Pass the Flow: the Subcultural Practice of Liquid Dance
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PASS THE FLOW: THE SUBCULTURAL PRACTICE OF LIQUID DANCE A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN DANCE by David F. Heller December 2018 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Sherril Dodds, Advisory Chair, Boyer College of Music and Dance Dr. Kariamu Welsh, Boyer College of Music and Dance Dr. Nancy Morris, Media and Communications Dr. Larisa Kingston Mann, External Examiner, Media and Communications © Copyright 2018 by David Francis Heller All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT This dissertation explores how the subcultural practice of liquid dance emerged from US rave culture and continues to sustain itself and evolve in today’s era of social media and EDM festival culture. I draw upon the concept of flow as a lens to trace the historical, aesthetic, digital, social and subcultural trajectory of liquid dance. I analyze how this subculture continues to evolve through individual practice, as well as how dance is shared through online and live dance exchange. My dissertation consists of seven chapters that provide both academic and practitioner perspectives of liquid dance. My research methods combine a multidisciplinary approach to implementing semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and digital archival research. My fieldwork consists of interviewing fourteen liquid practitioners, as well as conducting ethnographic research at an EDM festival where liquid dancers annually attend and participate. The purpose of this project is twofold. One, to contribute new knowledge to the field of dance studies on the specific dance genre of liquid, which up until now has not been documented in this field. Two, to provide a space for practitioners to openly share their perspectives in a collaborative effort to produce new knowledge. From the beginning, it has been my intention to produce a dissertation that provides the foundation for a continuing series of academic discussions from which to draw upon for further, future research and critical engagement with liquid dance. This document may also be used as a template for scholars across disciplines to deploy as a lens to analyze and critique other subcultural dance practices within the continuum of rave, club and dance music festivals. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to my distinguished dissertation committee members Dr. Sherril Dodds, Dr. Kariamu Welsh, Dr. Nancy Morris, and Dr. Larisa Kingston Mann for your guidance, support and mentoring. Sherril, you have supported me since day one. Thank you for always being there to help guide me through the forest of ideas webbed in academic writing. Your approach to teaching, reading, writing, research, dance and mentoring is one I embrace for all time. Thank you Dr. Kariamu Welsh for your candor, support and continued mentorship. I will always value the opportunity you gave me to grow and evolve as a writer. Thank you Dr. Nancy Morris for your positivity and enthusiasm during my research project. You are like a breath of fresh air. Thank you Dr. Larisa Kingston Mann for being my outside reader and for your positive encouragement. Also, thank you Dr. Mark Franko for your guidance over these last four years. You have taught me the value of academic language and helped mold me into a dance scholar. Thank you Dr. Karen Bond for your kindness and for reminding me to stay true to my roots in practice, while embracing constructive feedback from others. Thank you Dr. Laura Katz, Enid Reid Whyte and Edrie Ferdun for your wisdom, advice and support. Thank you Dr. Merian Soto for showing me the beauty and exploration of dance improvisation. Thank you Gloria Scott for your bright-shining smile and positive energy. You brightened up my days at Temple when I needed it most. Thank you Norma Porter for your kindness. Thank you Rhonda Moore for being the best teaching mentor I have had at Temple. Thank you Sally Ann Ness for helping through challenging moments. Thank you Dr. Dean Flanagan for all of your advice, financial iv support, and for believing in me. Thank you Brandon LaBarge for your emotional council, patience, and understanding. I could not have pushed through my challenges without you. Thank you Natalie “Phoenix” Hiratsuka, Chuhan Zhang, Qixing Zhang, Emily Oleson, Matt Olwell, and Pritika Agarwal for your love and friendship. Mahalo David A. M. Goldberg, my friend and mentor since my master’s thesis on rave culture. You have always encouraged me to expand my critical thinking into a multidisciplinary realm. Your candid approach to critiquing my work has helped mold me into a dance scholar whose personal practice informs his writings. Thank you to my professors Gregg Lizenbery, Betsy Fisher and Kara Miller for your continued support throughout my academic journey from Honolulu, Hawai‘i to Philadelphia, PA. Thank you Razvan “Tiny Love” Gorea for your uncompromising, relentless pursuit of creative expression through dance, and for sharing your incredible wealth of knowledge on liquid, digits and the history of the rave scene. You are amazing! Thank you to all members of the Liquid Pop Collective (LPC). A very special thank you goes out to Edward “Fu Man Chu” Hickman for sharing your thought-provoking insights on the history, philosophy, and personal experiences with liquid. You have been a supporter of mine since the beginning. Thank you “Liquid Pop Eric” (LpE) for believing in my research project, and for embracing me into the liquid community. Thank you Sean “D- Strange” Mahnken for your insights on digits, liquid and the LPC journey. It was such a pleasure to finally meet you and pass the flow with you at Confluence 2018. Thank you to Steffan “Mr. Wiggles” Clemente for sharing your flow of popping knowledge with the LPC and the liquid community. v Thank you Chris “Verb” Atkins for embracing me into the liquid dance family at Sonic Bloom 2017, and for hosting what I honestly consider to be the greatest liquid dance meet-up event of all time in Knoxville, TN: Confluence 2018. You were the first liquid dancer to ever pull me aside and give me helpful guidance and constructive technique advice on levels, footwork, and body control. From you, I learned to slow down, and breathe. Your words of wisdom, encouragement and genuine appreciation for this dance style propelled me into a revitalized state. Thank you Rachel “LokiDoll” Reetz for sharing the flow with me at Sonic Bloom 2017 and Confluence 2018. Being reunited with you after twenty-seven years was an experience beyond words. Thank you Will “Falsify” Greggathus for your critical perspective on liquid’s emergence, your contribution to Floasis.net, and for your positive encouragement. Thank you Tommy von “Flowington” for your vast knowledge of flow-arts based dance styles and their connections to liquid, as well as your contributions to the development of levers. Your style and approach to liquid dance is one the most unique I have ever encountered. Thank you Scotty “Distortion” Miggs for your candid perspectives on liquid and for pushing me to dig as deep as I can into the nuances of flow. And thank you Scotty for our last-minute liquid session in the hotel parking lot the night after Confluence 2018. That was one of the highlights for me bro. Thank you Jenna Rose for embracing me into the liquid dance community at Sonic Bloom 2017, and for passing the flow of old and new ideas on liquid with me. Thank you Matt “Houdoken” for your contributions to levers, and for sharing your vast knowledge of liquid and digits among the community. Your dance workshops, performances and genuine love for this dance have inspired me on many levels. Thank you Kai “Sosceles” and “Itch” for travelling across the US to vi interview liquid heads and create build Floasis.net. And thank you Kai for sharing your kind words of enthusiasm and encouragement. Thank you Shane “Shenchi” Johnson and Nick “Sektor” for sharing both of your ideas on labbing, and for passing the flow with me at Four Hours of Funk in 2018. Thank you Chico Johnson for our liquid session at Big Dub 2017. Thank you to Nathan Dahlgren for passing the flow with me since 1999, and in Topeka, Kansas on the way back from Sonic Bloom. U-Neek Styles Crew forever bro. Thank you to the Philly breaking community for welcoming me into the City of Brotherly love. Special thank you to all members of the Temple Breakers crew (old and new), especially Michael “Mego” Eastridge, Keith “Vibe” Alford, David Lee, Sucio, Alex Ma, Alex Izegbu, Don Lov, Joshua Buck, Danny Mendoza, Jonathan Gene, Albert Shin, Anthony Kim, Brandon Tran, Moossa Khan, Ryan Peterson, and Brad Olu. I have learned so much from each of you. Thank you Ryan “Napalm” Wagner, Ben “Box Won” Barnes, Haewook “Ookie” Lee, Mark “Metal” Wong, Steve “Believe” Lunger, Danzel Shaqueil, Fox Boogie and Kenny Kanton for sharing your love and knowledge of dance. Your workshops have inspired the Philly breaking scene to grow in every sense of the word. Thank you Michael Nguyen for including me in your dance endeavors and inspiring me to be the best dancer and scholar I can be. You have always been a great friend and huge supporter of mine. Thank you Raphael Xavier for being such an amazing artist, performer and teacher. Being a dancer in two of your shows was a huge honor. To my good friends Dan “Spit,” Wayne “Positron” Lyons, Craig Boyer, and Jason “Fuse” Howard. Thank you all for being ready to dance at a moment’s notice. If it were not for you guys, I would not be dancing as much as I do. vii Thank you to my old-school Kansas raver crew for taking me to my first rave in Kansas City back in 2001: Shane Talbot, Kevin Kobylinski, Sarah Keke, and Al Gard, each of your friendships propelled me in ways I never expected.