1987…A Signature Year!

The stars all aligned in DDPP world this week when we needed a last minute DJ.  It happened to be DJ Chelles Belles BIRTHDAY WEEK so she grabbed the spot and HOLY CRAP are we glad she did!!!  Celebrating 24 years of endless beats, Chelles Belles ROCKED us with hits from 1987 to the present.  A child of the 90s indeed!  Den Mother Jill was so excited that a group of her friends showed up she exclaimed, “I’m so happy, I’m going to wear my tutu!”  Oh yeah….

This mix was so bangin’ we didn’t even need a warm up!  We were jumping and flailing our arms in the air to Livin’ on a Prayer before our heart rates knew what happened!!  There was a palpable feeling of unfettered release and unity in that sweaty studio filled with 16 amazing women!  I felt it..and I’m sure our positive vibration was echoing everywhere!  Booty shakes with Salt-N-Pepa brought to mind our beloved Den Mother Kelley Clink who had a BIRTHDAY yesterday.

The ultimate booty shaker? Kell C!

Multiple poloroid pictures were developing with Andre 2000 and we were yelping for joy at the Ray of Light that emerged during Madonna’s peek-a-boo appearance.  All in all I left with an unexplainable joy in my heart….like it was a dream….but it WASN’T!!!  Dance Dance Party Party brought thoughts of alternate realities, dream scapes and enlightened women.  One of our first timers on seeing the lava lamp projector on the wall with splooges of what could be mistaken for a giant Petri dish of reproductive material commented, “Its like Inception.”  That it is my friends….that. it. is.

Happy Birthday to DJ Chelles Belles and to our one and only Den Mother Kelley C!!

You’d better pickleback that a$$ up….

It’s summer and, to quote Lulu, the time has come for closing books.* But we here at DDPP Chicago would hate for all of those online vocabulary-building drills you’ve been running throughout the year to be for naught. Wait, what, we’re the only ones who do those? Neveryoumind. Anyway, a short quiz:

A pickleback is:

A) a shot of whiskey with a pickle juice chaser, frequently enjoyed by bartenders (or, at least, the bartenders those buzzseekers in the NYT Styles section always seem to interview);

B) what happens when crude Photoshop skills meet the crude melodies of a certain early 00′s Canadian rock band, see, e.g.,

C) a terrific new DJ recently added to the DDPP Chicago roster;

D) all of the above.

Clever girls! You KNEW the answer was D, didn’tcha? We’d have to wake up pretty early in the morning to pull one over on  y’all, we just know it.

Anyway, DJ Pickleback was INDEED in fine form on this, her DDPP debut, with a collection that was heavy on the rock but with enough sweet, sweet country and soul to keep our Right Hands Hi in the air. I know I, for one, am very glad for the love she saved up for us. And I’m pretty sure these awesome newbies who showed up were too. I mean, check out their style and tell me that they do not make YOU want to up your DDPP wardrobe game??

And yes, that is a shirt with pandas on it that reads, “Yo son, get that paper.” Because even panda dads (pandads? I’m sorry.) need to learn how to relax,  I guess?

OK! Enough rambling. To the playlist:

Brass In Pocket- The Pretenders

Heart Of Glass - Blondie

Runnin Down A Dream- Tom Petty

Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Jay-Z

Boys Don’t Cry - The Cure

Cherry, Cherry- Neil Diamond

9 To 5 - Dolly Parton

The Love You Save - The Jackson 5

Right Hand Hi - Kid Sister

Chantilly Lace - Big Bopper

Like Dylan In The Movies - Belle & Sebastian

Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springsteen

Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) - The Arcade Fire

Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra

SexyBack - Justin Timberlake & Timbaland

Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar

Beautiful - Carole King

Thanks, DJ Pickleback, for inspiring a total frenzy on Wednesday. We can’t wait to have you back with us again soon!

*Except for trashy beach reads, which we will always endorse. And yes, I DID just cite “To Sir With Love” as supporting evidence. You’re welcome.

Yo go-go gurl!

Every little girl wants a pony.

But when little girls grow up into dancin’ ladies, they want a different kind of pony and DJ Cake or Death is happy to oblige! With 23, count ‘em twenty-three, songs (the awesome thing about oldies is they’re around 2 minutes!), her go-go inspired playlist had us all doing the pony, the swim, the twist, the watusi and a few new moves of our own. If you couldn’t make it, just imagine that we looked like this:

Class started with a mini go-go lesson where Cake or Death demonstrated a few classic go-go dance moves for us to use as we pleased and ended with everyone in the room running in circles literally yelling Woo hoo! Oh, and there was a Nelly break near the middle where we all busted loose (a subtle homage to the another type of go-go music. Nice touch!) Cake or Death, wherever you are, that’s where we wanna go-go!

All She Does Is Win.

Bad days happen. It’s just a fact of life. But sometimes, there’s a silver lining. And sometimes, JUST sometimes, you get lucky and that silver lining comes in the form of DDPP. This, my friends, is the story of den mother DJ U.N.I.T.Y.’s most recent Wednesday night playlist. See, not only did she get to dance out her bad day with us, but she also got to DJ it! Just days before her birthday!!!! I’d say that qualifies as a golden lining. And so would this dog.

DJ U.N.I.T.Y. admitted to us that she bent the 1-hour playlist rule just a bit at the last minute to add one extra cathartic song, and you know what? It’s her birthday and she can add a song if she wants to! So THERE! I’ll let you guess for yourself which one was the last minute add-on…

Our seasoned DJ always keeps it fresh, and she didn’t disappoint our mix of newbies and vets last night! She gave us some current hits mixed in with some old skool classics that had us ALL losing our breath, getting seriously bodied, and jumping around like the dog days were over. Her playlist had us set adrift on memory bliss almost as much as this picture of the birthday girl herself:

I don’t know about you, but I wish we could have had that (hour-long) moment 4 LIFE! (Oh, and for the record- “track 13″ was “Now That We Found Love” by Heavy D and The Boyz- classic tunez all the way, baby!)

After the cool-down song was over and the lights came back on, a group of us headed to The Spot for some more karaoke- we can’t get enough! This time we were celebrating all the den mother summer birthdays, and it was so much fun that I forgot to even take pictures! Our table DOMINATED the mic, and brought the house down with our backup dancing. Between that and the dance fest earlier, DJ U.N.I.T.Y’s bad day was but a distant memory by the end of the night. Thankfully, you just can’t stop the beat. And really, who would want to?

And finally, a special birthday treat: enjoy!

FUNdraiser!

Your den mothers, rockin' the custom t-shirts. Shout out to Kelly P., not pictured because she was on her way back from a half marathon! Get it, girl!

When I think about what went down on Sunday (and the above picture in particular), the first word that comes to mind is EPIC. For one special day, DDPP morphed into DDBB (Dance Dance Bama Bama)! We held this special co-ed fundraiser for the tornado victims of Alabama at a larger space- den mother Unity’s church gym, and I’m gonna go ahead and assume that we rocked that gym like it’s never been rocked before! I definitely know for a fact that we broke a majority of the youth/open gym rules that were posted….but all in the name of a good cause, people!

A rare action shot!

We worked hard to make all the magic that transpired happen, but it certainly paid off on the dance floor Sunday afternoon! We packed the space with a super bunch of women AND men! And native Southern den mothers Kelley C. and Catherine collaborated on a KILLER 90 MINUTE playlist! Back in the olden days of DDPP, this time frame used to be par for the course. But after feeling winded by the 4th song and knowing there was still more than an hour of jams to be had, I couldn’t for the life of me remember how we ever danced for that long every week! Thankfully, the combination of the stellar tunes and the adrenaline rush that kicked in about halfway through kept everyone on their feet, busting out their best moves. We saw everything from zombie shuffling and air guitar to square dancing and some diva-worthy runway walking! DJ Sassybrass even cut open both of her knees sliding across the floor during “Footloose”! And the injured Kelley C. joined us for a couple songs to work on her chair-dancing. What can I say? We’re a dedicated group.

Here’s the playlist that kept us sweating and somehow still begging for more by the end of it:

We couldn’t have done all this without a lot of help from a lot of people. So it’s time to go all old-school liner notes on your asses and dole out some heartfelt thank yous in writing, from all the den mothers. First and foremost, thank you to each and every person that came out on Sunday. Your enthusiasm and generosity helped make DDBB a huge success! Thanks to den mother main squeezes Matt and Danny, for being MacGyver-worthy handymen. Thanks to all of you that donated money and/or bought a shirt even if you couldn’t make it. And thanks to the Church of West Ridge for hosting us!

Because of all of you, we’re proud to announce that we raised a grand total of $765!!! And there’s more good news- it’s not to late to donate! Our goal was $1000, and we’re sooo close. Please help us get all the way there! All of your money is going straight to Compassion Coalition in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and you can give cash or checks to any of the den mothers or send a check straight to the charity at this address:

Compassion Coalition

P.O. Box 1507

Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-1507

A++

The giving never stops, and neither does the DANCING!

 

She’s a DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE dancin’ machine

We were sweatin’ a little bit when only the DJ and I waited alone together as the clock struck 7pm on Wednesday…and not only because it was 90+ degrees outside!  We felt the dancin’ spirit blazin’ our way and sure enough – 5 other souls busted in to turn this MUTHA OUT!  DJ L- Scream hit us with some serious beats that wouldn’t quit!  We were swirling  and twirling and forgetting all of our problems…or was that just me?  Of all the famous screams in history….DJ L-Scream OUT ROCKS THEM ALL!

Bring some ca$h, shake that A$$!!!

Ladies (and let’s not forget the gentlemen this time!!!)- the day is almost upon us! Dance Dance Bama Bama is THIS SUNDAY! That means we’re leaving our cozy confines for this one time only to invite as many people as we can to cram into a gym and get sweaty with us co-ed style for a fantastic cause! I know we’ve told you before, but here’s a little recap for ya:

We’re holding this very special edition of DDPP as a fundraiser for the tornado victims of Alabama, a cause near and dear to 2 of our southern belle den mamas. Every single cent of the proceeds are going to an organization called Compassion Coalition, based in Tuscaloosa- the local paper already gave us a shout-out! What WHAT!

Oh, and have you seen this gem of a logo from the charming and charitable Ross Zietz?

Maybe you were lucky enough to order it on a t-shirt! But even if you didn’t, we want to see you there in your leg-warmer-est best! Here are all the important deets:

WHEN:     Sunday June 12, 2011, from 3:30 to 5 pm. (That’s right- a 90 minute mix!)

WHERE:  Church of West Ridge, 6015 N Francisco Ave, Chicago, IL 60659.  Parking lot is behind the church, off of Francisco, as is the entrance to the gymnasium where we’ll be dancing (awww yeah!)

We’re suggesting a $20 dollar donation per person. If you want to give more, rock on with ya bad self! If you can’t afford $20, come anyway and bring what you can—every dollar helps. Can’t make it to the jam but still want to help out?  Give your cash or check to one of our den mothers any time before June 12, or send a check directly to the charity at:

Compassion Coalition

P.O. Box 1507

Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-1507

Bring every single one of your dude and lady friends, and we’ll see you on the (church gym) dance floor!

Sweat Your Face Off

Usually for Sunday DDPP I roll up in my workout clothes with a belly fulla brunch completely sans make-up, cause hey, my brunch pals aren’t judging and I KNOW the ladies of DDPP aren’t either. I mean, it’s the first rule! However, sometimes one has occasion to apply a lil’ Sunday morning make-up. Maybe you’re going to see your crush or perhaps your brunch spot is frequented by modeling scouts and you’re looking for your big break, or quite possibly you just don’t feel like yourself without some makeup on.

(BTW, Marilyn Manson has a new line of absinthe called MANSINTHE! It’s 66.6% alcohol. F’realz.)

I had gone to an event that morning that I knew was being filmed so I had applied some make-up and was feelin’ good. I don’t have a picture of what I looked like, so you can just assume that my eye makeup looked like this when I showed up.

And then I met DJ ENRG’s playlist! Ooooooh child, even if my mascara had been waterproof I don’t think it could’ve withstood the torrent of sweat that her playlist unleashed.

Under the weather and feelin’ a little hazy on some cold medicine, DJ ENRG was worried that she wouldn’t be able to live up to her moniker. But the dedicated women of DDPP were more than happy to carry on in her name! With a relentless mix of dance hits that just wouldn’t quit, all the ladies were feelin’ ENRG’s energy! I certainly was. How do I know? Because at the end of class, I looked like this:

Yup. My mascara was running all down my face, but I was still smiling. How could I not be? Have you seen this mix?

Moo-town Philly back again….

In her introduction to Wednesday’s mix, DJ Moo-ve It told us, “This mix is a little cheesy.” AS IF THAT WERE A BAD THING. Need we remind folks of the many, many wonderful things that are cheesy? Like pizza, and queso dip, and afterschool specials, and ZOMG GRILLED CHEESE?!?!? Because if dramatic reenactments of Enrique Iglasias songs (complete with people running and hiding around the room in attempts to escape his love) are wrong, well DJ, we don’t want to–nay, simply can’t–be right! DJ Moo-ve It’s playlist included throwbacks that had everybody throwin’ their hands in the air, mooving it on the floor like there was canned heat in our heels that night, baby.

But you know. YOU KNOW I’ve saved the best for last. And that is because our beloved DJ treated us to that little ditty from the City of Brotherly Love, which provided me with the perfect excuse to remind you that this happened. You’re welcome.

[Note: the extended clip, also available on YouTube, provides some valuable life lessons about stage parents and how sometimes you wanna love dance but not make it your whole life, you know? Stephanie Tanner, you can come DDPP with us anytime!]

So thanks, DJ Moo-ve It, for bringing your special brand of cheese to our dance party. It makes me laugh just thinking about it….