Nightlife

One man's guide to:

 Going Out and Nightlife 

in L. A. and Hollywood.

Dance, when you're broken up.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.

-- rumi --

Dancing has been an important component of many religious rituals. Repetitive rhythmical movement was thought essential to build up to the moment of ecstatic union with the deity.

Dancing is a gesture of the whole body which can ally the body with the soul. It is one of the most powerful forms of spiritual or magical ritual. It is a dynamic tool for awakening and stirring the subtle forces and energies of life. True sacred dance is a means of focusing and directing consciousness through physical behavior. It is an outer expression of the inner spirit.

Ancient worshipers of the Goddess attributed the initial creation of the universe to her magic dance over the Waters of Chaos, or the Great Deep (Hebrew Tehom). With rhythmic movements she organized the as-yet-unformed elements, making orderly patterns that the Greeks called diakosmos, the "Goddess's Ordering. She is still found even in the Bible, as the spirit that "moved" on the face of the Deep before God spoke the universe into being.

The four-armed Shiva is worshipped as a world-sustaining deity whose cosmic dance (nataraj) expresses the symbolic movements of the universe and the rhythms of ongoing existence.

In the Gnostic gospel Acts of John, even Jesus danced and said to his disciples, "To the Universe belongs the dancer. He who does not dance does not know what happens." Early Christian churches carried on liturgical dancing in imitation of all their pagan contemporaries; but a wave of asceticism about the sixth or seventh century outlawed ecclasiastical dancing on the ground that it was too sensual and too much enjoyed by women. Though dance is not regularly practiced in modern Christianity, the bible says (Psalm 150, v 4) to "Praise him with the timbrel and dance."

The ab was one of the Egyptian's seven souls that was supposed to come directly from the mother's heart, in the form of holy lunar blood that descended into her womb to take the shape of her child. The hieroglyphic sign for this eminently matriarchal idea was a dancing figure, representing the inner dance of life perceived in the heartbeat. As long as the dance continues, life goes on.

Still compiling my guide:

Where and When to go out in Los Angeles and Hollywood....

 

 

Downtown Standard Hotel Rooftop

-My take: If you read these posts, it will be obvious that I Really Dig this place!! The view, the women, the music, the water, the..... anyway, this location holds some epic parties and some cherished memories for me.
Guide to Attending a Los Angeles Pool Party
Justin Martin 6/6
Charlie May 4/4
Desyn Masiello

Libertine on Sunset

-My Take: I dig this place. The dance floor is quaint (down right small when the count is over a 100 guests), very manageable, and constructed of wood! That's right, it's one of the only wooden dance floors in town and your knees and ankles will thank you in the morning after dancing here all night. It's down the 'good end' of Sunset Blvd, so the crowd is usually high class and top quality. Despite the location, the drink prices are still reasonable. Couple the quality eye candy, the relief from my usual dancing soreness, and the 'in-Hollywood, but not-Hollywood' feel of the place, and it makes the trip down Sunset Blvd well worth my time when driving to this locale.

-King Britt 5/14: I arrived late, even for me (almost 1a.m.).When I did, the crowd was acting non-committal, quirky, and inconsistent. The number of people dancing and the energy they gave off, both fluctuated greatly. This didn't give his highness much to feed off of. Despite all this, King Britt was good; but with a flowing pop 'edginess' to his mix. His music hit some quirky shifts and changes, which I like, and was expecting; but overall, I wanted this 20-year veteran and music icon to bring the 'ruckus' more and the art nouveau,  top-40 tracks less. Hopefully next time he will. To top it all off, some skinny, lanky, bouncing guy with an uncertain sexual orientation kept following me around all night.


King King

-My Take: I dig this place. King King's got it all, a dual-action, fully-stocked bar; a red and black Asian motif which is confident, not flashy; above average acoustics; the capacity for stunning visuals and sound; a steady flow of talent and traffic; and all of this without the 'meat factory' feel of the bigger clubs. This place feels like a 2nd home, I've been there so much. For me, this spot is the standard by which other clubs in Hollywood are measured.


-Mr. C


Ecco Ultra Lounge, Hollywood
-My take: I really dig this place!! During the spring of 2010, this joint was a staple every Wednesday night. The entry was free or reduced, the crowd was hot and energetic, and it was almost certainly a great time.  A few times, the crowd and music were just right so that me and some friends took over almost the entire danceable floor. (Everything before, and leading up to, the steps)(I'm not sure danceable is a word, but spell check let it slide, so, maybe so....) Anyway, this place still goes off on Wednesdays, with the Eye Candy Twins hosting the festivities. 
The sound system is top notch here, the acoustics make you feel like you're in a comfortable cave, the dancefloor is my favorite one in Hollywood, and the whole place is an example of what the upcoming green revolution can and will do to all aspects of our lives.


The Mayan, Downtown

-My take: I dig this place.

John Digweed

 (While living a stone's throw away from Amoeba Records, I re-dedicated myself to dancing and exploring the clubs in Hollywood. Many of these notes are taken from that time, as I took to foot, traversing hallowed Hollywood terrain.)

 

More to come shortly....