So, I know Bak wrote a post along this same lines but I just have to expand on the topic. This weekend I hopped around a few parties in downtown Austin, all of them well planned and well attended.

I couldn’t help but notice that the crowd fell into one of two categories.

1. “The Check Me Out Crowd”
   There are whole clubs full of people standing around. The girls seem to be trying to look prettier than the others. The men seem to be trying to look tougher than the others. Everyone stands and stares, no one smiles. Occasionally you might see a head bop, if you’re lucky. Maybe you see a small group of females dance a little, but again, they seem to only be dancing in order to “be seen“. Seriously, are these people having a good time? I can’t tell.
2. Then there is “The I Don’t Give a F*** Crowd”
   These people seem to be out to have the time of their lives. They sing the songs out loud. They do moves I have never seen (and probably never will again). They don’t care who is or is not looking. You are even likely to see a man in a blonde wig. Afterall, you are out to party so who the hell cares!

So, what seems more interesting to me is how the different crowds also seemed so racially divided. I don’t like to make generalizations and there are always exceptions to the rule but… When did it become uncool to dance in certain American cultures? Did I miss the memo?

I grew up in what I would call the heyday of hip-hop in Atlanta. You could only hear that music in underground clubs and people danced their ass off. And I don’t mean bumpin and grinding… I mean just movin however you felt. You would have felt really silly back then just standing around sippin on a drink.

Are some folks just too afraid to get sweaty? Or look a fool? Or has everyone just forgotten how to dance unless the song tells you how?

All I can say is thank God there are still some people out representing the days like in “Soul Train” when it was cool to move… Not caring who is watching… Not forming a battle circle… Just feeling the music like it is meant for.