AJ Dance Legacy

John Ciafone

2240

Over looking the sparkling lights sweeping upward Juarez Mountain, Mexico from the Durango Street overpass vicinal the ballpark stadium, the ear catches pulsating thumps from the distance. In Las Plazaz, the Union Plaza district of downtown, sneakers trek along the community painted mural sidewalk. Ah, within sight, sits the destination, a brick and mortar painted with neon pink letters that reads, Club Here I Love You <3.… Continue

ADULT SKATE-MLK EDITION

Starring: KAI ALCE, RON PULLMAN & CULLEN COLE

19.01

No roller skates are rented.

No roller skates are permitted.

No in-line skates are rented.

No roller blades are permitted.

Adult Skate is not a roller rink.

Adult Skate is an annual event where various tribes gather to dance to the hottest disco and house music south of the Mason-Dixon in the wee morning hours of the Dr.… Continue

OSUNLADE

“I NEED ONE LINE. I’M NOT LETTING ANYONE INSIDE UNTIL I SEE ONE LINE FOLKS. Shouts the familiar doorman, who is serious business, his burly body blocking the door’s entrance.  “I NEED TO SEE BARCODES [sic] ON YOUR TICKET TO ENTER.”

Ameer Brooks & Themba 

22:00-23:30

Twenty dollars to park? Suck it up. The lot is spacious. Monitored. And clean.   As the outdoor temperature plunges, security pats down the body, checking for the prohibited. Flash your ID, and a scintillating smile. Enter the long corridor, the black-velvet rope queue, is empty of souls waiting to pay the door fee. Two blondes, mid-conversation, scanning your electronic ticket, point you upstairs where a man, dressed in all black, stands.… Continue

BLACK COFFEE

01:00-03:00

The horror unfolds.  They are everywhere. A sea of them is seen. Held in the air. All various sizes. The soft glow of screens. Their displays all read the same. Blackness and flashes of purple pixels. Is this a venue tradition? The gathered mass, standing erect, pulled out smartphones to film onstage the musical shaman playing.  

LEM  of MOOD II SWING

22.06

Pride Closer

“Geeoooogia.” The emphasis pronounced in drawl. “You’ve traveled here? For this?” A heavyweight doorkeeper asks as he returns a peach-stamped driver’s ID.

“Of course. I would not have missed tonight,” an enthusiastic voice replies as the license is obtained.

The bouncer beams with confused pride. “Welcome.”

MISSING YOU

Whatever happened to Kim English? The question crossed my mind mid-jog one pleasant Thursday evening. There had been no Kim English news. No Kim English new music, in what felt like ages. Not even a digitally remastered greatest hits package to download. After all, when you’re hot you’re hot, when you’re not you’re not. Kim once sang.   The feeling of her utter abandonment from the music industry felt all too real.… Continue

THE BLACK MADONNA and the Heretics

A gold-wrapped condom is iconic on an urban billboard.  To the left, two law-enforcement vehicles anxiously wait at a gas station and to the right, across the street at a bank, waits an APD SUV that immediately, vrooms down the derelict street. Meanwhile, a junkie, crowned with dreads, quivers while crossing a car-lined intersection.                                                  

DJ: Nameless

Date: Dateless

THIS IS AGGRESSIVE MUSIC.

“That DJ never appears happy. Have you ever seen him happy?”

“Nope.”

“It was as if he was playing mad. A friend casually stated after observing a DJ play.

“Touch the sky,” sings Dana Weaver. Those three words reflect the pulse of the dance floor. Orchestrated by the conductor himself, his hand lowers the tempo to 125 BPMs. Dancing feet shuffle in sync. His head nods with approval. His smirk reveals. In the mind of kaoz is control. Kaoz commands music to create mood. Kaoz transforms moments into dancing movements.… Continue