L Screeeeeeeeeaaaaam!

MMMMM-HMMMMMM. OH MY LAWD! WHOOO! AW YEAH! OH YEAH! AWW YEAH! OH YEA! MMMM-HMMMMM. AW YEAH!

Yes indeedy. DJ L Scream made us give a hoot (we did not pollute), and yip and howl and holler. Her DJ name was quite the auspicious one for rousing a crowd of sweaty xx chromosomes like ourselves. Her mix was so damn fine, it could have very well been illegal, actually. And that would have led us all into court for sure, screaming all the way to the slammer, like sweet Deistra Hicks here.

This densely packed hit-happy playlist inspired us all to have a moment of two that was borderline exalted and freakish. You can’t imagine what that would look like? Then see exhibit A, below.

And although there were quite a few of us freaking out in the studio, we still each managed to cover quite a bit of real estate – sprinting from end to end, weaving through the crowd and making magic happen. And what happens when one combines real estate and magic? This:

Woah. It’s true. It’s also true that we’ll be posting tonight’s playlist real soon-like, for your screaming pleasure.

Sweet Child O’ Sunday

You had your summer flings: beach volleyball, camping, Lollapalooza, Pitchfork, Taste of Chicago, blah blah blah.  It was fun while it lasted, but let’s get real–you knew you would come back.  The truth is, we were meant to be together.  Besides, if you left us for good, who would raise our love child?

I admit he’s a bit…unsettling, what with the third hand coming out of his chest and his tendency to use up all the eyeliner.  But we made him together, and damn if it wasn’t magical.

Those of you who had “other plans” yesterday missed out BIG TIME.  Our first Sunday back was a flying leap fest, thanks to the stylings of DJ Lil’ E!   As per usual, her fantabulous blend of funkiness took us to another place–a sweaty, heart-busting place. When uploading her mix from a CD to my ipod, I totally forgot to make the album gapless: a mistake I was super glad for while gasping for air between major league home runs.  She hit it out of the park with every song, evidenced by the grins and yeeesss!!-es that appeared within the first ten seconds of each new track.  Sleater-Kinney can say whatever it wants, yesterday was a hell of a lot of rock and roll fun:

DJ Lil’ E, a LOT of respect.  You can tumble for us anytime!

A little something for all the small people

Do you ever get a dumb idea – like to go jogging one day when you haven’t done so since warm-ups for volleyball practice in high school – and then you discover all the muscles that have been atrophying and dying a slow-tissue death for over a decade – and then you wake up and find your entire body is screaming for tiger balm and a wheelchair?

Well that was what happened for me on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I walked as though I’d been riding a horse for a month, backwards, and someone had thumbtacks face up in my shoes. But luckily, our DJ Smalls put together one big mix that inspired even the tenderest chicken tenders to shake it as best they could.

Pretty sure I ended up looking like an ugly cat in a business suit doing a tramp hippy dance. Good thing there’s that no judgment rule in place.

And Yeah. You better click on that damn link. It’s amazing. (the step/grease combo is one of my faves). You know what else is amazing? Justin woah-my-lord Timberland doing Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley proud with his rendition of Hallelujah.

I can’t say I thought of Justin Timberlake much before hearing this cool-down song on DJ Small’s hugely danceable mix, but I’m pretty sure he was in my dream last night wearing this outfit:

Oh crap. I’m sorry to all you nice ladies who want to think of this young man in a slightly more pure state – and without a porn moustache. Like, wouldn’t it be nice if he could do something more tasteful, like fondle a calla lily with his shirt off before he could even grow facial hair?

Thanks for that, Jared Leto. And by “that” I mean for cutting your hair you nightmare of a romance novel cover wanna-be.

And thanks to DJ Smalls, for putting out some seriously heavy, funky, fun beats to boogie down to in the middle of the week, regardless of how sore one might think she is! Now I’m sure we’re all sore in places we never knew about…

1. Passing Me By – The Pharcyde

2. Super Bon Bon – Soul Coughing

3. Single Ladies – Beyonce

4. Footloose – Kenny Loggins

5. Do Your Thing – Basement Jaxx

6. Gold Digger – Kanye West

7. Satisfaction – Elvis Presley

8. You Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’? – Michael Jackson

9. It Takes Two – Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock

10. Go! – Tones On Tail

11. Fine Time – New Order

12. Doin’ The Do – Betty Bo

Hallelujah! (The Triumphant Return of Sundays)

Hey pretty ladies: starting THIS WEEK at 4pm, Sunday DDPP is BACK!  That’s right, we’re finally back to getting our groove on Sabbath style. Feel free to rejoice:

Be there or pay the penance!

The Dance Doctor

Picture it: a September evening. A dance studio on Chicago’s north side. Thirteen ladies arrived one by one, all suffering from a mysterious sense of malaise. The post-Labor Day doldrums, some thought to themselves as they trudged to their preferred spots. A case of the Mondays gone two days too long, others speculated while stretching their aching muscles. But our DJ thankfully recognized the symptoms right away (remember, by day the Incredible Zulk IS a scientist). The diagnosis? A collective bout of the Rockin’ Pneumonia AND the Boogie Woogie Flu:

Over the next hour, DJ Incredible Zulk gave us the cure for what ailed us as we found ourselves transported around the world by the genius of her playlist. At one point, with the assistance of our new set of rope lights, I even feared we might fall victim to seizures of pure Dance Joy™ kind of like on that old Simpsons episode (but with fewer robots):

She helped us groove, let us move our feet, and gave us more until we were shook out like rag dolls. We sweated until our fevers broke and left the evidence all over the dance floor. Walking back out into the chilly autumn air, we all thanked our lucky stars that our DJ was accidentally exposed to the blast of that gamma bomb she invented that one time. You’re super, DJ Incredible Zulk! Thanks for this:

I Like It

Though dancing is indeed an art, have you ever wondered what might happen if science got it’s pasty white fingers all over it? You’ll probably get some lame-o study about how women are more attracted to men with better dance moves, or how men who dance well are genetically healthier than those who can only manage clumsy dad dance moves. WAIT a SECOND. Really?

here’s a link to that very video and study. Now funny (or is it?) – this study only mentions men being in good health if they can bust a move, but they don’t mention if the same findings also apply to women. But since we were not made out of anyone’s ribs or what not, let’s just assume it’s true for us vaginally gifted humans, too. Which means all of us at DDPP tonight are in the absolute pinnacle of genetic health.

That’s right – we showed variation in our necks, shoulders and torsos, just like a person with platinum diamond coated DNA would.  We’re so fit, we could eat a taco during every song and come out more darwinially robust in the gene pool than most of Madonna’s back up dancers.

Who’s to thank for this confirmation of our superior ancestral pedigrees? Why it’s our dear DJ Michelle Leslie Brown to the rescue! While Cee-Lo may have had us singing along to his f**k you business the other day, this week he changed his tune to reflect our collective sentiment towards this super fine Wednesday offering. I like it, DJ, and We Love it. Nice work!

Dance Magic Dance

So when you’re in a dance “class” whose entire point is *not* being self-conscious, and then a camera crew complete with producers, a host and a G.D. lighting team show up, you have a chance to test if in fact doing this slightly weirdo thing you are somehow compelled to do actually works.  In other words, is it possible to really let all those inner monologues and feelings of being watched and judged and blah blah blah enough already go?

Well I’m half surprised and fully relieved to say that it did. For like, everyone in that room. To take a lyrics from song #10 on our playlist, we put giving a sh*t about how we look when we’re being moved by music on our collective f*ck it list. And it was HOT.

No really, it was really, really hot. ABC 7 was in the house and they had to keep the door open to the *outside (*otherwise known as satan’s armpit) so that the icy cool freshness of modern living that all of our ancestors gave their lives for was sucked out the door. What all that heat did do though, was make for one supremely sweaty film shoot, soggy shoes and socks, and an accidental watering of the plants on the windowsill via the humid fog. You’re welcome peace lily.

But after the man on the ladder with the camera went away, as did the lighting guy, and the host, and the producer and all the fancy equipment, the lights went back to their usual state of sleep, and the mighty women gathered in that studio determined to keep that inner child singing into a hairbrush alive, a roar of excitement rippled across the room and vibrated every cell of our bods down to the stirrup bone. (which true to its name, did quite a bit of stirring up)

And I’m hoping that just a pinch of this evening of joy production had a little something to do with my playlist for the night. DJ Bran was back in action after donning the alias (DJ QQF) for far too long. And true to bran’s nature, of which I partake, I made everyone in that studio for at least one song or one moment, lose their sh*t. But I got to say, one song that I thought was going to make everyone lose theirs starred the vocal stylings of David Bowie crooning such cringe-inducing lines as “what kind of magic spell to use? slime and snails? or puppy dog tails?” I was happy to lose my control for the group on this one. I took one for the team. And so did David Bowie for team dignity when he signed the contract to play this leo-tarded white-wigged elfin man in the Labyrinth. Still, I can’t help but be stirred to something by this song (song = his leotard bottoms). I hope you are, too.

And for all who wonder, the segment taped for ABC will be on the show 190North on Halloween. If our segment doesn’t scare some people, then we didn’t do our job. Nice work all ya’ll who came out and BROUGHT IT! We <3 you.