I used to dance in college. I think I danced in high school. I remember bugging the DJ at the high school Dances to play Devo. I remember totally flipping out when the DJ played my request. I loved dancing to Rock Lobster in college. It was fun. I don't think it would have been fun to dance if no one else was at the party. It was a shared experience. By the way, Rock Lobster is to New Wavers what Shout is to Boomers. Think about it.
I think I lost my dance drive when I moved to Chicago. I would go out to see shows, but I would never go to clubs to dance. No one who went to see a show at Lounge Ax or Phyllis' Musical Inn would dance. Dancing was not cool. I have heard stories that people would dance at Shrimp Boat shows, but I don't remember it. In my band, we would go to Madison and people would dance to our music. It was a blast. People danced in Charleston, WV. I love when people dance. It's truly wonderful. It's fun. It's joyous. I wish I wasn't so self conscience. I read an interview with Fatboy Slim where he also claimed that he didn't understand dancing, but he spent an awful lot of time witnessing it. Analyzing it. You figure out HOW to make people dance, but it's a mystery WHY people dance. I've done some research on why people dance and it's a mystery. No one really knows. Did you know that you cannot teach a child to speak? You can only encourage it. Think about explaining how to speak, the will to phonate, to a child. Dancing is something like speech. It is communication, although I wonder what the message is when a group of people are dancing to Pour Some Sugar On Me. Maybe the message is "Everyone of us likes this song."
I always thought that people danced because it's fun. I think dancing is fun, but I don't think it's the pat answer. If someone wants to dance, they want to dance with other people. No one dances alone. Well, maybe some people do, but generally people want to dance with a bunch of people. Let's go out to dance.
Boomers grew up dancing. I love boomers. Dancing was part of their culture. Boomers do not care what you think. They will dance. Gen Xers will dance after a few drinks.
Anyway, I have for years been curious as to why it's so important that people dance at weddings. What's the connection? If people dance because it's fun, then why dancing? There are million things that people do for fun.
At weddings, people request songs. I always judge whether or not to play a request based on how it serves the community of dancers on the dance floor. Sometimes a request is perfect. A request is perfect when it makes me jealous that I didn't think of it myself. Sometimes a request is selfish. I want the dance floor to be packed and I don't want anyone to leave. I want the young folks out on a Boomer song and I want the Boomers to stay for Outkast and Justin Timberlake.
Recently, after many years of Dj'ing weddings it hit me. A wedding is an act of Unity. Two people come together to be one. Dancing at its best brings everyone together. It's beautiful. Everyone is unified. It's a perfect thing for a wedding. A dance floor marries everyone together.
By the way, I recently danced my ass off at my friend Lea's wedding. Lea and her now husband Jason runs Lula Cafe in Logan's Square. It was the first time in a long time that I felt the urge to dance. Maybe it was because the DJ was the stellar DJ Carrie Weston. That was a big part of it. I loved dancing with my wife. It reminded me of the other times I danced with my wife: my own wedding. My friends Mark and Ann Marie's wedding, John and Lori's wedding. I want to dance at weddings where I feel invested in the Bride and Groom.
