IZO[3 VAN GINI<EL&ALEX 5TRATING DITOR5 Distribution in USA, Canada, Latin-America & UK by Transaction Publishers ISBN 978 90 5589 293 8 © 2007, Het Spinhuis - Apeldoorn I Antwerpen No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any informa- tion storage and retrieval system, without permission from the copyright owner. Layout: Hanneke Kossen Het Spinhuis Publishers - P.o. Box 960 - 7301 BE Apeldoorn - the Netherlands www.spinhuis.nl THE SENSATION OF DANCE EVENTS 237 conducting interviews or taking notes, virtually impossible, even without THE SENSATION OF DANCE EVENTS the sheer volume of the music. The research cannot rely on visual obser- 1 Ritual and Sensory Experience in Entertainment vation either, since the visual effects - a central feature of dance events - require a basically dark environment. If anywhere, the appeal made by IRENE STENGS anthropologists like Bendix (2005), Herzfeld (2001), Howes (2003), and Verrips (2002, 2005) to bring more sense in ethnography, applies to eth- nography of 'dance events' or 'dance culture.' For sensing is what peo- ple come for. Dance events are designed to affect all senses in unison (see Verrips 2005:33), and understanding the popularity of dance is under- The view from the platforms in the main stage hall is overwhelming. standing the place of this integral affection in the life of the participants. As far as the eye can see, dancing people fill the huge, dimly lit space. At the same time, understanding dance requires the acknowledgement From above, they seem an organic entity, rhythmically responding to that dance events are commercial projects, products of 'technocracy of DJ the predominant beats of Trance/Techno Marco V. Smart light and sensuality' par excellence (Haug quoted in Howes 2003:211). Finally, dance laser effects enhance the emphatic atmosphere. Most impressive are the events may be explored as ritualized practices, orchestrated to evoke col- moments when the music is about to reach a climax;just before the rais- lective sensations. ing beat 'breaks' the public shouts and whistles, raising thousands of Electronic dance music constitutes a significant part of present-day hands on the rhythm of the beat, in tribute to the DJ but also in physical Dutch leisure culture (and elsewhere, see for example Malbon 1999; Rey- support of the move to the next track. These are also the moments to nolds 1997). In the Netherlands, out of a population of more than sixteen switch on the intensely white flashing lights of the stroboscopes, not million an estimated two million people go out on a regular weekend, only to reinforce the effect of the moving arms, but also to provide suf- half of them visiting at least one, larger or smaller, dance event or club. ficient lighting for the public to see each other doing the same, and to A 2002 report on the social and economic meaning and impact of dance create a visual experience in support of the general sensation of being on Dutch society speaks of 2.3 million teenagers and young adults (half an inextricable part of an immense whole. of all people aged between fifteen and thirty-five) who are interested in dance, 650,000 of whom actively take part in dance culture. Two hundred This brief ethnographic impression of my visit to the 2004 edition ofInner- thousand of them, according to the report, describe dance as their way of city - the world's largest indoor dance event - sketches dance as a totally life (see KMPG 2002:7). What does this actually mean, however: 'dance as embodied, sensory and ritual experience. The beat is heard and felt; the a way oflife'? body cannot resist moving; the hand-raising and the cheers follow the beat It is my argument that participating in dance culture is a contemporary 'naturally.' Vision is vital too; the light effects reinforce the rhythm of the way of 'being in the world,' of connecting with a wide circle of social and beat; the sight of other moving bodies; the immediacy and scent of other personal life worlds. Its meaning therefore is much broader than 'enjoy- bodies strongly engage the tactile and olfactory senses, all adding to a sen- ing dancing.' Dance is a form of sociality which is experienced and shaped sation of the boundaries between the self and the collective moving body through the praxis of collective dancing, or, at least, by collectively visit- being in a floating state. ing a dance event. This 'togetherness' of the people dancing on the floor The music, the light-effects, and the enormous crowd absorb every- makes the event take shape, irrespective of whether it is a weekly dance body present, including the researcher. Presence at a dance event enforces night at a local club or an annual mega-event like Innercity. However, these a bodily engagement that makes classic ethnographic practice, such as people are connected in a wider sense than in just the transitory moments WILDNESS & SENSATION THE SENSATION OF DANCE EVENTS 239 of actively dancing; they share a 'culture.'2 Its members distinguish them- Innercity as a whole used also to have a theme: 'Lenin' in 2002; 'Brasilia' selves through a shared lifestyle and shared taste. They may be under- in 2003; and 'Fabulous Las Vegas' in 2004.6 A theme helps the organizers of stood, in the words of Michel Maffesoli (1996), as postmodern tribes: 'lit- the event - in this case ID&T, the largest commercial player in the world of tle masses' that are unstable and ephemeral, but nevertheless take shape dance entertainment in the Netherlands - in designing suitable and consist- time and again. Maffesoli's approach opens the possibility of thinking of ent decorations and acts. A theme like 'Fabulous Las Vegas' evokes images modernity in terms other than increasing individualism, allowing us to see from the world of gambling, glamour, big money, 'poshness' and conspicu- 'social configurations that seem to go beyond individualism' instead and to ous consumption. The white, six-door limousine on the stage in the main switch our focus from individuals and self-contained identities to persons hall, dubbed 'LUCky Number 7 Casino,' served as a material interpretation and their roles within such configurations. of this 'style of affluence.'7 The hall was decorated 'as a casino,' with huge Clearly enough, 'dance' is not one-dimensional and homogeneous, images of roulette tables projected on the walls and gambling machines on but encompasses a wide variety of (genre) circuits, sub-cultures that are the various viewing platforms along the sideline, together with a Wheel delineated along ethnic or other lines. This chapter will take as its major of Fortune and a real croupier for those who wanted to actually play. Las focus the 'thematic mega dance event' as one particular practice of evoking Vegas-style performances - such as show girls dancing to 'Diamonds are a and undergoing sensational experiences. Although thematic mega dance Girl's Best Friend' and fireworks - alternated every now and then with the events only comprise a fraction of Dutch dance culture, they are significant DJS, to enhance the Las Vegas experience. On the whole, however, it had moments of the Dutch dance calendar. This contribution will be mainly been difficult to pursue the theme convincingly in every hall. based on ethnographic material drawn from two important yearly dance A substantial part of the visitors - one fourth maybe - was more or less events, namely Innercity 2004, and Sensation 2005. In addition, I will direct dressed up in accordance with the theme: men in Elvis-outfits, or groups my attention to a group of friends - calling themselves playfully 'the Fun- of friends with (brightly coloured) Texan hats; scantily dressed girls, some- mates' - who, in my opinion, exemplify the idea of 'participating in dance times in combination with cowboy boots and hats, and also quite a few culture as a way of being in the world.'3 I met the Funmates first on the 'brides,' another well-known Las Vegas theme.8 The organizers of Inner- internet, where they maintain their own website that is all about going out city had gone as far as organizing a real wedding at midnight in the sweet, and dance. The Funmates have not only visited Innercity 2004 and Sensa- white, Las Vegas style wedding-chapel placed at the Fair (the entrance hall), tion 2005 together, but share an entire history - and future - of 'dance.' to be followed by party-goers staging mock marriages. The Fair also com- prised attractions such as a 3D projection of a performing Elvis with the possibility of stepping in and taking over the performance, a (one-room) INNERClTY, FABULOUS LAS VEGAS Motel of Love, and a cakewalk. In 2004, forty-five to fifty thousand people participated in Innercity, a Innercity, midnight mega-dance party lasting from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Innercity, annually held in A small number of people have gathered around the Wedding Chapel, the huge RAI Exhibition Halls,4 takes up six to eight different halls, each where the bride and groom, their friends and some family members are dedicated to either a specific style of electronic dance music like Trance, seated for the marriage to be executed by a registrar of the Amsterdam Techno, Minimal, Hardstyle, Clubhouse, Progressive or to a 'theme.' Oud-Zuid borough council. The registrar, dressed in her formal black Whether dedicated to a style or to a theme, each hall has its own, carefully wedding attire, contrasts sharply with the wedding chapel, where eve- selected and scheduled 'line-up' of DJS.5 Innercity attracts mainly white rything is white; the chapel, the couple and most of their acquaintances.