I was organizing my bookmarks today and rediscovered a page called Team Gwailo. I had to load it to remind myself what it was.
This is what it was: a Dance Dance Revolution devotee page. As far as I can tell Dance Dance Revolution and its peers are what Nintendo wishes it had come up with back when it created the big floorpad you stomped on to move the characters on the screen. People get devoted enough to the game to choreograph complicated routines. I took the time to download this video. It struck some chord in the part of me which still regrets never becoming the Fly Girl I wanted to be in junior high.
I’m intrigued by the possibilities, though there’s apparently only one somewhat laid-back New York team. A video game which revitalizes social dance? (I think this makes perfect sense. Most of the guys I meet on the social dance floor are engineers, programmers, and math and physics students. Why not combine two geek pastimes?) More opportunities to watch Asian kids make what they will out of hip-hop? Lead on. I only hope I can restrain myself from joining a team until I manage to pitch an article about it.
anyway, if I wasn’t so achy tired and my fingers weren’t stiff from the cold I would be making my original point, which was that this is giving me another moment where I go “gee, shouldn’t I be in grad school for anthropology right now?” I look at these Korean kids dressed up looking like Spy Vs. Spy dancing Kid N Play in front of an arcade console, and I think, “What does this all mean?” If I can figure out a way to work dance, education, and labor into an anthro specialization and still work for social change, I’ll do it. haa haa.
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