About
DanceMuse?
The clever people over at Cambridge dictionaries perhaps can help us out here with a definition or two to get things rolling:
‘Dance’
to move the body and feet to music/to move quickly and lightly/when when you move your feet and body to music/a particular series of movements which you perform to music or the type of music which is connected with it/a social occasion at which people dance, especially a formal occasion in a large room/the art of performing dances, especially as a form of entertainment
‘Muse’
to think about something carefully and for a long time/an imaginary being or force that gives someone ideas and helps them to write, paint or make music/in ancient Greek and Roman stories, one of the nine goddesses who were believed to give encouragement in different areas of literature, art and music
‘Dancer’
someone who dances either as a job or for pleasure
As someone who has participated in all of the above at various levels for both work and pleasure (the nine goddesses story is pending – applications can be posted below) the title/combination seems fitting.
So here we are but who am I and how did I get here? Most recently spent over 2 years running a dance urban and electronic music magazine One Week To Live. In my capacity as Editor I was privledged to work with a team of dedicated individuals and editorially cover the wide spectrum of dance, urban and elctronic DJs, artists, music, events, tech, fashion, youth lifestyle and issues and more. Prior to that my involvment was in Dance music Community Radio. Throw in countless late nights out/mornings/carry ons on the town and around the world checking out the best music I can. An aspiring DJ – well a bedroom one who messes around with CDJs and a mixer emerging on occasion to play at various house parties (available for London – Ibiza – Bondi gigs – flights required for the latter) I can usually be found near the DJ booth at some stage of the night checking out how the pros do it. Music wise I have a passion for house (Chicago, funky, soulful, vocal, driving, electro), trance, breaks and chillout with a keen interest in DJ skills and tricks and on the history of the dance music scene in general. I can be found wherever good music, a good sound system, a few laughs and/or a spectacular sunset are at.
The Logo
If you were wondering about the image i have used for this site - a slighly bastard/stylised version of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’. That statue of the guy leant over deep in thought (muse) – just add a set of HD25 cans and some stereo music and you get the idea… Technically I edited an original statue shot and then added a bit of Illustrator and Photoshop magic… eh voila!
The site
This is my first go at a PHP/MySQL site – PHP is a big change for me being a 100% Microsoft based tech background. I am using a free downloaded version of Word Press blogging software that you can install on your own server and an ever evolving hack job of a base template by Antbag found here amongst many others. I have just moved ISPs after finally having enough of 123 Reg (useless technical support) and am now trying Justhost.com who are very reasonably priced and seem to do a lot better on the technical support side. I purchased the domain name and set it up in DNS - but for the less technical apt/inclined out there you can get it free online here under the Word Press shared DNS namespace. I will keep you posted on the tech side of things as i flounder through the minefield that is open source code and software although thus far my experience with Word Press had been very positive…fingers crossed it stays that way!
