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[drum roll]

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[music]

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The following program is produced

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by Community Video Services
of Durham Technical Institute.

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[music]

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[music]

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Good evening.
I'm Cynthia Watts.

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Welcome to the Arts in Durham.

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As you can tell, I am not sitting
in my usual seat tonight.

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I'm on location at C'est La Vie Disco

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 in downtown Durham at five points.

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The Arts in Durham decided to take a look
at a dance that has swept the world—

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disco dancing.

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Discotheques, as they were known
back in the early sixties,

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have now changed to discos
and are bigger than ever.

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So we here at the Arts in Durham will be
talking with two professional disco dancers

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along with a DJ and two
of Durham's local disco dancers.

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So settle back and enjoy yourself
because we're going disco dancing

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at C'est La Vie.

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[music]

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I'm going to direct my first
question to Carolyn Max,

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an instructor in social dancing


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for the new performing
dance company and affiliate

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of the Durham Arts Council and some other
local agencies in the Triangle area.

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I want to welcome Carolyn
to the Arts in Durham.

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- [Cynthia] Carolyn, why has
disco swept the world?

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Why has it become so big?

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People are ready to dance again.

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People want to move to music
and really enjoy themselves.

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Back in the sixties

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there was a lot of the free
style, independent type dancing.

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Disco is something to do
with a partner, and it's just fun.

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- [Cynthia] Why has disco become so
commercialized, do you feel?

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 And do you feel that
by its commercialization 

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it has blemished the art of the dance?

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We have disco jogging shoes now,

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there are disco clothes, disco shoes,
disco hairdos, disco eyeglasses.

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All the major industries in the world are

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are making money off of the
word disco these days.

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How do you feel about that?

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To me, there are two types of disco.

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You have the commercial disco—

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people want to make money.
It's a fad.

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- [Carolyn] Then you have real disco
dancing, which I think is a form of art.

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A lot of the disco,
the really beautiful disco, dances are

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forms of Latin and ballroom
dancing, which we do.

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- [Cynthia] What types of dance do
you instruct socially?

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I know talking with you,
you said you do a lot of your own creative

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works with old traditions like the mamba
and the chacha, dancers back in the early

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fifties and sixties that you have put
creatively into your disco dance style.

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How do you do that?

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A lot of the disco beat is very Latin-y,

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so anything that you can do disco
you can do Latin to.

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So you take the chacha, the mamba,
the samba, even some of the tango,

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take out the steps, keep
them to our basic step

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and just use the shoulders, the arms,
the head, and create movements.

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Why did you choose
of all the social dances,

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the performing arts,
why disco dancing to instruct?

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It's a very expressive art.

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It's something that you
can do with a partner.

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Unlike some modern and jazz dancing,
which is solely independent

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disco and social movements, it's
a social interaction moving to music.

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It feels very natural and enjoyable.

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 - [Cynthia] Did you take
instruction for dance before

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becoming a professional
instructor in disco dancing?

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I had taken for a few
months and then I just

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started to really make my own
movements because I enjoyed it so much.

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It's something that you become
obsessed with, dancing.

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You just want to do it
more and more and more.

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Is there a demand in the Durham
area for disco dance instruction?

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I think now there will
be and now there is.

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My classes have doubled since last
year and discos are popping up.

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People want to dance again.

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They want to do touch dancing.

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- [Cynthia] I want to thank
you for talking with me.

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- More than welcome.

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- [Cynthia] And I want to watch you on the
floor in a few minutes, all right?

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I now would like to introduce
you to Gregory Bolduc

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who is assistant to Carolyn Max.

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And Greg I want to welcome you
to the Arts in Durham

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and I want to ask you the same
question that I asked Carolyn.

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Is disco here to stay
and why has it become so big?

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Well, I believe disco is going
to be around for quite a while.

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We have brought things
back from the fifties,

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 that they used to do it in the fifties,

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and we have brought them back, not only
Carolyn and I, but all around the country.

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They've incorporated that,

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they've added some new styling.

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They've also taken many steps,

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as Carolyn said, from your basic tango,
and your mamba, samba, chacha.

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They're a lot of fun, definitely.

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- [Cynthia] What do you feel about
the commercialization

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that disco has brought about?

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Everybody's getting rich off
of the word "disco" these days.

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How do you feel about that?

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Is the art of the
dance being blemished?

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Is it being deteriorated?

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What does it look like to you?

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Disco itself? Well, personally,

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there is some blemish involved

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with the commercialization,

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but a lot of good things
have come out of it also,

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such as your styles.


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There's a very nice
styling in clothes now.

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Also, we have more
personal awareness,

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and there is more interaction,
per say, between individuals 

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because they do get
out and dance more.

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- [Cynthia] Being from
the state of California,

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coming over to our coast and becoming
a disco instructor in the Triangle area,

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how do we compare to the other coast?

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Well, I've only been in
the immediate area, but

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from what I understand,
they're comparable.

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This particular area in Durham is
just now starting out to be pretty big

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into disco from what I've understood.

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I'm pretty excited to be involved
right at this time.

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 - [Cynthia] Looking at it administratively,

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looking at it as an artist,

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what is the future
of disco dance in Durham?

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In Durham?

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Well, it has a way to go, but everything,
of course, can get better.

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Now, in Durham,
there's a lot of talent.

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You've got your
colleges to draw from,

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you've also got a number of brand new
discos that have just opened up that are

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comparable with anything
I've seen anywhere

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such as C'est La Vie, so on and so forth.

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- [Cynthia] I want to thank
you for talking with me

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and I'm going to be watching
you on the floor shortly.

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Why, thank you.

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Now let's watch as Carolyn and Gregory
dance to Crank it Up by Peter Brown.

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They will demonstrate the swing hustle,
the latin hustle, and the chacha.

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During the course of this demonstration,
you will hear Gregory as he will give some

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explanation to some of the routines
that they are performing.

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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Okay. And now what
we're going to do is

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start off with a slight introduction.


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It's a Salsa technique from Chicago

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that we've introduced in the beginning
of our Swing Hustle. And—

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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And now, we just moved into
the Swing Hustle itself.

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[microphone feedback]

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Keeping our movements smooth.

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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Here we go.

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Something we've taken from the tango.

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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Here's a nifty little step
from back in the fifties.

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It's called the toe heel touch.

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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And again, in case you missed that

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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Step from the [?] in here.

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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We're

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[?]

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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It's always nice to look at your
partner and smile a little bit,

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show that there's
a little bit of involvement.

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[microphone feedback]

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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And there are a few of the moves,

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and now we'll show you what it looks
like when we put it all together.

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♪ "Crank it Up" by Peter Brown ♪

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I'm going to be
talking to the man

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that makes the floor jump—
the DJ.

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Johnnie Clark is
DJ for C'est La Vie.

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Now, I'm going to
be talking to Johnnie

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about some of the things
that run through a DJ's mind.

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And now I would like to introduce
you to C'est La Vie's DJ, Johnnie Clark.

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Johnnie, I want to welcome
you to the Arts in Durham.

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And I would like my first question to be,

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is it true that the success
of [?] disco lies with the DJ?

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Yes, I feel like it depends a great
deal on the DJ because

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lots of times if a DJ is in a good feeling

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he can reflect this out on the disco
floor amongst his clientele.

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 - [Cynthia] How do you select
your music for a night?

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Well,

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lots of time,
in the beginning of night,

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I check the people out and see
what kind of mood they're in.

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Some of the records that I play

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at the time determines what I'm
 playing later on during the night.

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- [Cynthia] Why do you think
disco has become so big?

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Well, I think it gives people

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something new to do and give them
a chance to get out and express theyself,

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dress in some of the latest fashion,

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and just really enjoy
theyself when they get out,

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a nice night out on the town.

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- [Cynthia] They say that the number one rule
of any DJ is that "don't bug me,"

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is that true?

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At times it can be

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a monotonous thing because

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after you get the momentum of your
dancers on the floor and someone come up

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and make a special request,
they like for you to play this.

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A lot of times this'll be a personal
thing for them at the time.

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Lots of times it just slows down

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the momentum of the people
after you get them dancing.

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- [Cynthia] How long and why
did you become a DJ?

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This has always been a dream
of mine because I love music.

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I always been in the music field.

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I play guitar and

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I spend a great deal in albums.

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DJ'ing came about three years ago.

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I felt like this was a thing that I want
to do and I might as well get into it [?].

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- [Cynthia] I want to thank you for
 talking with me on the Arts in Durham.

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All right.
Thank you.

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And now we'll be seeing Perry Shaw

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and Ann Jenkins as they dance to "I'll
Never Forget My Favorite Disco."

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♪ "I'll Never Forget (My Favorite Disco)"
by Dexter Wansel ft. The Jones Girls ♪

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Now I'm going to talk with Perry and Ann
after they've caught a breath after that number.

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I want to thank you for your—routines
definitely finished.

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I really appreciate it.
- [Ann] Thank you.

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And my first question is to you is

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tell me about the fashion world of disco.

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How do you feel about it?
Are you pleased with the disco fashions?

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Yes, I'm very pleased with the disco
fashions because they're very creative

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and the clothes allow
you to move more freely in them.

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How did you
get to be Perry's partner?

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Well, Perry and I, we dance
regularly at clubs or discos

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or whatever, so he's always
been my partner when we go out.

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- [Cynthia] Why do you feel
disco has been so big?

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It's new. The public is looking
for something new and it's creative.

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- [Cynthia] There's no doubt that you
enjoy disco dancing, [?].

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I do, I do.

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- [Cynthia] Thank you.

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And Perry, how long
have you been dancing?

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Well, most of my life.


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- [Cynthia] Most of your life?

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And what do you enjoy
most about disco dancing?

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The freedom of style,
movement, and the music.

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- [Cynthia] And why is disco so
big in your mind?

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It's big to me simply because you can
express yourself through a movement

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and I'm usually free and original with

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a lot of my movement,
so it gives me a chance to show [?].

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- [Cynthia] Do you enter a lot of dance
contests in Triangle area?

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Not a lot.

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I have entered two in the past year or so

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and come out in the winning combination.

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Do you and Ann get together and decide
what routines you're going to do?

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Do you do a lot of creativity
with your routines?

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Are they all original material mostly?

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All of them are original.

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How many hours do
you guys spend practicing?

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To tell the truth, two hours.

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I want to thank both of you
for joining me on the Arts in Durham.

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- [Ann] Thank you.
- [Perry] Ok. Thank you, Cynthia.

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Aw, yeah. It's about that time to rock.

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I like to take this [?]
it's going to be tonight.

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Aw yeah. You know
how we rocking cool,

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better known [?].

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You know its Ashford and Simpson

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"I Found A Cure."

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♪ "I Found A Cure" by
Ashford & Simpson ♪

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Discotheque, disco.

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The meaning of
discotheque and disco,

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a public place for dancing
to recorded music.

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I want to thank you for watching and I
invite you to join me next week.

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Have a good night.

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♪ "I Found A Cure" by
Ashford & Simpson ♪

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The preceding program
has been produced by

[00:28:25.760] 
Community Video Services
of Durham Technical Institute.

[00:28:28.880] 
[music]