パラパラ

The tradition & historical record

Para Para (パラパラ, ParaPara) or Para-Para is a synchronized dance that originated in Japan. Unlike most types of club and rave dancing, Para Para features specific synchronized movements for each song, much like line dancing. Para Para has been around since the early 1980s, when European countries started selling Italo disco and Eurodisco and, in the mid-to late 1970s, new wave and synthpop music in Japan. However, the dance did not achieve much popularity outside Japan until the late 1990s. Para Para is strongly associated with Eurobeat. Eurobeat artist Dave Rodgers has described Para Para as the only way to dance to Eurobeat, which is usually "so fast." ¹

Para Para dancing consists of mostly upper body movements in synchronization with a four-on-the-floor rhythm. Dancing involves choreographed motions with the arms and hands while stepping to the right and left, similar to the movements of traditional festival dances such as Bon Odori and cheering squads called Ōendan. Para Para dancing is generally done to Eurobeat and Eurodance music, with each track having its own dance routine. Para Para involves very little lower body movement, with the exception of moving one's hips, stepping in place, and jumping or hopping. Some routines feature more complex leg movements. Routines are generally choreographed by groups affiliated with popular clubs in Japan (see below). Fans of Para Para often refer to themselves as "paralists" and include official and unofficial teams of dancers in Japan, Chile, Brazil, Spain, the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Finland, and several other countries. Some such dance teams are recognized by major Japanese music labels such as Avex and have been featured in Japanese media like the magazine Egg. The history of Para Para is largely described by the community and historians in terms of "booms", during which Para Para saw an increase in popularity. Times of decreased popularity are referred to as "glacial" periods. To date, there have been four distinct booms, each with a distinct cultural and historical context. ¹

The term "official" in the parapara world describes routines made by certain clubs/choreography groups in Japan. A non-exhaustive list of official club events are Starfire, SEF, 9LoveJ, and Twinstar. These routines are danced and learned by most people in the community. In response to official routines, people in Japan have made their own routines, called "maniac" routines. This movement started in the late 1990s with clubs like Hibiya Radio City and Tottori Eleven choreographing their own routines. In addition to the club events mentioned, other famous maniac club events that existed were Medusa, Area, Joy, AXOS, Bless, and TMD. As of 2008, club events in Japan have not choreographed many maniac routines, and the movement has basically stopped. However, some official club events like Starfire and SEF still continue. Some paralists prefer maniac to official routines, though, and continue to host small events like Ravenous that feature maniac routines. ¹

Some variants of Para Para include TechPara (set to hyper techno instead of Eurobeat), and TraPara or ToraPara (set to trance). ¹

In what is called OriPara (for "original Para Para"), some may make their own parapara routines to their favorite Eurobeat songs. The term OriPara is typically reserved for routines that are not made by famous choreographers or taught at club events. A refilm is a home-made, usually non-profit video in which dancers film themselves dancing parapara routines. The routines usually come from commercial or club videos, but some have been known to film their own routines, which is a phenomenon called "oripara." These videos have not played a big part in the Japanese parapara community, possibly for copyright reasons, but they are very big part of the international parapara community since there are no large parapara events outside Japan. The two general purposes of a refilm are to highlight a rare routine or to show the public ones' skills. With the advent of YouTube, refilms have become more visible internationally to even non-paralists. ¹

It is thought that the term "Para Para" is derived from the onomatopoeic expression of one's hand movements along with the music, where the beat of the music was described similarly to "Pa-pa pa-pa-ra ra-ra", similar to phrases such as "boop-boop-bee-doop" in English. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Para Para”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Para Para is synchronized dance that originated in Japan, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 2 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²