I recently started dancing like a maniac. Even though 2 years ago I wrote why I didn't really get dancing, last November, 2 1/2 months ago, I had a really hard week. I'm not going to go into that now but suffice it to say I had something I needed to forget, to get off my mind and so I decided I would do it by dancing.

I went to a club, one I had been to once before about a year ago call Womb. It's relatively large club, 4 stories with a one large main dance floor with a large projection screen and cool lasers. They play mostly house/techno. It's usually pretty crowded, in fact usually too crowded to *really* dance but still, I had a blast. With house/techno you don't really need any dancing skills nor do you even need a partner.

I went there a couple of times alone. Then, one of my friends, Yuka, she hangs out at a club called Space Lab Yellow. It's got a nice bar, actually 2 of them but the dance floor is not nearly as cool as Womb. Still, dancing with Yuka is a blast. Specifically because she is encouraging. No matter what kind of crazy move I do she'll copy it and make me feel like I can do nothing wrong.

One time she couldn't make it but I wanted to go out anyway and I thought I'd try something new so I checked on my cell phone for where a house/techno club was near me and found Core. Core has 2 dance floors. When I got in the top floor was playing hiphop and the bottom floor had a live show with some gospel/soul singer. I was a little disappointed because I'm not ready for hiphop. Hiphop dancing requires more skill. But, I actually didn't get to the club until like 2:57am and the singer downstairs ended her set at 3, after which they put on some house and I danced my ass off 😊

That night some Japanese guy came up and introduced himself. He's a DJ or learning to be one and wanted me to hear his set. I gave him my number and he was pretty persistent in inviting me out. I finally got to hear him at a small club called NoStyle. It's right by the station in Shibuya but it's hidden and very small. It felt like everyone there knew everybody else. My DJ friend didn't play until 2am and it was a Tuesday night but I went anyway. His was the best set although by 2am he was drunk and had a few mishaps. Through him I met another DJ who plays at Core once a month who I will go check out this month.

Also, my friend Yuka likes to hang out at Air. We went last week. It's not all that big but it's stylish. It was packed though! In fact I don't think Japan has any fire hazard laws because when I say packed I mean that even in the hallways you had to step over people to get through. Still the music was good even if you could only dance for 10−15 seconds at a time until someone would try to pass either to get deeper into or out of the dance floor. They had a good display and a VJ putting up some good stuff.

Another place I've been to is <a href="/edit/editheadlines/<a href=" http:="" www.club-yellow.com="" "="">Module. It's also very small, I'd say the dance floor is not as big as my family room when I was a kid. Maybe only 25x25 feet big. It's in the second basement of some building. One of the many clubs in Tokyo which unless you had a map you'd never find it. Yellow and Air are similar. From the outside there is no way you could tell a club was there.

Of course the music is LOUD. That's fine, I put something in my ears since I don't want to lose them. It's amazing to me though that I've met a few girls that just stand/dance directly in front of the speakers. Sure it's their life but they are not going to be happy campers when they can no longer hear any music.

Well, as you can see, I found out at least one reason why people dance. I'm enjoying myself. I've gone as many as 3 times a week. I also found out if I go to Shibuya I can get home for 1700yen so I don't have to stay all night if I want which makes it less of a commitment.

Last Saturday I even took a hiphop dance class. Kind of strange I guess to think someone might take a class to learn hiphop but still it was fun. The person that invited me does it more because it's great excersize and much more fun then a gym. I agree.

I also sucked. It's easy to make up your own moves but it's much harder to follow someone else's. It also felt like I was in an advanced class. It seems like I need some instruction on body momentum and weight placement because for many of the moves i'd jump and the rest of the class would be on the next move before I even landed. Or I'd do one step and there was no way with the momentum of my body that I could lead into the next step. Clearly I was doing something wrong. But, I'm game to figure it all out. Maybe I can find a lower level class.

Well, It's only like 20+ years late but I'm getting my dance on 😊 Not only that but I'm one of the most aggressive dancers on the floor 😉