Our Own Special Brand of Relaxation

I have had what you might call a stressful week- if you’re into understatement, that is. I was so tired and frazzled that I didn’t think I could POSSIBLY dance for an hour on Wednesday night. But it’s kind of my job (which I love!!). So I dragged myself in…and was promptly brought back to life by the DJ stylings of none other than MC Escher. You know what they say…

And get down I did. Get down we ALL did.  I present to you exhibit A:

That’s right, 3 miraculous things happened on Wednesday night preeeetty much all at once. MC Escher graced us with her (black) magical mix, den mother Kelly brought us a giant party ball from Playboy (for free!), and the 5 Hour Energy girls dropped off an assload of free liquid energy for the taking! How could it get any better? Oh, well, the mix could look like this-

MC Escher, how DO  you do it? You continue to hit us with the most mashed-up mashups that not even Girl Talk could ever dream of mashing! You’re like DDPP’s own Lady Talk. (So much more mature, riiiiight?) This master mixer had a certain den mother morphing into all sort of different branches of the animal kingdom- from a cat playing with the flashing lights to her DJ namesake slithering around the studio.  And she made THIS den mother so happy that I may or may not have shed a couple tears of joy. Most people may not consider dancing ’til you’re dizzy as a form of relaxation, but it was just the release I needed this week! And feeling all the vibes of pure happiness radiating from all of you fantastic femmes in attendance, well it was just damn near perfect.  (Damn near because, I mean, I wasn’t also eating Swedish Fish at the same time…)

Basically, what I’m trying to say is…ladies of DDPP, you make my life better. And MC Escher, you sexy nerd you, you made us a mix, and then you let us download it for free! Y’all are simply the best.

Nice day for a….White Wedding!

I knew Sunday was going to be a special day for me, cuz DJ Misfit Toyz was DJ at DDPP!  Well, she has a very special day coming up.  She’s getting married next weekend!

Hopefully there won’t be any motorcycles crashing through stained glass windows!

She explained that her playlist was the story of a relationship:  meeting, falling in love.  Planning the wedding and the marriage, two very different things.  Sometimes it feels great, like Modern Love, sometimes it feels like a Bad Romance.  Sometimes you might see Red Lights.  But then you say, Don’t Stop Me Now, I’m havin’ a good time, I don’t wanna stop at all!

We were all Party Rockin’ and celebrating The Wonder Of It All!  And, coming all the way from Indiana, we had a guest appearance from DJ Tunerkin!

DJ Misfit Toyz, we wish you a lovely wedding full of Beautiful People and a long, happy marriage!  Thank you for another joyous, transcendental playlist!  We will dance with you any time!

DJ Badonkadonk Blows!

Leave it to our veteran DJ Badonkadonk to create a themed playlist where every song either has the word BLOW in it or features a sweet ass horn section that BLOWS you away!  With the temps in the 70s this Wednesday we thought half of our regular dancers might BLOW us off and choose a beer garden instead of coming to class.  Ye of little faith, eh?  28 awesome women (at least 6 DDPP Virgins!) showed up to BLOW away our doubts.

The hits kept on BLOWing by us from Eve’s BLOW Yo Mind to the classic Mambo #5.  Ke$sha tried to warn us that This Place About To BLOW, but we didn’t listen!  We just kept on steaming up the mirrors, droppin’ booty shakin’ bombs and BLOWing through an hour of awesome times!  I left sweaty and happy to have BLOWn off some steam.  DJ Badonkadonk you’re BLOWIN’ UP!

She can dish it out and we can take it!

According to the googler’s best friend and bane of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia,

Hotdish is a variety of baked casserole that typically contains a starch, a meat or other protein, and a canned and/ or frozen vegetable, mixed together with canned soup.

Hot dish was popularized in Minnesota, along with the mom from Bobby’s World’s accent and the artist formerly known as Prince.

According to more that 15 dancin’ women in the studio on Sunday

DJ Hot Dish makes a playlist containing a variety of throwbacks, current hits, tributes, and/or hot jams, mixed together with a hearty helping of bassline.

DJ Hot Dish was popularized in Chicago, along with deep dish pizza and the artist formerly known as Robert Kelly (you can just call him R.)

And lemme tell you, this playlist was Minnesota NICE!  DJ Hot dish served up steaming helpings of rock, pop, and even some world music. I wish I had seen this video before Sunday and I would’ve been sure to bring my Zorro mask to wear while shimmying to Jaan Pehechaan Ho.

Thanks for such a satisfying menu, Hot Dish!

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

DJ Ssssnake warned us. On Facebook, before the playlist started, and I even got a personal warning from her last week. It was like the title to a suspenseful dance movie: THERE WILL BE HAND CLAPS. We were warned, but nothing could have prepared any of us for the actual experience of her 10th mix/greatest hits playlist. I looked down at my hands when the lights came on, and was met with something that didn’t quite look, but definitely felt, like this:

I wished we had all had one of these on hand (ha! HAND! Get it?)

DJ Ssssnake definitely delivered a tour de force mix of her greatest hits, with hand claps of all speeds and variations to spare! Not only were the mirrors fogged to the extreme, but at one point I wiped the sweat off my face with my hands, then started clapping along to the current song, AND CLAPPED A SPRAY OF MY OWN SWEAT DIRECTLY INTO MY FACE. There’s a first time for everything, ladies. Not only that, but why didn’t anyone tell me after that breathless, pure-joy-filled hour of dancing that my mascara had made its way halfway down my face?! Geez.

But I wasn’t the only one that got caught up in DJ Ssssnake’s infectious grooves. The last fast song made den mother Jill so excited that she started wildly screaming at pretty much everyone in the room. I will carry that hilarious memory with me for the rest of my life. Such is the power of DJ Ssssnake. She’ll slither up and bite you when you least expect it.

I have to hand it to you, DJ Sssnake (Get it? Huh? HAND!!!): That was a 10th mix for the ages. We should all give her a hand. (AHHHHH!) Actually, no. You know what? It was so out-of-this-world that she deserves…say…12 hands.

You're welcome.

 

GRRRL POWER!!!!

What can girls do?  I’ve been thinking about this lately.

Let’s see.  If we believe this helpful educational film, girls can do oh so much.

We can study home ec, run a household, take care of children, work in food preparation, you name it!  OK, I know, I’m getting snarky.

It’s socially acceptable for girls to wear makeup.  It may come as a surprise to show up in makeup for the first time to DDPP, like I did, prompting DJ U.N.I.T.Y. to say, “Are you wearing makeup?  You never wear makeup!”  There’s a first time for everything, I guess.

You know what else girls, or perhaps it should be spelled grrrlz, can do?

We can KICK ASS at DDPP, that’s what!  DJ Gem proved that with an all-grrrl mix!  And you heard of dancin’ your ass off?  Well, DJ MC Escher proved grrrlz can dance their GLASSES off!  We were Stronger and Indestructible On the Floor!  And we just wanna have fun, right?

Thank you, DJ Gem, for proving Grrrlz Rule!

Teaching us about the magic of Leap Day.

In case you missed it over there in the right-hand column of the blog, our dear den mother Amy (aka DJ Sex Frosting*) is a school teacher. So whether it’s intentional or not, I think she always has a way of educating us through the songs she puts on her playlists. Whether it’s telling us what was acceptable in the 80′s or when something is, quite frankly, none of our business, or continuing to insist that, really, deep down, we all wish we were gingers like Rupert Grint, this woman has a way of schooling us with her sweet sweet sounds.

And you know, it’s often been said that good things come to those who wait. That old adage seemed particularly true this week when, after nearly five long years, the women of DDPP Chicago FINALLY got to experience their first Leap Day playlist! Now, as fans of the show 30 Rock may know, Leap Day is a magical day for taking chances, for doing things you wouldn’t normally do. I don’t know if that had anything to do with our DJ’s decision to play the Quad City DJs’ “C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train)”, but I DO know that what transpired next was nothing short of a Leap Day Miracle: alllll of us womens ridin’ that train around the studio in full effect. It was precisely the kind of goofy, self-consciousness-free fun that we count on DDPP for. I mean, not that these people aren’t having fun, but did no one have the heart to tell them that was a spaceship, not a train, they were riding?

So whether it was teaching us the ways of the world or telling us to forget them all and just hop on that dang train, well done, DJ Sex Frosting. A tip o’ the tiny hat to ye!

 

*Fun fact: “Sex Frosting” is consistently one of the top Google search terms for the entire DDPP Chicago blog. Every time we post about her, our blog hits skyrocket. Just to try it out, I’m gonna do this: Sex Frosting Sex Frosting Sex Frosting! We Den Mothers would be good to retire now off the ad revenue this post will bring in…if we hosted ads on the site or profited at all from this enterprise (which we don’t). Ah well.

Oh, So you wanna be starting something?!?!?

So a little google search of Orange Cake Mix brought me these images:

Whipping up a sweet confection of dance moves!

Music makes the people come together!

Random…right?!?! Well, let me tell you what is not random…our 1st time dj’s sweet playlist. Dj Orangecakemix had us jumping, j1ving, skipping (yes, skipping), clapping, & all around losing our minds with her tunes.  What a feeling was felt that day!  By the end it was kind of like this:

By the end, all the ladies collapsed on the floor like dominoes…thank you dj because you definitely started something amazing.  Our dj definitely knew how to express herself on her 1st time up to bat (I think she did all for love) & I for one cannot wait to experience her next mix.

Check the playlist here: