So apparently I never posted anything about Belgian jump style. This is kind of odd seeing as I was utterly obsessed by it for a good two weeks last year as anyone who I saw - and forced to watch you tube videos - during that time will testify.
So anyway, without further ado:
How cool is that? It’s like proper folk dancing, feels like an update of older Northern European traditions, the music is kind of folky too albeit filtered through gabba and hardcore (also typically Northern genres). I love the fact that the videos all take place in grey skied anonymous back streets or garages, sparsely decorated bedrooms or un-tended gardens. places that will be familiar to anyone who grew up in small town in the UK and apparently Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany etc. A hipper Jonathan Meades might have traced this kind of music and dance around the Baltic along with the herrings and earthbound architecture he identified as key signifiers of Northern-ness in Magnetic North. I’m sure there was some archive footage in the first episode of Dance Britannia of this exact dance (more or less) taking place 100 years ago in a Cornish fishing town. Also there’s that slightly sinister edge to the whole thing the dance comes close to a goose step and the music is unmistakeably martial.
The new thing seems to be the slightly less odd Hard Shuffle. Compare and contrast:
It’s still ultra formal but the music is noticeably a bit funkier and the style owes an obvious debt to Michael Jackson. Also girls are involved.
Tektonic seems to be even further down the funky axis, arm movements are introduced and the rigid steps are relaxed. What better place to see a demo than the booze isle of a supermarket?
Clearly this is the cross over point with NuRave/ Electro clash or whatever…
…the point at which the whole thing becomes acceptable to French people and the YouTube videos mostly feature girls. Irony and coolness have made an appearance, I can’t help but feel that something has been lost.
And then Dan said:
Thanks for posting all this - now I can see what you meant the other day. I think it’s interesting how as the music gets (marginally) better, the dancing becomes less structured and less good to watch. The tecktonic guys in the supermarket were just too freeform and slapdash - what was wrong with high-kicking and marching on the spot?
And then tom said:I kind of like the music in the early clips esp. the first one around 1:31 where it gets bleepy and minimal but retains that classic hardcore bass noise.
And then mildlydiverting said:It would never have occurred to me to relate gabba dancing to folk traditions, but you’re right on the money.
The Hard Shuffle style looks a little like some of the jazz/swing styles from Harlem in the 30s and 40s - there’s a tiny clip at about 2min 20 in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlPaSgnjuOI&feature=related
I can’t find the actual clip I want, of a guy in a zoot suit doing a much closer variant.
Also, I think the vicious formality of the Hard Jump and Jumpen versus the much less formal footwork in the later example might be a direct result of the kind of drugs associated with the musical form…
And then mildlydiverting said:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP6KGpOVvBk&feature=related
That’s nearly the ticket!
And then tom said:That’s brilliant!
And then Neil said:All this is really making me want to go out dancing.
Great post, Tom, thanks for the videos! I think musically Jumpen stuff is pretty weird, almost orchestral and quite slow, certainly not up to hardcore BPMs. Dance wise, throughout I was reminded of Morris dancing, unfortunately! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZjLATAUwao
And then Neil said:And also OMG that “Tecktonic” track WTF?
And then tom said:still it’s pretty fast, I mean maybe around the slow end of hardcore but still in that territory (160ish bpm) though no where near gabba speeds but the palette of sounds is identical. Not sure I get the orchestral thing it definitely sounds like folk music to me. the morris dancing thing I totally agree with, thats exactly the kind of thing I was getting at.
And then Neil said:Maybe orchestral is the wrong word, not sure what I’m getting at really. It’s very melodic, perhaps, as opposed to the likes of gabba which is extremely functional.
And then KateG said:I choose the oldskool shuffle - it depends what kind of place you are in, as jumpen wouldn’t lend itself to confined spaces in which alcohol may be drunk - i.e. any nightclub. Al fresco, certainly, though. I suspect people may think they are jumpen while actually appearing to tekton (verb form?). Why are they not more popular? You don’t get ‘em in Devizes, that be sure.
And then mildlydiverting said:@KateG - alcohol isn’t generally drunk much in hardcore techno places; it doesn’t really mix with speed/E/Ketamin. It surprised me how little boozing went on when I started going to ‘underground’ places in the late 90s; one place in particular would shut the bar for most of the night to get round licensing laws. Enthusiastic styles were kind of the average there; you get space on the dancefloor.
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