Pogo
The pogo is a dance that has its origins in the punk scene of the 1970s. The term "pogo" is also used for different types of dance in the punk scene or sub-genres of punk and alternative rock .
history
The pogo, created around 1976, is originally an anti- disco dance of the alternative punk movement. To move with all means against the uniform and perceived as boring disco rhythm was the maxim. In the beginning, punk was played very quickly in order not to come into contact musically and socio-politically with the dominant disco mainstream. Punk bands primarily played live music - hence the pogo dance in the group in front of and on stage. In the 1980s the pogo was often used by representatives of electronic body music .
Originally, at the end of the 1970s, pogo dance consisted only of uncontrolled "jumping into the air". But with the more and more aggressive music that developed from punk rock , the movements towards the music became more and more violent. Slam dancing (see below) prevailed especially in the hardcore scene.
According to Glen Matlock ( Sex Pistols ), the pogo goes back to Sid Vicious . In his book "I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol", Matlock describes how Vicious was a well-known figure in the punk scene even before he joined the Pistols . When he went to a concert under the influence of drugs, he let his urge to dance run free and because of the narrow space in front of the stage he jumped wildly up and down, bumping into the other audience. Music reporters had observed this and interpreted this as a new dance that had been missing to the new music so far. The name "Pogo" had chosen her because Vicious looked as if he hop on a Pogostab .
Forms of pogo
Basically, the pogo is a dance style that is geared towards short and intense physical contact with other people who are also dancing. The dancers perform all movements individually and not synchronized with a partner as in classical dance. The area of the dance floor where the pogo is danced is commonly referred to as the mosh pit . Pogo dancing can lead to violent to painful touches between the dancers, which differ in the type and intensity of execution depending on the dance style (see below), whereby it is difficult to differentiate between the individual styles. The terms are often blurred and interpreted differently within the scene.
Punk
Rockabilys
Up and down
Up-and-down, in German “up and down”, is the original form of the pogo, rooted in the 1970s and, according to legend, invented by Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious .
On the one hand, it stems from the Ska tradition of skanking , and on the other hand from the fact that at rock concerts, the visitors often couldn't see the band from the back rows and therefore began to jump up and down.
In harder variants of the pogo, the pogo dancers pull each other's clothes and push each other off when jumping off. Although the classic “up-and-down” still exists, it has now been largely replaced by the more brutal “moshing” or “slamming” at punk concerts.
At punk concerts, the audience is often encouraged to do the “up and down” to the music. This is usually a lot of fun for the audience. Body contact is usually avoided in “up and down”, but it can also turn into a more brutal pogo.
Slam dance
Slamdance (from English slam “to strike” and dance “dance”) is a rough version of the pogo and was supposedly invented by Darby Crash , the singer of the punk band Germs . The term "slamming" also exists in the skateboard scene. A “slam” is an uncontrolled, usually very painful fall. In slam dancing, or “slamming”, other dancers are consciously pushed, pushed and jostled. To an outside viewer, such dances often seem like huge mass brawls, but they rarely lead to serious injuries, as those involved do not want to inflict pain. You want to reduce aggression and frustration and you also look for body contact, but targeted punches and kicks are reluctant to be seen. Slam dancing can also be combined with stage diving . Furthermore, so-called circle pits are often formed here. Slam dance was particularly widespread in hardcore punk and the US punk scene and is now often replaced by moshing (see below), although it is not easy to distinguish between them.
Moshing
The term moshing or moshing comes from the thrash metal . Moshing is originally a synonym for headbanging , describing the shaking of the head in time with the music, whereby circular movements can also be carried out with the head. It got its new meaning from the metal crossover corner of hardcore punk . In the "new" moshing, the dancers form a group and push each other through the area, although the dancers only push each other off on the arms and shoulders and usually do not hit each other hard. In contrast to the original pogo, the dancers do not jump high in the so-called mosh pit . Moshen is the most widespread dance in modern punk today.
Wrecking
Wrecking (German: “demolieren” or “abwracken”) describes a very rough type of pogo, which is mainly derived from psychobilly -, horror punk - and Oi! Scene and is often described by "Wreckers" as a "mixture of dance and freestyle wrestling". The wrecking combines the aggressiveness of the pogo with the dance movements of the 1950s rockabilly, often the wreckers move in a row forwards and backwards and grab other wrecker, who they throw away with all their might. Often the wrecker line up in rows and beat around standing. Minor injuries are often predetermined when wrecking in the “wrecking pit” (e.g. at Meteors concerts); later (e.g. at the bar) these are often celebrated like war trophies.
Wrecking is similar in elements to the pogo, which has been typical since the late 1970s and early 1980s, but there is a greater degree of recklessness that is obviously desired from all sides. Wrecking is in many ways similar to slam dancing, whereby the use of arms, especially elbows, is clearly emphasized. Knees and legs, on the other hand, are practically never used. The term wrecking was largely coined by the psychobilly band The Meteors with the album "The Wrecking Crew" (1986).
Uninvolved people can easily misunderstand this behavior; Some organizers of the black scene therefore do not include horror punk or death rock in their event program.
The willful or unintentional nudging of a person is usually seen as an invitation or opening ritual that allows the other person to do the same.
Wall of Death
The Wall of Death (sometimes referred to as Brave Heart , alluding to the battle scenes of the film of the same name ) describes a special variant of the pogo, which was originally supposedly invented by the band Sick of It All : two groups of about the same size stand in the “Pit” (German: “Grube”) across the street and rush towards each other. This form of dancing is preferably performed at hardcore and metalcore concerts.
The audience forms an alley in the middle that divides the mosh pit in half. This creates an artificial rectangle from the circle of the mosh pit. This only lasts for a short time until the Wall of Death (German: "death wall") has formed. Then the dancing masses wait for a certain start signal from the singer or the band and run towards each other at high speed. It should be noted that the force of the impact is greatest in the first row of the two converging sides. However, the impact can still be felt in some of the subsequent back rows at quite large concerts. It depends on the size of the Wall of Death , i.e. how many people are involved in the action. After the collision, normal pogo dancing continues.
Another form of Wall of Death begins with gathering the "dancers" behind the non-dancers. These are then pushed forward into the mosh pit by a crowd of people rolling in from behind. This form often takes place at the beginning of a concert or when the mosh pit is about to wear off, and serves to boost the mood again.
Another variation is the Wall of Folk , invented in 2009 by the Irish Speedfolk band Fiddler's Green , to which the band encourages their fans with the song Rocky Road to Dublin . For the two wings of the "Wall of Folk" (German: "Human Wall"), which form during the stanzas of the song, it is not about running into the other. Rather, both sides dance to the opposite side, so that two new wings immediately form with an alley in the middle, which switch sides again with the next chorus. In the meantime, the band makes fun of separating the entire audience into two wings, right down to the last row, and motivating them to participate. In this way, the Wall of Death also found its way into the genre of folk rock , so that a Wall of Folk or Wall of Death is no longer uncommon for bands like Mr. Irish Bastard .
Stomp
“Stomp” describes the quieter type of “pogo” or “mosh”, in which the dancers perform sweeping and stomping movements, but not deliberately pushing or pushing each other, as is usual with pogo or moshing. "Stomping" or "Psycho-Stomping" was originally mainly used in Psychobilly and Gothic Punk concerts and is more related to the " Skanken " in Ska concerts.
Violent dancing
"Violent Dancing" describes a particularly brutal type of "Moshing" or "Slam dancing" at hardcore concerts. Punches, kickboxing grips and high kicks are used in the mosh pit, but often the actual pit separates itself from the rest of the uninvolved audience. It can happen that someone has to take severe hits. The kicks can be done by turning the body or in straight up and down movements. Occasionally, complicated jump kicks are shown, for which the practitioners sometimes train extra martial arts.
The most common blows are the so-called "windmills": The arms are usually stretched and hit back in circular movements. There are also more blunt side variants. In some cases, hard and targeted elbow strikes have also prevailed, which can quickly lead to injuries.
“Violent Dancing” (German: “violent dancing”) is particularly widespread in the “New School” - hardcore punk and metalcore .
Crowd killing
An extreme form of violent dancing is called “crowd killing” (German: “kill the audience”). In this form, in addition to normal violent dancing, the participants distribute targeted blows and kicks against both participating and uninvolved concert-goers. In addition, in some cases the use of furniture (tables / chairs in the concert hall) and other suitable objects as weapons can be observed.
"Crowd Killing" comes from the beatdown scene and is nowadays also occasionally represented at concerts of the more extreme varieties of hardcore. In the rest of the scene, crowd killing is frowned upon due to its brutality and the intention to hurt other people. Therefore, rows of experienced festival goers often form between the mosh pit and the uninvolved crowd to stop the frowned upon "crowd killers".
Fighting
“Fighting” (German: “Fighting”) or “Streetfighting” (German: “Fighting a street fight”) originally comes from the hardcore punk scene, but is also widespread in industrial and EBM as well as especially in electro punk .
The movements are similar to "Mosh" or "Wrecking", but with many changes of direction and lunges. The movements are similar to aggressive "shadow boxing" or martial arts exercises, but usually no fellow dancers are touched or the dancers ensure that there is sufficient distance between their bodies.
execution
In general, a “code of honor” applies to the pogo, which requires consideration for the weaker, to help the fallen back on their feet immediately and not to intentionally endanger anyone. So it can be observed at large concerts with many people that a large circle is immediately formed in order to raise someone who has fallen back up. Occasionally, brief glances or similar gestures are exchanged when dancers unintentionally hit each other too hard during pogo or accidentally hit someone's face or similar vulnerable areas. Refraining from such gestures is often understood as an invitation to harder dance styles.
Aggressive behavior is very rare and is usually prevented by the stronger. Together with the “code of honor”, this means that serious injuries are rare. The risk of injury is particularly high with "wrecking", the "wall of death" and especially with "violent dancing". While normal pogo and slam dance often result in bruises and bruises and only rarely in serious injuries, these are more common.
