There’s no better time to turn up the music and dance madly than under a full lunar eclipse with a red hue that is aptly called a “Blood Moon”. So if this is part of your Monday night plans, which I’m sure it is, allow me ( and Diesel) to offer you a few dance moves to include in your lunacy. No worries though if it isn’t, there are three more Blood Moons on the way.
Fitness fashions have come a long way in styles and choices… but they still have a ways to go.
Sometimes we don’t want a logo emblazoned on every piece of clothing. Sometimes we get sick of the same styles, materials, and colors of pants and tanks seen on every other person. While quality pieces are important, sometimes we don’t want to pay $100 dollars for a pair of yoga pants, that if they do their job, get beat up pretty quickly. Sometimes it can feel like we’re a part of a workout wear army. Sometimes we want to – for good or bad – creatively express ourselves.
Your fitness regimen is all about you, and what it is you like to do. Above all else, it should be fun. Why not bring that fun and energy into your workout look. Here are some ideas for mixing in unique, and yes – even crazy – pieces to your fitness wardrobe that will expand your style options, while limiting the punch to your wallet:
THE ARTIST
Layered One Sleeve Mesh Crop top $12.95
Dancewear Solutions
With a focus on layering, a little creativity gets you a unique look.
THE MINIMALIST
Dance Department Adult “V Front” Jazz Pant $17.95
Discount Dance Supply
Who doesn’t need an extra “go to” black workout pant, that’s comfortable and easy to transition from exercise to errands. The lack of exterior branding makes for a stealthier alternative.
THE WILD ONE
Open Sides Racerback Tank $13.95
Bring out your animal style in this fun leopard tank.
Dancewear Solutions
BOHEMIAN CHIC
Fisherman Pants by The 7th Rabbit $14.99
Etsy.com
Light, breezy summer cottons with fun prints. Easy to wear in yoga class or on a picnic.
BOLD SPARKLE AND SHINE
Sequin Bra Top $19.94
Dancewear Solutions
Throw this sparkly number on under a white tank top or cut-out t-shirt, to let a hint of your inner circus performer shine through.
There’s is no cure for dementia or alzheimer’s, but in the quest for one, researchers are now able to offer evidence-based suggestions to help prevent early onset. Most of the tips are easy to implement. And the sooner you start, the better your chances of prevention.
1. Eat nuts, olive oil, flax seed, and fish – According to research, it’s all in the omega-3 fatty acids, which might help prevent certain memory and mood problems.
2. Be bilingual – Bilingual people tend to postpone dementia by several years compared to those who are monolingual, according to researchers in Toronto. If you don’t speak two languages, now is a good time to pick another one up. The challenge can help stimulate reserve parts of the brain. I hear Polish is fun. And who knows, perhaps mastering the tones of Chinese might even improve your pitch and singing skills.
3. Use the computer – It’s still not a good idea to sit at the computer all day long. Learning to use the computer can stimulate the brain, but the research specifically states it’s finding based on computer learning coupled with physical activity, which happens to be #4…
4. Exercise – Moderate activity is always a good thing! Some researchers say resistance training, like Pilates, is best for dementia prevention. Also high on the list is social exercise, like dancing, since studies suggest music also helps in preventing dementia, depression, and enhancing memory recall.
5. Drink – This is the fun one, but it’s also tricky. Certain studies link alcoholism to increased risk of dementia, yet others find moderate drinking, like a glass of wine with dinner, may actually help prevent it. Just another reason why “everything in moderation”, is a pretty darn good maxim to live by.
End Trails. Image from the bodycity website
From the ethereal to the awkward, all movement has a place in the human psyche. In Los Angeles, there is a troupe that’s not afraid to dance it all.
bodycity (all lowercase) is a democratic dance collective based in Los Angeles, dancing the in-between spaces of conceptual art, traditional performance, and social event. The group is democratic in that no dance is the brainchild of just one person, each dancer must both choreograph and perform every piece – becoming both teacher and student in an ongoing, collaborative cycle.
The level of dance training in bodycity varies from formal education, to none. And there is no ideal body type or style. Only when each dancer’s unique shape, size and movement pattern is expressed together, does the dissonant vision emerge as a singular piece of art.
The Summer Solstice Session. Image from the bodycity website
The themes of bodycity dances are time and site-specific. One example is Summer Solstice Session. Each member performed and chronicled a five-minute dance outside, at the exact time of the summer solstice. At that moment, the performers were spread out all over the world, from Belgium to Colorado. The videos were collected and shown at the California Film Festival in September.
Announcement of Overpassages. Image from Llano Del Rio Collective Guides and Speakers Bureau
An epic piece titled Overpassages, converged at one of the busiest transportation intersections in the United States: between the 110 highway, the 5 freeway, the LA River, and the Los Angeles railroad tracks. Each dancer stood throughout the odd wilderness, “in-between” spots, and communicated by relaying energy and movement – like a telephone game across great expanses of cars, trains, and life on the go. It literally brought traffic to a halt. A two-minute video of the performance may soon be viewable through the Los Angeles Metro Arts program.
Their latest piece End Trails was performed on October 16th, at the High Desert Test Sites of Joshua Tree. It explored the space between Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, the journey into the desert, and the road back home again.
Image from the bodycity website
The origins of dance are tribal by nature, celebrating a time and place, celebrating a community, and celebrating ourselves. For whatever reason, dance fulfills a human need to creatively and physically, self-express. bodycity reminds us dance is for everyone, at any time, and anywhere.
KISS might have been the final blow that killed dancing as a socially acceptable thing to do. Noting the temporary outcroppings of dances surrounding music videos and movies, we still never fully recovered from the backlash against disco. And only a few years later were computers born, keeping us complacently docile and more susceptible to head bobbing as a form of musical appreciation.
It’s a shame we don’t dance in America. We tend to view it as a spectator sport.
Breaking it down into two categories, we have the art of dance and social dance. Over an extended period of time, I’d argue, social dance has all but disappeared, while perceiving dance as an art form, reserved for those with skill, has grown…mainly through reality show competitions. And no doubt it is an admirable and beautiful thing to behold, but socially, as a nation we don’t embrace dance as something we all can do. Blame it on KISS, blame it on technological evolution; blame it on the Puritans; blame it on a lack of rhythm; whatever the reason, we generally scoff and say, “Yeah, right. No. Way.”
From an evolutionary perspective, dance let us show off to potential mates. Like peacocks strutting their feathers, it displayed physical capabilities and breeding skills, the remnants of which can still be unearthed in dance clubs today, however, online dating is taking the opportunities and fun away. The most colorful peacocks today have 1000+ friends and a killer Facebook profile.
From a social perspective, dance is a way to celebrate, congregate, and enjoy community. Almost every culture in the world has a social dance that is crucial to their heritage. In plenty of places, dancing is still an important way of getting together and letting loose in everyday life. Brazil has it down, as does India. There is no dancing like in a Bollywood film, and it only mirrors the societal importance of dance in celebration for men and women, young and old.
Finally, from the physical perspective, dance is a way to stay healthy and in shape, getting the heart pumping, and the brain lapping up all those feel-good neurotransmitters. Dance helps balance intrinsic muscles and joints, and our mental capacities in ways we now use somatics, pilates, and yoga, to try and do. Researchers at Washington University have even found evidence of dance helping to control movements in patients with Parkinson’s Disease.
So we get it. Dance is good. It all makes sense, but we still can’t help but cringe at the thought of jumping up moving around. Generally, the places one feels safest dancing are – the hidden underground belly of a dance club (with the aid of alcohol or recreational drugs), at a wedding, (with the aid of alcohol or recreational drugs), at home with the XBox game, or regulated to a sterile gym fitness class.
Unfortunately, our motives are deeply ingrained, and “cold dancing” is a tall order. The larger the group of people dancing, the easier you’ll find it to be….that’s why it’s social. Try releasing a hangup or two, grab a bunch of friends, and in the immortal words of Swing Out Sister “Break Out”. It could become infectious. And if it’s not, who cares, you and your friends will feel great. Maybe we need office Spotify dance breaks, where every few hours a song comes on, encouraging movement within the entire office, from receptionist to CEO. I like that picture. You’d be surprised what camaraderie will ensue when dancing next to your boss or the IT personnel. Until then, I dare you to try and bust a move this week.
Next post we’ll look at a dance troupe breaking down the barriers between, social and artistic dance. Until then, I leave you with Bollywood:
Charming and fun! It’s a 100 years of fashion and social dance history in 100 seconds.
Tagged dance, Fashion, Fitness, historyoffashion, historyofsocialdance
The Mind Body Moderate 