The Fondest of Farewells…

Gonna warn you. This is gonna be a long post, likely full of superlatives, feelins, and yes, more feelins. This past Wednesday, April 27th, was the final night of  Jenn Salvatore/Martin and Jenn Brandel’s (full disclosure – ME!) last night as the den mothers of DDPP Chicago and DDPP International. To commemorate it, we spent last Monday evening staring into each other’s eyes, attaching hoses betwixt our ears, white-knuckle gripping each others hands while making ecstatic grunts and stomping our be-socked feets on wooden slats. This is how DJ Jennderoni was born, who in turn birthed our final collaborative playlist. (see end of post) Got our fingers crossed that the royal couple will be spending this evening making a playmate for little DJ Jennderoni. This is our idea of appropriate foreplay.

Nothing hotter than a wolf dog and lasers. (click on this photo. there’s more. DO it. Thanks Aaron Wickenden for your photoshop magic)

So our hearts about this all (leaving DDPP, not Willy and Kate’s night of passion), are confused bastards. They are heavy with sadness at all that lies ahead we’re sure to miss out on. But they’re also feeling like bursting with helium each time we think about the thousands of songs our bodies have grooved over, the thousands of women who we’ve busted a move with (and the many who have in turn gone on to bust moves with thousands more! DDPP start-ups with women from Chicago include DDPP Twin Cities! Indianapolis! Austin! Akron! Oh my!), and the unquantifiable joy we’ve felt in doing it all. But I guess the most accurate metaphor for what our hearts are feeling like, is as if Darryl Hall and John Oates themselves lived inside our left and right ventricles (respectively), and with each pump they played this song over and over and over again.

In fact, this song controls my heart, mind and body to such an extent, that when we played it on Wednesday I couldn’t help but get low and pound the floor in percussive ecstasy to the point of bursting a blood vessel in my hand. Luckily, CVS is across the street and has instant ice packs. The bruise is impressive.

So that image right there (designed by Kelley Clink!). That’s the best way we can describe it. To that 11 year old who came in and rocked the lava projector? We love you. To that 85 year old dream of a woman who came in full spandex and OWNED the dance floor? We love you. To that lady who busted our nunchucks and S&M gear and grinded with herself in the mirror? We love you. To all of you who’ve come to DDPP as part of rehab for injury, to all of you who’ve come to mend a broken heart, to all who’ve come to blow off steam from a stressful grind, to all who’ve celebrated their birthdays with us, to all who’ve been open enough to give this crazy idea a shot… you MADE OUR DREAMS COME TRUE! And thereby you live forever in our hallandoatesy hearts.

So now allow Kelley Clink, Den Mother supreme to foreshadow what came after our last DDPP. Yep, DDKKGGPP. Karaoke. About a dozen of us ambled over to the Spot on Broadway. The birthday revelers, neighborhood stool jockeys, and curious onlookers alike were blown away by the vocal stylings and glittery stylings of the DDPP crew. When time permits imma edit a video to show you the depth, breadth and variety that these dancing ladies embody on the mic-ro-phone. From Lisa Loeb to the Beastie Boys. NAILED IT.

Alright. It’s my birthday today, dammit. So I’m gonna wrap up this post, check the lates royal wedding photos, and cry a tear or 10,000 over how lucky Jenn Salvatore and myself have been to have danced with you, basked in your energies, and smiled more than we ever could have imagined over the course of an hour, week after week, year after year.

DJ Jennderoni is OUT! (for now… mwuwuwuahahahahaa)

No DDPP on Easter!!

Hey lovely ladies!  Just a reminder that there will be NO DDPP tomorrow due to the side effects of chocolate eggs…

But don’t forget to come to class on Wednesday night to bid the fair Jenns farewell!  And don’t worry–we know they’ll continue to dance, even if it’s only in parking lots wearing rabbit suits.

Happy Easter!!!

bird bird bird, bird is the word

Allow us to provide a little before and after photography to convey what an hour of DJ Fairy Punkmother’s mix did to our brains and bodies. And yes – that’s the Dj herself pictured…

From a tu-tu’d cool dude with ‘tude into a boy oh boy full of joy division in full psychedelic hues. That’s what happened. Formerly DJ Slap! Chop!, the newly minted fresh as springtime DJ Fairy Punkmother revived an old mix for a new crowd and a new day. Tonight the ladies sprinted, galloped, made shadow puppet love to the wall and everyone in the room gave up something while this classic raged:

Some of us gave up our sense of time, others their attachment to the super hot Mike Cousino – their 7th grade lover with whom they made out to that song with. And personally, I gave away all brain connection to muscular control and seizured around the studio with limbs a flailing. Composure has not yet been regained. DJ Fairy Punkmother – we have you to thank. Imma be hiding something special underneath my pillow for you tonight. I hope you find it.
AND HEY YA’LL! In honor of cadbury cream egg hangovers, there will be NO DDPP this SUNDAY! So save up your energy and come bounce your hams around to next Wednesday’s goodbye mix from the Jenns! Karaoke to follow…

DDKKGGPP! Weds April 27th!

So what does DDKKGGPP stand for? I’ll spare you my horrible jokes and cut to the point: Dance Dance Karaoke Karaoke Goodbye Goodbye Party Party.

Yes in one sissy little week, it’ll be Jenn Brandel and Jenn Salvatore’s LAST night as DJs, den mothers, co-founders and overall maniacs on the dance floor. And to commemorate the 5+ years of laboring and loving they’ve done to birth the beautiful baby girl DeeDee Pee Pee, we will be singing our hearts out about it.

Here’s the skinny:

Where it at, yo? THE SPOT: 4437 N. Broadway (aka a 5 min drive from DDPP, just north of Montrose)

When it at, hey? 8pm onwards and upwards

Dicks OK?  Yep! This par-tay is open to guys and gals alike. So ladies, come bust a move at the Jenn’s last DDPP and then join us at the spot for follow up shenanigans (or just the shenanigans if you can’t make the mix) and fellas, come for the karaoke, stay for the scent of sweaty womens.

And if yer lucky, you’ll be treated to Salvatore and Brandel on the mic as Hall and Oates… (yes, this is those crazay ladaaaays pictured.)

DJ O’hal YEAH? OH! HELL! YEAH!

We’ve all got our favorite spot in the studio. Some like to sidle up  next to the flashing strobe lights, others like to shake it by the lava light, and some ladies perfect their vicious moves in the mirror by the disco ball. We like our spots and it would take something pretty monumental to pry us away from them. Well DJ O’hal Yeah brought out her secret weapon, a song so infectious that you just. have. to. STRUT.

I am referring, of course, to that Michael Jackson classic “The Way You Make Me Feel”, which is apparently also a short film. (Srsly, the extended video is NINE MINUTES LONG. If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, I’ll summarize: street life is bad, be yourself, following a girl while she’s walking down the street is not creepy, but rather an effective method of flirting.)

This song came on we turned the studio into our own version of that video, but without any gross catcalling. At the end of the song every woman in the room was in a NEW spot on the dance floor! You can’t fight the strut! Success!

Oh, and there’s a new dance craze sweeping DDPP! I’ll go ahead and call out DJ Sex Frosting as the originator of this one. It’s an homage to Ke$ha and I’m naming it the “Drunk Ragdoll”. If you missed class on Sunday, you missed a room full of ladies robotically flopping around to the beat, occasionally falling all the way over from the waist down. It’s as awesome as it sounds. Try it next time you come! Still not sure what the Drunk Ragdoll is? Well, there’s an app for that! (?!)

Was it an awesome mix? O’hal YEAH it was!

CH-CH-CH-Changes! ***New Den Mammas! New Summer Schedule!***

Your Chicago DDPP co-founders Jenn Brandel and Jenn Salvatore are passing the torch… or sparkly pink star wand, rather… to 7 amazing DDPP regulars starting in May 2011! Quite simply, we have savored, loved and delighted over the amazing community of DDPP during the last half decade (!!!), but it’s time for us to be movin on.

Just so you know 100% it’s not personal – we’ll elaborate. Jenn Brandel has recently acquired some work writing for the NPR news quiz Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me! and is also going to need more time to devote to her family as her mom enters chemotherapy. Jenn Salvatore is up to her ears in homework as a 2nd year Chicago public high school teacher and needs every iota of free-time possible to stare at the wall and regain her inner peace.

So who’s gonna be takin care o bidness come May? Drumroll please…and funky synthesizer, and more drums, and bass…and Robyn, if she’s available…

Behold your DDPP Den Mothers of the FUTURE! You’ll no doubt recognize the bottom two as Kelly Peraino and Kelley Clink, our much beloved and longtime Sunday DDPP Den Mothers. Well they are now your official masters of all things DDPP! And joining them in keeping the dream alive and hot is (L to R) Catherine Carrigan, Jill Westerfelhaus , Amy Letcher, Kristen Studard and topping the picture pyramid, Unity Ostercamp.

Over the coming weeks you’ll learn more about them as their bios pop up on the right of this screen, and as you behold their mind-bogglingly awesome dance moves at DDPPs. But before Jenn Salvatore and myself bid a final sayonara (*lie alert: we’ll actually for sure be attending DDPP still whenever we can, we’ll just have no responsibility other than dancing), we’d like to invite you to our:

FINAL FOUNDING DEN MOTHER’S DDPP BLOWOUT MIX!!!

Wednesday, April 27th 7-8pm (usual time/place)

***with possible karaoke party afterwards***

Yes, this mix, in the style of all our previous ones – will be epically relentless. You will sweat through your t-shirt, underoos, and your skin may even get prune-like as though you fell asleep in the bathtub (again). Please join us as we discharge heaps of salty-liquids from our armpits and eyeballs. Karaoke details will be posted once finalized. 

And SUMMER?! SUMMER!!! It’s coming! Despite what this cold-ass gloomy Saturday would lead us to believe. In honor of the months when no one, including us, finds it as easy to go inside on a beauteous summery Sunday, we’re cutting back to TWO SUNDAY DDPP’s over the months of July, August and September. Here’s how it’ll work:

Through June 2011, we’ll be getting down every Wednesday evening from 7-8pmand Sundays from 4-5pm at Perceptual Motion Dance Studio.

We will meet every other Sunday for the months of July, August and September, resuming every Sunday in October.

***IMPORTANT: SUMMER SUNDAYS Schedule***

July Sundays: 10th, 24th
August Sundays: 7th, 21st
September Sundays: 11th, 25th

We will resume every Sunday DDPP in October. And hey! We got DJ slots open! So claim yours now by emailing ddppchicago[at]gmail[dot]com!

Bitter sweet dancing for DJ Tanner aka Jenn MS

As the days get less and the time nears for handing over the reigns, I can’t help but feel a pain in my heart. Dancing is what inspires human kind; dance is what inspires me. People dance to express themselves and to celebrate life. Every time I walk into DDPP, I come with a heavy heart after a long draining day…and every time I leave DDPP, that heaviness is lifted. Dance gets whatever is going on in my life, out. I thank all of you ladies for joining in the celebration of dance with me and with each other this past Wednesday. It was truly magical and no matter what goes on in life, we can always find resolve in dance. Keep moving and the world will keep giving.

Tighten up……………….Black Keys

Raise your glass……….Pink

Fancy Footwork………Chromeo

Triple Double………….Girl Talk

Beware of the Boys…..Panjabi MC featuring Jay-Z

Desi Girl…………………Dostana

I wish I was a Baller….Skee Low

Award Tour……………A Tribe Called Quest

Tightrope………………Janelle Monae

Hang With Me………..Robyn

Great DJ……………….The Ting Tings

Dancing in Heaven….Q-Feel

Make Her Say…………KiD CuDi (Ft. Kanye West & Common)

19 Young Forever…..Jay-Z – Mr. Hudson

Chicks rock!

This past Sunday we were the very lucky recipients of a well curated, women-only collection of songs from our beloved DJ U.N.I.T.Y. More importantly, we were the lucky observers of what I am hoping will become her weekly outfit:

 

Apologies for the poor quality of the picture but trust: that tutu was mesmerizing in person. And with luck, you’ll all get to experience it again soon. And we quote: “I think I am wearing my tutu every Sunday DDPP cause it is so much fun!”

It WAS fun. The kind of fun girls just wanna have, you know? With this badass ballerina DJ as our leader, we navigated our way through 60 minutes of genre-crossing delights. She even brought peeps and Pop Rocks to add to the experience (Get it? Chicks…rock? We love it!) Imagine, if you will, a whole bunch of women stomping along to this song like it was they dang job:

 

(Sidenote: am I the only one who, not having seen that video, assumed that Lil’ Mama’s lip gloss was just of the run-of-the-mill, NON-magical-self-confidence-inspiring variety? It makes silverware dance, for Pete’s sake! I’m hoping they have some at my nearest CVS….)

Thanks, DJ U.N.I.T.Y., for the enthusiasm you bring to the studio every time we see your smiling face. Thank you for usually being the first woman in the crowd to let out a joyous “whoooooo!” in the middle of a song that’s just making you lose your mind. And thanks for making us all have tutu envy!!! Can’t wait for your next mix.

 

(Oh, and for the curious: Track 6=Family Affair by MJB; Track 21=Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani; Track 10=Bootylicious by Destiny’s Child; Track 8=Sunday Kind Of Love by Etta James)

Confessions of a Teenage Dance-aholic….

Dear Diary,

Last night was SOO cool!  I was super cranky after school because Rodney McJenkins gave me the cold shoulder when I asked him about our math homework, but then I went to dance class!!  There were so many other girls there and they were dressed all comfy and sporty-like.  We were jumping and clapping and grooving like it was Spring Break!  DJ Gingersnap took the room for a trip around the high school track with my fave songs!  Everyone was freaking OUT!  I was like LOL and WTF and LMAO!!

My favorite part (besides the random Red Bull Girls trying to mack on the fabulous energy in the room) was the booty shakin’ last song.  It reminded me of this crazy Martha Washington character that I met at Shanna’s sleepover last summer.  She was totally patriotic and TOTALLY into herself.  Check out the video!

KIT!  LYLAS!

~Me

Sunday, meet Wednesday.

In preparing my playlist for this Sunday, it occurred to me that most of you fabulous ladies, for various reasons, tend to make it to DDPP just once a week. Somehow, you make the difficult “Sunday vs. Wednesday” call, EVEN THOUGH you recognize that that means you will be missing out on the awesome jamz curated by your fellow DJs on a weekly basis! This thought made me sort of sad and, strangely, tired. Like if you’d been all, “Hey, DJ Ssssnake, let’s go for a walk!” I would’ve responded like this:

 

(All apologies, y’all, but now that I’ve taken over blogging duties, you can anticipate at least a 45% increase in cute animal videos.)

Anyway, it wasn’t but a minute or two later before inspiration struck. I had a bright idea about this Dance Dance Party Party of ours. You know, like a lightbulb went off over my head and I shouted Eureka! Or wore it on my chest while standing next to a human disco ball:

(Thanks, DJs Sex Frosting and Lady KStud, for illustrating that idea perfectly through your choice of Halloween costumes)

OK, where was I? Oh yeah, my inspiration! If our Sunday ladies can’t make it to Wednesdays then, dangit, I will bring our Wednesdays to Sundays! The mix I compiled featured some of my favorite songs I’ve danced to on Wednesdays over the last several months, including selections from too many DJs to name. And it proved a pretty fantastic introduction for the handful of newbies we welcomed to the studio that afternoon. Within no time, they jumped at the chance to Jump in the Line and all sixteen of us, DDPPers new and old, made sure that there was Azz EVERYWHERE.

It was a wonderful, joyful, deeply silly afternoon, and it wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for you killer women and your deadly taste in tunes. So from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for doing what you do, for being a part of this crazy collective called Dance Dance Party Party. Keep on finding those deep cuts and well-loved hits and I will, well, keep stealing them for my own playlists. Maybe I’ll even introduce the Wednesday crew to our special brand of Sunday madness real soon!