Is it dance, or is it Relabi?

If being in a music video is your cup of tea, try standing in front of a green screen in a small room dancing to Relabi. If you’re not familiar with Relabi, just imagine some looped computer tracks with very simplistic and rhythmically inconsistent drum beats. This is what went down at the Hexagon this past Friday at 6pm.

John Berndt and Samuel Burt put together the accompaniment, which Berndt describes on his website as “the music of the self-erasing pulse”. Berndt himself is currently studying the theory and practice of Relabi, in addition to composing music for his group The Multiphonic Choir, and directing an orchestra project called Second Nature.

If you know the layout of the Hexagon, the main room in the front is where the dancing happened. I use the term dance rather lightly, however. For the most part, there were six or seven people that lined the room while one person “danced” before the green screen. A significant amount of time passed as I stood with my friend Kenneth wondering if I could muster up the courage to dance to the rhythmless looped track.

It took a while for me to justify an attempt at dance, especially to Relabi, and particularly with an audience and cameras on me. I suppose you could say my mind was made up after talking to an interesting guy, Denny, I met earlier in the day. What especially stuck with me was his statement: “Relabi is the only music that I can move to.” At that point, Kenneth and I looked at one another and thought “eh, why not?”

Our three-minute twitch-like dance seemed endless. Really, how does one dance to music with no rhythm? In any case, we did. But the biggest payoff for the day was actually seeing Denny do his dance in full Russian garb from head to toe. He jumped on, kicked, and violently shook a six-foot tall sheet of metal for his showcase. I can verify now that he really does feel Relabi in ways I hadn’t imagined.

If you find yourself curious about Relabi, check out John Berndt’s website and essay on it: http://www.johnberndt.org/relabi/index.html. And I am sure you will get the chance to see Kenneth and I twitching and Denny metal hurling in the music video. Keep checking Youtube for “Everyone Dances to Relabi”.

- Paige E.