I’M EVERY WOMAN!

Sunday’s class had us bustin’ moves we didn’t know we had! DJ Moo-Ve It tooks us to the 90s and back with her LADIES ONLY mix. These female artists had twang, latin flare and a twist of cherry chap stick! When in doubt put a ring on it and JUST DANCE!

 

OK! I believe you!

Hey ladies? (yeah?) You ever been to DDPP? (yeah!) Well did you know that according to yelp, it’s the #1 spot for Chicagoland nightlife? (WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?!)

Yeah, neither did we! It’s simultaneously flattering/astounding/hilarious that an activity that only includes women, bans booze and let’s out at the latest at 8:15pm is in the #1 nightlife spot. But… after experiencing the sweatballs mix that DJ AWOL cooked up for us tonight, we all pulled a Harry Belafonte and said, “OK, I believe you (yelp)!” (thanks to all you yelpers for giving us such glowing reviews! we love em!)

At the beginning of class, your den mammas assured the newbies (which included a mother/daughter combo – hooray!) that there would be no circle anyone had to enter and dance solo in the middle of, or no conga lines or what not. We apparently lied about one of the two of those things. But hey – even those of us who have been DDPPing it for years can never fully predict what kind of shenanigans a song will stir in our souls. Yep – a conga line broke out. And the shadow dancing was hawt. And there were more than a dozen ladies walking the walk of liberation, like Egyptians (except for one Egyptian of course.)

We dare you not to dance, too:

Thanks to all the fantastic women who came out last night (PS – it’s snowing. And it’s March) and to DJ AWOL for putting together one booty-buster of a mix! It was so good, it makes us wonder if you’re even human…

vampire girl!!!

Puttin’ on the hitz!

Let’s get real here for a minute, people: March has been a weird month for, well, people. The earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis in Japan is now being called the most expensive natural disaster in world history. The U.S. and its allies are bombing Libya. Teachers and other government employees are being stripped of their collective bargaining rights in nearby states. Charlie Sheen keeps talking about tiger blood and “winning” even though I’m pretty sure when he wins, we as a society lose. And Rebecca Black (who, to be clear, I am sure is a lovely person) stands to earn $1 million or more off a song that makes a 13-year-old’s decision about whether to kick it in the front seat versus the back seat seem like a true moral quandary. In short, these is troubling times. It kinda makes you feel like this guy:

 

Or maybe it just makes you feel like this rabbit:

 

And in troubling times, what soothes us? I suppose I can’t speak for everyone impacted by the physical, political and PR disasters described above, but I’m pretty sure that all seventeen women who showed up on Sunday afternoon felt that the answer to that question was “HITZ THAT I CAN DANCE TO!” Behold the playlist that had us strumming our air guitars, shouting song lyrics, howling like Shewolves and pogoing with (and along to) Glee:

If all you need is love, then DJ Rendezvous supplied us with enough of it to make it through the rest of the week in fine fashion. And for that we are very, very grateful. Thanks, DJ!!!

Dancing Undercover

Spring sprang, oh my – dang! And DJ Agent N was there to usher it in with panache. This DJ’s mix and her name were so delightfully intriguing, we had to get some answers. So amongst a backdrop of fresh cut roses with hot cups of tea in hand, we asked her some tough questions.

DDPP: Agent N, where doth your name come from?

AGENT N: My daughter, Tevya came up with the name about four years ago. She was very interested in becoming a secret agent/ice skater. She figured that if she was both she could protect the other ice skaters from being kidnapped. You know how the evil villains of the world are always trying to snatch up ice skaters, right? Tevya was going to solve this problem. Just think how much better Brian Boitano would have been able to sleep at night if figure skater protection (FSP for short) existed.

Now she’s really into animal science, maybe I’ll ask her to rename me. It would have to involve Bonobos in some way because Bonobos are awesome and they know it’s all about the ladies:

(Speaking of bonobos and the Johnny Nash song on Agent N’s mix… Book Plug alert! READ THIS!!!)

DDPP: How old was your daughter when she bequeathed your moniker?

AGENT N: I think she was six? She’s almost eleven now and her DJ name is Sweet T or Jellyfish.

DDPP: Where are your go-to spots to find new tunes?

AGENT N: My iTunes library is completely made of Starbucks Pick of the Week songs. Joke! I would say it’s a combination of friends recommendations, independent radio and music reviews from my favorite magazines or Chicago Reader. I get hungry for new music all the time so I just put out feelers until I’m satisfied.

DDPP: Upon googling Agent N, a burlesque dancer with the same name doing a “pants off dance off” video came up as well as a lady on facebook came up – who is also a DJ. How do you feel about this company you’re in? What binds you together/sets you apart?

AGENT N: We are actually all the same person, and this person’s true identity is Ben Affleck.

DDPP: In addition to being an amazing DJ, you are also a doula. Do you find overlap in these two fields? What would it be?

AGENT N: After I go to a birth I have this sort of birth high for a few days. It is an incredible experience to move through a labor with expectant families and by the end I’m this ball of exhausted energy. It’s sort of a combination of feeling goofy, tired and happy. Usually the best way for me to get my head straight is to do something physical and DDPP is perfect for that.

DDPP: How do you think Yo-Landi Vi$$er (of Die Antwoord) described the haircut she wanted (and now has) to her hairdresser?

AGENT N: I have a huge crush on Yo-Landi. Did you know she and Ninja had a baby together? I have an unhealthy desire to lay eyes upon that child. The haircut? She probably said: “Make it fancy, but don’t make me look like a f*$#ing pus.”

DDPP: Barbara Streisand and dance music – your feelings?

AGENT N: They go together like gravy on biscuits.

DDPP: Why do you DDPP?

AGENT N: I’ve been in love with dancing my whole life. When I was my daughter’s age I would spend hours in my backyard with my Walkman glued to my ears dancing around to David Bowie or Salt n’ Pepa. Shaking it in the backyard was much more exciting then all the tap and ballet classes my mom took me to. As an adult I’ve enjoyed belly dancing for the past five years and that has been a fun and rewarding experience. I have to say there is something transcendent about DDPP for me. It pulls me back to being that girl with the Walkman. I end up getting into the music, closing my eyes and then suddenly remembering to open them because I’m worried that I’m going to whack another dancer with my swinging arms. It feels good to get connected and dork out.

Thank you DJ Agent N for coaxing a group dork-out of epic proportions on Wednesday evenin! It will not soon be forgotten.

I Haz a Stud

This Sunday one of my favorite human beings no doubt rocked your socks off: DJ Lady K Stud!  Why was I not there?  The reason is twofold and can best be explained by cats with horrid spelling and grammar:

And

Writing about a mix that you weren’t able to experience is soooooo hard.  Not because you weren’t there to witness everyone doin’ and gettin’ up off their thangs, and therefore have to imagine all the sweet funky moves busted by regulars and newbies, the spontaneous, once-in-a-lifetime choreography that may have occurred, and just the completely unique flavor of the day.  No, it’s hard because you have to mourn the fact that you weren’t there!  Ladies, there is no place I would rather have been than that dance floor, and peeping this mix is pure torture.  I have complete and total faith that Sunday was BANANAS, in the Gwen Stefani spells it out kind of sense.  Please feel free to drop some comments about how fantabulous it was.  I can take it.

DJ Lady K Stud, thank you for bringing such hot schtuff!  I am counting down the days until your next mix, lighting candles, and sacrificing virgins to the dance gods that I might be there to FREAK THE FRICK OUT.

KELLY P. ADDENDUM:

The song Monster by a certain local Chicago rapper/producer was so explicit it was scary!  I loved every minute of it (and hope the first time MOM attendee did as well) but it had me wondering…Who is the REAL monster in this scenario.  I’ll let you decide:

1000 ways

Tonight we all discovered 1,000 ways to rain dance. As the misty mist sparkled around town, we got down, oh yes we got down. For the throngs of us in the studio tonight, we know exactly how our rain dances unfolded. But for the rest of yous, just imagine a little bit of all these wrapped into one smooth mid-tempo groove and you might as well have been there.

I think that says it all. Thanks to DJ MLB for providing us with yet another never-been-heard-before-at-ddpp compilation mix! You are the one, the only, the original!

One Sassy Mama!

On any given Sunday (or Wednesday for that matter), the studio is chock full of sassy mamas.  But this week only one woman could truly claim the title, and that woman had the proud distinction of birthing this week’s DJ into the world–literally.  We shall call her Mama Sassybrass!  (The short version, for those who aren’t in the mood for my convoluted ramblings: DJ Sassybrass brought her mother AND this week’s hot beats.)

This week it was all about…

 

So much so that DJ U.N.I.T.Y. was moved to throw open the door during Johnny Nash and bask in the (sort-of) sunny day!  Let’s face it, with a Chicago spring you take what you can get.  Thankfully DJ Sassybrass  was handing out  blue skies and rainbows like they were going out of style.  She so dispelled the collective BS-of-life funk that one dancer claimed: “I think this mix just saved my marriage!”  FINALLY, an alternative to Tony Robbins:

DJ Sassybrass, just when we thought we were all alone in an empty house, you took us for a walk around the lake.  You sang us a song (and the Old Town School took a picture of it).  Ben Folds would probably say there’s someone out there cooler than you, but we don’t agree!  Thanks to this mix, we ALL shook what our mamas gave us:

Have a good time on your vay-cay sister!  But watch out for David Lee Roth…

Unofficial Bacon Fest 2011

Last night was a pork paradise, a farmyard fantasy, all thanks to the siren songs of DJ Bacon Strippa. A whole mess of us showed up and shimmied our shanks and crunked our cutlets to absurdly awesome mash-ups.
And about 70% through the mix, as we were all riding that meat high, I fixed my antennae towards the collective unconscious of the room to see what other absurdly awesome mash-ups I could detect. And these perfectly marbled images were EXACTLY what I saw.
The Ba-con Bunch. The Ba-con bunch. That’s the way we became the Ba-con bunch!
(ironic fun fact – the title of this image I found online was “Prince vegetarian”)

Bravo to whoever’s thought waves were envisioning Kevin Bacon riding the Narwhal as the magical creature spliced through a giant crisper. Bet the sonar sounds produced from that satisfying snap resulted in a feeding frenzy from everyone living in the entire ocean. We can only hope that Kevin Bacon remains unharmed.

Behold the mix that seriously sizzled!

Thanks to DJ Bacon Strippa for not only providing us with our monthly allotment of vitamin B12, but also for including so many hopeful songs of spring awakenings. That Brady Bunch situation was the song that gives that icy, unrelenting winter nightmares, and gives us all hope for the coming days that we get to strippa down our marbled layers. February was one bad romance we were all ready to end.

DDPP: Poppin’ Cherries since 2006

What a Sunday!  Twenty two ladies – HALF of them virgin Dance Dance Party Partiers – shakin’ it to the sweat inducing sounds of our Birthday Girl DJ Bowchickawowwow!  The vibe on that dance floor felt like a collective release of all of the stresses and drama of the week before.  One throbbing, highly energetic, transcendent mass of WOMEN gathered together….and not because we just sniffed some stanky Axe fragrance on some pre-pubescent kid on the bus!

I felt refreshed and ALIVE after Sunday’s class.  Thanks to all of you who came out!

Events Events A Plenty!

Hey DDPPers!

We’d like to let you know of two super rad events that are being put on by DDPP DJs!

First there’s Kiss Kiss Cabaret – a fabulous burlesque show choreographed by our own DJ ENRG! It’s at the Greenhouse Theater Center 2257 North Lincoln Avenue. Hit up the Greenhouse Theater site for tickets! The last show is Friday, March 13th at 11pm.

And secondly- we’re coming up on the last week for DJ KK’s comedy improv show “Sit Still.”

Go out and support our amazing DJ’s doing their thang in the world! And if you’re a DJ of ours performing in an event or doing a show – email us and we’ll do our best to post it in a timely manner. (ddppchicago[at]gmail[dot]com)