France's Electro Dance Takes World by Storm

From Montreal to Moscow Urban Youth Take to the Streets to Dance

Feb 23, 2009

A dance that started in a nightclub outside of Paris in 2001 has now become a huge sensation among youths in different corners of the world.

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact style of Electro Dance because it borrows techniques from so many different genres, such as popping and vogueing from the '80s and '90s. The music is a blend of techno, house, and electro, combined to make a distinct Euro sound.

This versatile dance emphasizes fast movements with one’s hands and feet in sync with the music’s upbeat rhythm. With arms flailing and feet pivoting side to side, the dance can at first seem very random. However, a seasoned Electro Dancer blends several different patterns into a fluid sequence using the entire body.

How Electro Dance Was Born

The story behind Electro Dance is a controversial one. Most people outside of France know Electro Dance as "Tecktonik", a registered trademark created by Paris club promoter, Alexandre Barouzdin. However, Tecktonik is simply a brand name that was created in an effort to capitalize on the dance phenomenon once it became popular. The name Tecktonik came from Barouzdin and his business partner Cyril Blanc who had organized "Tecktonik Killer" nights at a nightclub called Metropolis in the Val-de-Marne suburb of Paris in 2001. Everyone would dance until dawn not just to techno, but to a blend of house, electro, and other hard-hitting music.

A couple years later, Barouzdin branded logos, energy drinks, clothing, and even hairstyles under the Tecktonik trademark as they became associated with the popular dance at the time. Some disagree with Barouzdin's marketing scheme since clubs must pay him royalties if they use the Tecktonik name. This is why the dance has several aliases, such as Tck, Electro Dance, and Milky Way. Nevertheless, the nightlife trend was extremely popular among French club goers and Paris eventually became the Electro Dance capital of Europe.

The Electro Dance Technique

Watching Electro Dancers in a club is like watching a rave, except that their moves are slightly more choreographed and skilled. Basic moves involve quick arm movements circling around one's head or stretching out to the side and feet pivoting back and forth. More complex moves require a dancer to manoeuvre lightning-fast arm movements with always-changing footwork at the same time keeping everything in sync with the music.

With any style of dance an element of fashion always follows, especially with Paris' sense of haute couture. Electro Dance enthusiasts usually sport futuristic mullets, slim-fit jeans, and black or white shirts. Some accessorize themselves with electric belts and neon wrist bands. In Metropolis, clubbers can even have their hair cut right next to the dance floor in true Tecktonik fashion.

Traditionally, Electro Dance is practised in the clubs where it was created. However, in France and other countries the trend found its way into the streets because many fans of the dance are too young to go clubbing. This setback didn’t stop them from practising what they loved so they assembled in town squares and showed off their moves and learned new ones.

Electro Dance on the Web

Electro Dance flourished in the media age thanks to websites like YouTube and Dailymotion. Youth in France posted videos of themselves dancing in the street which created a buzz online that spread to other countries including Italy, Belgium, Russia, Canada, and even South Korea. The video on YouTube that put Electro Dance to the top was a remix of "A Cause des Garçons" by French electro pop singer, Yelle.

Nick Younes, 19, was probably one of thousands of youths who first became interested in the dance after seeing the infamous Yelle video on YouTube. The Montreal promoter helped popularize the French dance trend by creating a Facebook group called Tecktonik Montreal featuring a "TecktoniQ" logo in front of Quebec's fleur-de-lis emblem. According to Younes, the group grew surprisingly fast so he decided to take it one step further.

"After a few months of promotion and more people signing up, we decided to throw the first official event in North America, calling it TecktoniQ in [Space Ultra Lounge], where we had an immense response and a lot of dancers showed up," said Younes in an interview.

Coincidentally, soon after the event at Space, Younes was contacted by French DJ group Eaven to shoot a music video in Montreal for the hit song "Imajeen".The video also features Electro Dancers which were casted and choreographed by Younes.

Like in France, youth in Montreal gather in public places like malls, metros, and high schools to practise Electro Dance. With this kind of enthusiasm, it is no wonder that Younes believes Montreal is the first North American city to have an official Tecktonik/Electro Dance community.

Today, YouTube is filled with videos of young dancers in their homes or in the streets expressing themselves through dance. Electro Dance has spread to other parts of the world much like disco did in the 1970s. The main difference is that YouTube has been a catalyst for extending this piece of French culture to other parts of the world.

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