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The ‘Harlem Shake’ has run its course

Posted by :jprokop On : February 25, 2013
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Category: Opinion, The Rest

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Throughout the years, there have always been dance moves that become ultra-hip.

YouTube has always been one of the first pop culture outlets that jump on these trends and give them their jump-start to fame.

There have been the stanky leg, shuffling, Gangnam style…and now, the Harlem Shake. The only redeeming quality about this dance is that it is done in 30 seconds.

Here’s how it breaks down (pun intended). The music of this video is a techno song entitled “Harlem Shake” that was uploaded on YouTube in February 2013.

For the first bit of the video a random person dances by themselves amidst people ignoring them.  They usually have a mask on or some sort of head gear.

About mid-way through the video, the drop comes. At this point, everyone starts sporadically dancing. After 30 seconds of people dancing like fish out of water, the video ends.

Thank God.

Let me start off by saying, what the heck?

Why do such pointless things become trends?

At least the Dougie required some amount of coordination and skill.

Previous dance moves have left room for people to add their own twist and give it a little bit of personality. The Harlem Shake makes dancing look like a big joke.

In addition, the “Harlem Shake” that appears in the videos is not actually the real “Harlem Shake.” The actual dance evolved from DJ Webstar’s “Chicken Noodle Soup” song with accompanying dance moves that appeared on the pop culture scene in the 2000s.

On top of all this un-inspirational nonsense, the song is absolutely annoying. Talk about random noises!  I guess it is natural for the dance to be lacking any real substance and technique because the song exhibits the same qualities.

If you watch the video once, the song gets stuck in your head for the whole day.

If the world was looking to create a dance that everyone can do, well, mission accomplished.

Instead, it makes you look like you are having a seizure. Performing some thing so stupid does not make you trendy, it makes you look dumb. Sorry…not sorry.

Kate Straube/Photo editor

Kate Straube can be reached at linfieldreviewphotos@gmail.com

Dance performance shows off variety of styles, skills

Posted by :jprokop On : December 3, 2012
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Category: Culture

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Linfield’s Fall Dance Showcase was full of diversity and entertainment Dec. 1 in Ice Auditorium. From hip-hop to ballroom dancing, the audience and dancers were pleasantly surprised with how well the show went.

Senior Stephanie Raso dances to “Crystallize” by Lindsey Stirling. The Dance Showcase was held Dec. 1 in Ice Auditorium.
Kate Straube/Photo editor

“I think it went really well,” junior Amber Olson said.

Olson did a jazz duet with another dancer during the showcase and has been dancing since she was 3 years old.

Olson has also taken Linfield’s beginning ballet and beginning tap classes twice.

“I wish that we had more advanced classes here, but I know that they’re working on that with the dance minor,” Olson said.

The first half of the dance showcase was a musical theater ensemble portion, in which students sang songs from musicals.

“Some of the audience was confused with the musical theater in the first half, but they all did really well,” Olson said.

The second half of the showcase was the dance portion, in which students choreographed their own dances. The dances included hip-hop, ballroom dances and even a country-swing routine.

Junior Kira Weaver dances as Marilyn Monroe to the song “Marilyn Monroe” by Nicki Minaj. The dance featured many different dance styles, ranging from classic ballet to hip-hop.
Kate Straube/Photo editor

“We had a good variety,” Olson said. “It was the most fun I’ve ever had dancing.”

Samantha Sigler

Tap That works to liquefy bottled water use on campus

Posted by :jprokop On : November 7, 2011
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Category: News

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Morris

Junior Collin Morris and sophomore Annika Yates have given “tap that” a whole new meaning.

The two have initiated a new campaign on campus called Tap That, based on the nation-wide movement, Take Back the Tap.

The hope and purpose of their campaign is to empower and educate the Linfield community on the degradation and external costs that come along with bottling water. The main goal is to eliminate bottled water on Linfield’s campus, just as many other schools have begun doing across the nation.

As one of the first public events to promote the campaign, they held a documentary and panel, presenting the documentary “Tapped,” and holding a follow-up panel about the issue on Oct. 2.

Morris first watched “Tapped” last year and was inspired to take initiative on the issue, which, after months of planning, became Tap That.

“The documentary addresses the water issue, then the plastic issue is addressed, and the health concerns surrounding that, then the environmental issue,” Morris said. “So many different issues are put into one commodity, which is why it’s so powerful.”

Yates

Yates agreed, saying that “it does a really great job of shocking you without making you feel like a culprit,” which is exactly the response they hoped to stir.

They said that felt the documentary was also important for students to watch because it helps to gain awareness and instill a sense of personal responsibility.

“The goal is to eliminate bottled water.” Morris said. “But when you’re dealing with people, it’s important to frame these kinds of things in positive terms so that people don’t feel like you’re taking away something that they’re so used to. Instead we are empowering them to make smart consumer choices.”

During the panel, Rob Gardner, associate professor of sociology, raised many questions and issues surrounding the bottled water industry, such as questioning the role of corporations in our society and asking who really owns our water.

“It’s really perverse that so much time and money goes into bottling water,” he said. “Especially when it has been proven that 40 percent of bottled water from companies like Nestle, Coke, and Pepsi, is just tap water anyway.”

In the discussion, students brought up ideas, such as putting a campus tax on bottled water, educating the freshman class in Colloquium about the issues with plastic bottles and making it more convenient to refill the reusable bottles.

The ideas and discussions were purposeful and empowering, however Yates and Morris believe that their campaign will not be able to progress unless all students are willing to at least listen and engage themselves in these issues.

“There hasn’t been much outward disagreement [with our promotions] at all,” Yates said. “I think the bigger hurdle is that people don’t care. The people who are apathetic are our biggest setback.”

Yates and Morris plan to fight this problem with persistency—by spreading the word as loudly and powerfully as possible, expanding their message to reach more people.

“This is important to us and our school,” Morris said. “I think [reaching our goal is] totally possible and the reason I keep saying that is because so many other schools have done it, and Linfield is small and powerful, so why can’t we?”

If you’re interested in signing their petition, helping with the campaign or just learning more, contact either Collin Morris at comorris@linfield.edu or Annika Yates at ayates@linfield.edu.

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Andra Kovacs/Senior reporter
Andra Kovacs can be reached at linfieldreviewnews@gmail.com.

Student breaks out, busts a move

Posted by :jprokop On : November 7, 2011
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Category: News

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Sophomore Timmy Marl entered the Coke Zero Rewards dance competition, which is designed to find a face for its Coke’s advertising campaign. Joel Ray/Photo editor

When he dances, he says he feels like nothing else exists but his movements and the beat of the music.

That’s why sophomore Timmy Marl said that entering the Coke Zero Rewards dance competition was a natural move for him.

The Coke Zero Reward competition is a video contest designed to help the company find a face for its Coke Zero advertising campaign.

Contestants must submit videos of themselves dancing, using a move called “the toe tappy,” which was created by Joel Turman, a star on America’s Best Dance Crew.

The contest winner will be featured in Coke Zero advertisements, dancing alongside Turman.

Marl said he discovered the competition through a Youtube channel he follows, so he decided to submit his own video.

Marl’s first submission was of him moving through campus, teaching the toe tappy move to various groups of people who were dealing with conflict.

“It was just a quick video,” he said. “I only worked with a few close friends.”

However, Marl’s submission gained popularity among the other videos, earning a spot on the top-five favorites list in the contest.

Eventually, the contest judges contacted him and asked him to record another video, he said.

Marl said he was determined to put more effort into his next production, so he enlisted the help of friends, a sociology class, McMinnville high school’s dance team and some staff members.

The result was a music video with about 200 people performing the toe tappy.

Marl said that Jessica Wade,  community service coordinator, danced in the video and even recruited her husband, Rob Gardener, assistant professor of sociology, to help. One of Gardener’s classes agreed to perform in the video, moving back and forth to the beat of the music during a class session.

“It felt so good to have people who I didn’t know very well be so willing to help with the project,” Marl said. “They made the video possible.”

The contest will end in late November, when judges will decide on the best set of submissions. Marl is working on a third video to add to his series.

Even though Marl said that he would be honored to win the competition, submitting videos to the contest is just part of his love for dance.

Marl’s interest in the sport stretches back to when he was four years old.

“I just started dancing one day,” he said. “I never really had formal training or dance classes because it was too expensive for my parents at the time, but I just kept dancing and dancing.”

Marl said he gleans most of his dance knowledge from watching music videos and MTV performances.

When he has spare time, Marl can usually be found in his room, scouring the Internet for music videos or practicing his own dance techniques in front of a mirror.

He said that this  personal practice time serves as a way to stay updated with trends in the dance world, but it also allows him to process the world and his reactions to it.

“Dance is a big expression for me,” he said. “I dance when I’m angry, I dance when I’m happy, and I dance when I’m having a bad time. Dance is therapy.”

Joanna Peterson/Managing editor
Joanna Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewmanaging@gmail.com

Dance competition gets community on its feet for breast cancer

Posted by :jprokop On : October 18, 2011
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Category: News

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This year, a McMinnville medical center helped raise breast cancer awareness by submitting videos to the Pink Glove Dance Competition.

More than 135 groups submitted videos to the competition. For the competitions, videos must include all participants wearing pink exam gloves and dancing to one of seven songs provided by Medline.

The original Pink Glove Dance video was filmed at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Portland, Ore., two years ago.

Since then, Medline has produced a sequel video and this competition.

Steve Singleton, a surgical materials coordinator at Willamette Valley Medical Center, directed the videos.

The staff asked him to film and produce the video since he had prior experience. Singleton said that the staff was inspired, which is why they wanted to make this video.

“Our inspiration was our community,” Singleton said. “One of the leads in administration asked me to do this. We saw the original and wanted to get away from just hospital scenes and tried to look at local places.”

The group filmed in familiar settings around McMinnville.

They filmed at 3rd Street, local vineyards, Roth’s, the police station, the fire station and many other local destinations.

“[People were] surprisingly supportive,” Singleton said. “The cops don’t normally like their pictures taken, and a woman in the office told us they might not want to participate. So we thought we might get some of the office workers to do it, but the policemen and women were happy to participate. We went to macho places, like the auto shop.[They were] reluctant but were glad they did it. Some were hard to get to stop dancing.”

Along with filming at local places, the group was successful in getting more than just the hospital staff involved and featured in the video.

The McMinnville dance team came to dance in the video, as well as the Pre-Nursing Club at Linfield College.

“One of the girls on the dance team is a cancer survivor, and it’s great that these young people get involved,” Singleton said.

The voting process continues until Oct. 21.

With more than three hours of footage, the group produced three videos to submit, and though the Oregon group is placed in the middle, it says that it is not giving up.

“We have about 16,000 votes, but Oregon makes those come backs,” Singleton said.

The top three videos will win sponsored donations to its choice of charity that supports breast cancer research.

“Even if we don’t get in the top three and win money, it was good that the community got together and did this,” Singleton said.

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Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Dance show tumbles from lack of participation

Posted by :jprokop On : December 4, 2010
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Category: Culture

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This year’s Fall Dance Showcase, originally scheduled for Dec. 4, was canceled because of a lack of participants.
Sophomore Kira Weaver said that a shortage of new student interest contributed to its cancellation.
“A lot of freshmen don’t know about it, so it makes it hard for them to get involved because dance is still really small on this campus,” she said.
This cancellation is expected to be a one-time occurrence, Adjunct Professor of Dance Emily Crocker said. The Spring Dance Showcase, which is student-produced through the Linfield Dance Ensemble, is still scheduled for next semester.
“The people who normally choreograph are abroad this year or busy,” Weaver said.
Weaver performed in the showcase last year and planned to perform this year until its cancellation. She said junior Mai Doan, who also performed last year, would have been likely to participate again but is studying abroad in France.
Last fall’s showcase drew a considerable crowd to Ice Auditorium, with special guests performing from McMinnville’s Mountain Warrior Kung Fu Academy’s Demo Team. But this year, there weren’t enough performers to fill the program.
The showcase began two years ago and is sponsored by Crocker. The fall performance was coordinated with the intent to make it annual to complement the Dance Ensemble’s formal Spring Dance Showcase. Students with their own choreography and campus groups, such as the Bellydance Club, typically perform.

Gabi Nygaard/Staff reporter
Gabi Nygaard can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com.