LAURA JOHNSON
A&E Assistant Editor
I never wanted to be one of those girls who come to Malibu and don’t learn to ride to a wave, but after three years, I have yet to be successful with the endeavor. Maybe I just havn’t found the perfect teacher — I don’t know. However, this does not mean I don’t do the ocean.
The beach this weekend was heaven. Although swimming in the ocean can sometimes seem like a big, seaweedy, eye-stinging washing machine — it is still amazing. As I lay on my towel with sand-encrusted toes and salty lips, I let the sun suck the ocean water from my pores and dance across my body. It made me want to pull an Elton John and be a tiny (or, in my case, average-sized) dancer in the sand.
With all of Malibu’s “great” outlets to release students’ dancing urges, such as the Inn or maybe the Jack in the Box parking lot at 2 a.m., it is no wonder that people here may not feel the need for dancing.
However, it seems to me that dancing is a little piece of the spirit, which must be released every now and then. One can dance in praise of God, sweet and slow with Dad or down and dirty with their significant other. It can elevate any kind of emotion.
This summer, the third season of “So You Think You Can Dance,” a kind of “American Idol” for dancers, aired to millions of viewers nationwide. Each week, the show educated non-dancers on a myriad of worldwide dances. The show proved that both crumping, a kind of extremely scary hip-hop, and the foxtrot, a tricky-stepped ballroom dance, could be performed on the same stage and still be hailed as wonderful.
The show was never about the best dancer in America, but rather America’s favorite dancer. Thus, in a program like this, more entertaining types of dance have the ability to out do true technique. Luckily, this year’s winner, fiery little Sabra Johnson, mastered both qualities equally.
The show’s Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe said on an episode this season that, although there was an overall winner of the competition, the true winner was dance itself. And, as cheesy as that may sound, his words hold so much truth. Dance is kinda cool again. Whether it was the show, or even Justin Timberlake, something has brought dance back.
Dancers and choreographers alike from “So You Think You Can Dance” have become household names. The TV series “Dancing With the Stars” has proved just how dashing and exciting ballroom can be, that there have been more dance movies in the past 10 years than there was in all of the Footloose 80s and, to my relief, as this summer proved, the movie musical is leaping back onto the scene.
Stomping the rest of the competition in its opening weekend, “Hairspray,” the musical adaptation of the old Ricki Lake cult classic, showed Hollywood that America has not outgrown the musical.
The plot is less than exceptional, as it follows the life of a slightly-round high-schooler named Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) whose only wish is to be on TV and dance on the Corny Collins show. But, let’s just say that after seeing the noteworthy opening-number belted out by Tracy herself, I’ve dreamed of riding into school on a garbage truck ever since. The film is a crazy little puff-piece, but who are we to stop the beat?
Some people don’t like to dance because they aren’t “good dancers.” Get over it. Maybe go to the beach and get a few practice sessions in on the glorious sandy stage — be Billy Idol for a bit and dance with yourself. Everyone looks silly when they dance — it’s kind of a silly thing.
The question is, “Do you enjoy dancing?” Deep down, a part of you is probably screaming, “Yes.” And, if so, get out of the corner and dance as if everybody is watching, baby. Afterall, It’s not about being the best dancer in America.
09-06-2007
