National Dance Day
At the end of Season 5 (June 2021), I mentioned I didn’t have much else I wanted to say outside of occasional life updates / check-ins. But in the process of working on a new dance fitness certification at the end of 2021, thought I’d explore my thoughts and history with dance, and wait until National Dance Day to share. (I decided not to get the cert, but I am teaching line dancing now!)
In this episode…
Music videos from back in the day with amazing choreography (6:21)
Reading of my blog about Laurianne Gibson, “You’re Not Eliminated, You’re Moving On” (14:06)
My relationship to Debbie Allen (16:40)
Reading of my blog, “Beauty and the Beat” (18:49)
My dance certifications (27:25)
Growing up in dance
Dancing was my dream job as a kid. I’d watch music videos for hours, and stay up late to watch music awards shows. I wrote a blog post about how music videos affected me (in my “Beauty and the Beat” blog), which was not just about those with amazing choreography, which I’ll shout out in a second, but also how women were depicted in those videos, now called video vixens.
Learning the dances from the most popular music videos gave me confidence, because I mastered the moves and it made me happy. It also gave me an “in” at school for those who dismissed me as just a nerd to copy answers from in class. As an adult, dancing is a way to workout without feeling like it’s work, because I’m having so much fun. It could be a class, or a game like Just Dance on the Wii or Nintendo Switch. Dancing with those games bring the family together too, even if most of them are just watching, and it gives me all the feels.
I never took any dance classes until I was 14, and they were so expensive that I had to beg my mom to do it. When I started working at age 15, I paid her back. I never pursued dancing professionally, but in my 20’s I moved to DC and took some more dance classes. One of those performances was to Outkast’s song B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad). Now all my dancing is in the living room and at the Y.
Music videos from back in the day with amazing choreography
80’s:
Janet Jackson - Pleasure Principle & Miss You Much
Sting ft. Vesta Williams - We’ll Be Together (he’s not dancing, but all 3 of those videos have a portion of choreography involving a chair)
Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
90’s:
Aaliyah - Try Again & Rock the Boat (shout out to Fatima Robinson) - Her birthday is in January and I’ve linked a tribute to her in the show notes from my other podcast, C’mon Son.
Bell Biv Devoe - Poison (their background dancers were ALWAYS on point)
J Lo - If You Had My Love
Early 2000s:
Beyonce - Single Ladies, End of Time
J Lo - Get Right (chair)
Lady Gaga - Poker Face?
Usher - U Don’t Have to Call
Who do I like now that’s doing great dancing the last few years? My top pics are Doja Cat, Chloe, Megan Thee Stallion, and Ciara.
I would have loved to not only be one of the background dancers for these folks, but also, see my favorite dance icons on one stage, and dance with them: Janet, Paula, J Lo, Aaliyah, Ciara, Mya, Chris Brown, Usher, Justin Timberlake, and the one who inspired them all, the late great MJ, Michael Jackson. These singers are no doubt talented dancers, and some actors too. But they didn’t make up ALL their amazing moves. It’s thanks to the unsung heroes, the Celebrity Choreographers like Rosie Perez, Tina Landon, Jaquel White (Beyonce and Megan Thee Stallion), Fatima Robinson (Aaliyah), Darrin Henson, Casper (J Lo), and Laurianne Gibson (Puffy, Lady Gaga).
When I lived in Atlanta, I took my daughter to the taping of a reality talent-style show where two of the judges were Casper, who was dating J Lo at the time, and Laurianne. She had a dance studio and a couple of reality shows, and the studio was in East Atlanta close to someone I was dating at the time, 10 years ago. I wrote a blog about her show Born to Dance and how I was impressed with the way she dealt with folks who were voted off.
By the way, Debbie Allen is not only an amazing actor, dancer and choreographer (from Fame, SWAT and other classics), but she’s also my cousin! She and my dad are about the same age, and their grandfathers were brothers.
Debbie brought special dance joy to my life in the 80’s when she had a primetime special where she did skits, dancing and singing with her sister Phylicia Rashad, Stevie Wonder, the Pointer Sisters and others. My favorite skit was performance of a song that I think is called “I’m Dancing Through Changes,” because she did a series of pirouettes that got longer and longer as the music built to a crescendo. I recorded it on my VCR, and played it over and over and over. About 7 years ago, I found the VHS tape and ripped it to mp4 as an adult so I can keep it.
Dance certifications
Hip Hop Hustle (created by Chalene Johnson, who owned Powder Productions, which was later sold to Beachbody).
TurboKick - This is what I teach now at the Y as cardio kickboxing, but it’s a little more dancy and playful in some sections than Tae Bo.
Support the Grown Woman Dance Collective! I talked about this wonderful organization in my last episode, the Spring Life update, but this group is based in Oakland, CA and does a lot for the community.
Aaliyah tribute
My sister and I paid homage to Aaliyah in 2021 on the C’mon son podcast.