Devon Hunter

I was asked recently by another dancer for advice on putting music together for a performance. This depends, of course, on a wide variety of factors, so the best I can do is offer suggestions for combining music. I can’t really make specific recommendations, because everyone’s taste is so vastly different. For example, I absolutely worship at the altar of Janet Jackson, but my dancer friend Rocco up north is non-plussed by her and instead worships at the altar of Madonna. I love Madge, but my personal diva is Janet. So, there you have it. Taste is taste.

With that in mind, I would make the following suggestions when you’re in a situation where you can bring your own mix of songs:

1. Variety – this applies to genre, artists, tempo, mood, and texture. If you want several songs from a similar vein, break them up.
2. Brevity – avoid songs that play longer than 3-4 minutes. Attention spans are abbreviated in clubs. Unless the particular song is a banger that almost everyone loves (and will tolerate for 4-5 minutes), use shorter mixes.
3. Familiarity/Obscurity – gravitate towards music that is familiar, but throw in some surprises.
4. Sensuality – I personally don’t prefer pornographic clichés like “Me So Horny.” It’s actually embarrassing when some asshole DJ plays “I Wanna Fuck You in the Ass.” I mean really. Go for sexy, not trashy. You can get freaky without being a total freak (unless you’re performing for an audience that specifically fetishizes something in particular, then go balls-to-the-walls).
5. Interaction – select compositions that move you to involve the audience. Perhaps a sexy ballad gives you a reprieve, so you can stop gyrating around by yourself? Take a rest and give a volunteer from the audience a smoldering, blindfolded chair dance. Get creative though – that was the first example I came up with, because everyone does it. Think of new ways to flirt and make contact (where legal).</li> 

An example set that lasts about 30 minutes might look like this:

1. “These Words” Natasha Beddingfield (a fun, flirtatious opening)
2. “Erotica” or “Justify My Love” Madonna (absolutely smoldering)
3. Lords of Acid (high octane, humorously smutty, and lots of fun – take your pick on titles)
4. “Rope Burn” Janet Jackson or “Insatiable” Prince (for a slow jam interaction at the mid point), “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaac could be a more romantic alternative maybe?
5. “The Way I Live” Baby Boy the Prince or “Lean Like a Cholo” Down aka Kilo (a midtempo grinder with some swagger)
6. “Whatever You Like” TI or some other anthem that EVERYONE knows at least some of the words to and enjoys chanting along with
7. Missy Elliot (thick, sexy grooves that allow for interesting rhythms as you depart – take your pick on titles)

This past weekend I was supposed to see Janet Jackson in concert; however, she was sick, so after driving to Greensboro, NC I immediately had to turn around and drive back to Charlotte. That sucked. Really bad. We’re having a gas shortage, so I’m out the gas, I’m out the concert, and I’m out the night of work. To make it worse my new roommate’s dog attacked me when I got home, and when I decided to leave and go dancing just for fun for the first time in a year I found that my car had been egged so hard that the paint on my car is completely chipped off in some places. SUCK!

Anyway, I decide that October 4, 2008 is the best candidate for a “I’m gonna get drunk” night that I’ve had in a very long time. I go to clubs for fun so rarely that I almost want to use the word never; however, that’s not true, but you get the point. I’d not had a night off at home and been in the mood to go to a club in a year or more. So, away I went to Charlotte’s newest gay dance club: The Garden and Gun Club. It’s actually very posh, and I loved the environment; however, I had some situations come up that reminded me why I avoid going to clubs when I’m not working…

1. Within 10 minutes of getting there I was recognized by people who used to see me dance at Chasers, waaaaaaay back in the day. I was then, after much coddling (and 3 buttery nipples – yet another indulgence that happens rarely) wrangled into giving 3 lap dances to some chics who were there for a bachelorette party.
2. I was approached by an ecstasy queen whom I’d blocked on Manhunt, because he kept harrassing me to date him, even when I’d told him in person at a club that I wasn’t interested.
3. Some other people came up to me and started groping me (the #1 reason why I do not go to clubs when I’m not working: Other people don’t understand the difference between me being there as an entertainer and me being there as a patron). They then told me that I’d lost all my muscle mass (a ridiculous comment to make, given the fact that I’ve gained 30 pounds of lean mass in the year or more since they’d seen me last), and started making comments about my build and assessing me as if I were a horse up for sale. It was like I wasn’t even standing there. I was being completely objectified. I understand very well that this is part and parcel with what I do for a living, but it still seemed completely insensitive and beyond inappropriate for them to talk about me like I couldn’t speak English. Now I’m curious:

Would these people have felt it was okay to speak about me in such completely dehumanizing terms if they saw me as a person and not a personality or a sexual commodity?