What is ParaPara? Since you've stumbled across our humble home on the internet, you may be asking yourself, "What is this 'parapara' stuff anyhow?" Well, let's start with the basics. Parapara is a form of dancing that originated in Japan. Its movements consist mostly of choreographed upper body motions set to upbeat dance music, namely eurobeat and hyper techno. Individual songs are married with their own unique set of moves, and as certain choreographies gain acceptance as the "official" routines for a given song, these dances find their way into the mainstream. Once a routine is mainstreamed, it isn't uncommon to find parapara dancers, or "paralists" as they are known, dancing the same exact set of moves all across Japan. Born of the night life, parapara originated in Japanese clubs as a form of VIP room entertainment. Male staff would use this type of dancing to impress their female clientèle. However, this energetic style of dancing would not stay trapped in the VIP room for long and would eventually find its way into the hearts of the masses. Though its popularity may swell and subside time and time again, parapara has established itself as a noteworthy part of Japan's cultural identity and a staple of its pop-culture. Outside of Japan, parapara is still mostly a niche hobby, though EKS-D and other similar groups are working to promote the dance style. Parapara tends to be most prevalent among Japanese culture enthusiasts. Currently, the most common places to find organized parapara functions outside of Asia are anime conventions and Japanese culture festivals, with conventions such as Anime Expo, Ohayocon, Anime Central, A-kon, AnimeFest and others having their fair share of parapara related events. So now that you have a general idea of what parapara is and where it came from, we hope to have caught your interest. If so, we gladly invite you to join in and dance along with us. All you have to do is give it a try, so Everybody Dance!
Eurobeat is... |