People of all ages dance with people of all races, so just dance at Just Dance. Photo courtesy of Just Dance.
World music dancefest Just Dance will celebrate its 20th anniversary on May 31. The Kitsilano-based dance community has been pushing its vibrant blend of world beat and electronic music in Vancouver since 1993, using sounds and genres from around the globe to create an intimate environment of expressive free-flow dancing.
Dancing around the world
According to founder and resident DJ Abheeru Ricard, who moved to Vancouver from Quebec in the 1990s, the tri-monthly event is aimed at people with different lifestyles and who aren’t limited by North American Top 40 culture.
“We play music from around the world,” says Ricard. “There is African influence, Celtic sounds, Bhangra rhythms, electro-swing, as well as more mainstream Western genres such as trip-hop and trance.”
Danielle MacCarthy, who attended her first Just Dance event on May 10, was impressed by the way the evening seamlessly incorporated so many different sounds and forms of cultural expression from around the globe.
Of Irish descent, MacCarthy relished the opportunity to dance to great Celtic music, but what struck her most was how the rhythms she was most familiar with blended with others.
She notes that the Celtic music transitioned into Bhangra, then was framed by African drumming and didgeridoo playing, giving what she says was an amazing sense of global cultural perspective.
“I didn’t go there just to experience my Irish ethnicity, but to see it surrounded and empowered by everyone else’s different cultures,” says MacCarthy.
Tapping into the influence of Eastern spiritualism, there is an optional hour long meditation session that precedes the main dance. Many of the dancers – who are encouraged to dance barefoot – incorporate free-form yogic flows into their expressive movements. In line with the group’s emphasis on intercultural and spiritual exploration, Just Dance events are billed as non-alcoholic, with the cafe serving delicious chai tea instead of booze.
All-ages show
The unity vibe extends beyond bringing together different cultures in a night of mutual exploration, with age barriers as well as ethnic barriers being traversed by Just Dance’s intercultural fusion. The non-alcoholic nature of their events, combined with an acceptance of everyone and everything, means that their dance-floor is pretty much the only place in the city where you can find children, seniors, teenagers and everyone in between dancing together in collective abandon.
For Abheeru, the all-age inclusivity of Just Dance is just another part of building on the ability to see potential, and commonalities, among people different from other people – be it an ethnic difference or a generational one.
He says that this idea of socially separating people by age-group is a new concept in human history, and that by doing so humanity is missing out on a lot of inspiration. Although it has a more complex past, the same could be said for cultural and ethnic separation.
“Why limit yourself to only mixing with your own race and only listening to your own culture’s music?” he asks.
DJ Abheeru Ricard. Photo courtesy of Just Dance.
Beyond the dance floor
This sense of positive engagement and social unity extends beyond the tracklist and the dance floor of Just Dance events. As a not-for-profit events group, the organization gives all of its proceeds to local charities like AIDS Vancouver, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, Vancouver Sacred Dance Festival and Earthsave Vancouver.
The 20th anniversary party on May 31 will display all these amazing facets. Featuring the internationally acclaimed mixmaster Adham Shaikh, it will be an opportunity to celebrate the amazing variety of cultural sounds available around the globe.
Tickets available from Banyen Books, on 4th Ave, or online at justdance.ca
