PLAYWAVE AT THE TEN MINUTE DANCE PARTIES

January 21, 2018

On Sydney Festival's second weekend, Young People from Shopfront Arts Co-op and Playwave blew up the dance floor (dance box?) as they DJ'd at the Ten Minute Dance Parties with JOF. Check out Playwave Creative Zack's insight just below!

Didn't get to party with us? HOLD YOUR HORSES.

We'll be back to DJ with JOF for Sydney Festival's closing weekend! We just couldn't get enough, let's dance the nights away!!

List of things that terrify me to my core:

 

1: space.

 

2: playing the wrong song in a social situation.

 

3: tripping into art in a gallery.

 

Totally didn’t expect to have to FACE option number two this year. I have several very embarrassing occasions in the past where entire mobs have booed me because of my song choice:

 

When I was in year 5 everyone was taking turns choosing a song to play on the new smart board. The girls would play Justin Bieber and the boys would boo them and then the boys would play the duck song and the girls would boo them. Yes it was boys choice then girls choice because primary school is divisive like that. Anyway then it was my go and I chose Viva La Vida by Coldplay because I liked the Minecraft version but was too embarrassed to play it (yes I was that kid) but for some reason I was less embarrassed to play the even less demographically appropriate version, so obviously the ENTIRE ROOM booed me. Obviously, I mean I was that kid and I just played the least lit song.

 

Fast forward to 2018 and I’m not that kid anymore... okay I’m still a BIT that kid. But despite my sometimes blinding confidence I’m still terrified of playing music but here I am, a literal DJ replacing JOF, the brilliant artist behind Ten Minute Dance Parties at Sydney Festival this year.

 

The attraction is pretty self explanatory, it’s basically a temporary rave in a shipping container where you go wild for ten glorious minutes. JOF’s been running this installation for 7 years now, it originally started at Falls Festival as a way to tire out stragglers and hopefully move them on in the early early morning. But its evolved into a full experience, an art installation because of the rollercoaster of feelings it takes you on.

 

I’d been to one of JOF’s dance parties in the festival before and it was my favourite part, it was so much fun and honestly a little magical. So I was really feeling the pressure, but after the workshops with JOF to train me and the other volunteer DJs how to actually use the technology I had a moment of realisation:

 

Who cares? How self absorbed of me to think any of that even matters. If I play the wrong song I’ll just play a better one. If I stuff up the lights I just start again and if I say the wrong thing I just say something better after it. Easy.

 

So that’s what happened, I shed all of that stupid skin and you know what, I did play some bad songs and it did kill the mood, and then you know what I did? I played Party in the USA by Miley and the room would go wild.

 

One of the others even played Viva La Vida quietly as the dance party ended and the room walked out, and that was cute for me.

 

TEN MINUTE DANCE PARTIES BY JOF

SYDNEY FESTIVAL

6 - 28 January