change step and then reset. To train your balance, do a half natural/reverse slower than normal and make sure that you lower at the 'and' of count 3. If it's too easy to stay balanced, try turning down the tempo.

If you follow (and even if you don't), heel turns are also a good thing to practice, and they can be practiced in a small space.

If you are doing standard, I also recommend a copy of either The Ballroom Technique, Ballroom Dancing, or both. These are by the same author and have roughly the same content, but the first is more of a quick reference (and does not include a section on V.Waltz). You can also look up the same content on Ballroom Guide's workshop page for free.

Here's a second to Mark Butler's work. Unfortunately, like a lot of theory books, it's really expensive (because libraries will basically pay any price for books).

However, Butler's first book, Unlocking the Groove, is only 27 bucks on Amazon right now. This is the pioneering work on the theory behind dance/electronic music, and is well worth a read.

Haha yeah I guess I could send it/post it later. It's not very good! I'm an undergrad still. It's actually about pop/commercial EDM, and how progressive house and trance were "transformed" into pop music.

If you're more interested in stuff like this, look up Mark Butler's book Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design in Electronic Dance Music. It's academic, but it's very interesting to see dance music really critically broken down and analyzed. That book generally discusses rhythms and form, and his book Playing with Something that Runs discussed how DJs interact with crowds and how forms different songs overlap to create form of a DJ set.

edit - forgot to mention, you can find that first book online for free pretty easily, I would highly recommend it!

Foundation

It's by Joseph Schloss. He's a guy whose work you may want to explore in general. He spent several years in the NY hip hop scene, interviewing all the OG's, while simultaneously starting/developing as a competitive b-boy. He also helped Alien Ness write "The Art of Battle."

Awesome, knowledgeable guy.

Wow that's really cool! I have always wanted to try silks and maybe with all this upper body strength I am getting from pole I can someday get into that.

I'm personally of the opinion that there is nothing wrong with pole dancing being sexy. I know pole fitness studios tend to do their best to separate it from exotic dancing, but I think it delves into the much deeper issue of female sexuality and empowerment being something that people are afraid of and quick to dismiss since it is threatening in some way. A very good read on this subject is Claire Griffin Sterrett's PoleStory. At the same time, I understand pole fitness studios and instructors want to be regarded as legitimate. It seems to be a really delicate balance of the public's opinion of you and what you do, as well as standing up for what you believe in and expressing your sexuality as you desire.