Dancing, lasers & a smoke machine
It’s Saturday night around 8 in the evening, circa 2001. It’s late spring and the sun has not completely set, but it feels like it’s dark outside and the horizon is a bright, crisp orange. Mike Valentino, the base player, and Nick Medlock, the guitar player, are over and it’s break time for the band. As if he were a snake, my husband, Milt, carefully slithers his way around his drums and symbols, and they all leave the studio to head into the kitchen to grab drinks and break into the pantry for snacks.
Max is three and Kate is five. Their bodies are small, light and extremely nimble like those knobby rubber balls that bounce in directions you don’t expect. Bath time for our kids is now complete and they’re in their jammies ready to NOT go to bed. As if they were Ferraris in for a tire change at the pit stop, they rev their little engines anxiously waiting for the sign to be let loose. 3, 2, 1 you’re FREE! Off they go as they race down the hallway and bank the corner to the left into the living room to jump on Mike and Nick. They welcome them with open arms.
Energy is high as everyone is happy to be together and be surrounded by music. Weekend band jams have become the norm. It’s loud, like really loud. Like you can’t really do anything but listen to the band play loud. Break time is filled with jokes, puns (mainly punmaster Nick) and lots of laughter. We gather around the wall of CDs and begin to negotiate what music we should play. Milt is off in the corner turning on the smoke machine and all of the DJ lights. Strobes of pink, blue, green, yellow and orange begin flowing through the living room turning everything and everyone the color of beautiful gems. As the smoke machine gets its groove, it pumps plumes of smoke every few minutes and the colors of the strobe lights become even more vibrant and visible to our eyes.
We make a pile of CDs to begin rotating through, mostly the dance mixes:
Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence, Personal Jesus, World in My Eyes, Policy of Truth
KLF - 3AM Eternal, What Time is Love?, Justified & Ancient
Love and Rockets - So Alive, Ball of Confusion, Haunted When the Minutes Drag
Praga Khan - Insanity
Chicane - Don’t Give Up, Offshore, Saltwater
Delerium - Silence (feat. Sarah McLachlan)
SNAP! - Power
Art of Noise - Peter Gunn, Close (To The Edit)
The Cure - Let’s Go To Bed, Fascination Street, Never Enough
One by one, we blast these songs through the living room speakers. The house has become enveloped by the beat of the music, the smoke and the colorful lights. You can’t help but let the music take over and move your body. Who cares what you look like. It’s dark, hazy and the lights and smoke make you look like you know how to move. The grins on our faces are wide and our hearts are now beating in unison with the beat of the music. Joy is flooding through our bodies and we have forgotten about everything else in the world. Song after song plays. Max and Kate eventually begin to run out of steam and now Milt and I are each dancing with a kid in our arms. Life is so good!
What is it about music that transforms us?
Music has a profound ability to entirely shift our mood and elevate our spirits in ways that few other things can. It literally creates an atmosphere of joy, energy, and togetherness. The booming bass beats we felt while dancing moved our bodies, increased our heart rates and actually created a sense of euphoria and exhilaration. All we did was listen to the music and move our bodies.
The energy in our bodies shifted, elevated. It’s quite magical.
Music has been shown to actually have a direct impact on brain chemistry. Studies have found that listening to music can stimulate the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, which is associated with feelings of pleasure and reward. This biochemical response helps explain why going to the club, a concert or dancing in the shower can instantly lift your spirits. Music can equally have a therapeutic effect on your mental and emotional well-being. Whether you're feeling stressed, anxious, or down, turning to music can provide an escape, or shift in perspective. The act of dancing and singing along to a favorite song can actually help release stagnant energy and eliminate tension.
You don’t need much to make changes in your mood happen. Here are a few easy breezy ways to quickly benefit from the power of music:
Play music while you’re in the bath or shower. Keep the music playing while you get ready and move your body to the beat of the music.
Use your headphones to listen to some energetic beats while you take a walk. Don’t be afraid to dance while you walk. You just might infect someone else with your electric, uplifting energy as they walk or drive by.
Go to a concert and buy the general admission or pit seats so you can dance all night.
Grab a friend and go dancing at a club. Take it easy the next day. Trust me on this as muscles you never knew you had will be a bit sore.
Play some favorite tunes while you cook and clean up after dinner.
Place a yoga mat on the floor. Close your eyes and move as little or as much as you’d like to whatever music is calling you. Let your body flow with ease as the grip of the mat helps keep you balanced and the edges of the mat keep you aware of your surroundings.
So many of us work from home. Even if you don’t, take a 5 minute break and move your body to the beat of a favorite song. It’s so important to stand and stretch regularly. You don’t want your body to permanently be the shape of a chair.
Music is a gift. It has the power to transport us to a different state of mind, where worries fade and joy takes over. It has the remarkable ability to unite people, transcend language barriers, and evoke powerful emotions. Whether you're dancing with family and friends on a Saturday night or looking for calm in a quiet moment, music is an abundant resource that can change your entire world in just moments. Make a playlist of your favorite songs and just let the music take you places you didn’t even know you needed to go.
You can find our playlist on Spotify under ‘2001 Dance Party’ or simply click on this link