Apparently the hottest dance craze in France, which originated in Paris, and has quickly spread throughout Europe is a dance called “Tecktonic.”  It’s so popular that American based National Public Radio has predicted that it’s only a matter of time before Tecktonic comes to our American shores.  Watching the videos of Tecktonic dancing online I would have to say Tecktonic is more of a blend of aerobics, disco, glow stick rave dancing without the glow sticks with a pinch of epileptic seizures thrown in.  You have to see it to believe it and see it to start practicing.

Wikipedia defines Tecktonic as a “blend of techno styles (late 80s vogue, 90s waving and old school breakdancing).”  The dance started out in Paris in the early 2000′s, but really didn’t gain any momentum until Tecktonic dancers started posting videos of themselves dancing on Youtube and other video sharing websites.  And there are many Tecktonic videos.

So how big exactly is this dance?  Well if view counts are an indication of popularity than Tecktonic is very popular.  This video featuring some Tecktonic dancers dancing to “À cause des Garçons” (“Because of the Boys”) has over 15 million views.

This video has more views than the original music video for “À cause des Garçons”  by Yelle, a popular French elctro singer, which only has just over 4 million views.

And if you are looking to learn how to Tecktonic dance then you are also in luck because there are numerous videos online teach you how to Tecktonic like a master.   Some of the teachers look like they are 12, but don’t be fooled, they are quite skilled.  The first step in learning to Tecktonic is to learn how move your feet and this video shows you how:

Once you have the footwork down then you can master the Tecktonic hand loop:

Now that you have that basics down you can learn from all the best dancers of Tecktonic.  While so far the videos have only showcased male dancers, this video below by Dance Gemearation shows that females are just as welcomed into Tecktonic dancing circles.  It also has a good moral lesson.  Rather than solve our arguements with fists we should resolve them with good old Tecktonic dancing (you can jump to the 0:49 to watch things heat up).

A lot of the videos that have been showcased so far just look like regular people dancing their favorite dance.  However, it’s not just the “common” people that are doing this dance.  Even professional singers are doing it in their music videos.  Below is a music video by French singer Lorie , sometimes dubbed the “Britney Spears of France,” called “Je vais vite” (which translates into “I go quickly”) where she and her backup dancers are Tecktonic dancing.

I’m not sure if American’s will really welcome this dance with open arms, but you never know.   Maybe if Kanye West or Lady Gaga start Tecktonic dancing this will become a hit in the US.  The last foreign dance craze we had here was the Macarena and the Macarena was huge.  If you didn’t know how to do Macarena you were totally “uncool.”  I never learned the dance and I regret it to this day.  This is why I’m going to start studying Tecktonic before it gets hot.  I’m going to get a head start on this dance craze fad so I can redeem myself for not having learned the Macarena.

What do you think?  Is this dance going be a big hit in the US? Is it time to start studying “How to Tecktonic” videos?

**UPDATE**

I was looking through more videos and was laughing because I found a Tecktonic dance to Kanye West.  I guess Kanye just needs to watch this and he can start making it big.

This video is by a group called Dance Generation.  They are a group dedicated to Tecktonic dancing.  You can check out their blog and the rest of their videos (they have a ton).

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Most travel guidebooks you see for Paris have titles like Paris:  The Eyewitness Travel Guide or simply the Paris Travel Guide Book.  However, this travel guidebook caught my attention.  The full title is Naughty Paris:  A Lady’s Guide to the Sexy City. It’s a guidebook that takes a classy “not trashy” look at Paris’s erotic and sensual underside for women looking to have a sexy time in Paris.

What’s unique about Naughty Paris is that it is directed towards women and it’s written by a woman, Heather Stimmler-Stall.  When I first saw a link for the book online titled “Naughty Paris,” I, being a guy, immediately clicked on it thinking it was going to be a Paris guide to all the strip clubs and other questionable establishments that men sometimes like to frequent.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that it looked like a tasteful guidebook for women to explore the sexy side of Paris.  I mean it’s only fair that women have their share of the fun too.

So what kind of stuff would potential buyers of Naughty Paris expect to find in this guidebook?  Details about the best lingerie shops, female friendly bars, sexy bars, and event how to flirt with French men.  However, the author describes it best:

Written for and by the fairer sex, Naughty Paris: A Lady’s Guide to the Sexy City is the first guidebook that presents the city’s erotic underside in a sophisticated yet accessible tone that appeals to both the innocently intrigued and daring divas alike. Whether you want to be titillated by erotic art or seduced at the city’s most exclusive swingers’ clubs, this guide is the key to choosing your own adventure.

This is also the first guidebook that I’ve seen that even had an accompanying video trailer:

The author has an accompanying blog documenting the creation of her book.  She posted some interesting stats about the manuscript for the book:

First email exchanged about the idea of doing a Naughty Paris Guide: March 25, 2005

First chapter completed (Your Boudoir or Mine?):
April 30, 2007
Last chapter completed (Practical Info):
February 10, 2008

Number of men the author dated during the writing of this guide (for research purposes, of course!):
6 French, 2 American

So at least it seems the author has done her homework on the subject.  I didn’t realize how “naughty” of a city Paris is.  This might explain why French women are becoming more like sexual predators.  Anyway the book is on sale and you can find purchase information on the publisher’s website or you can find the book at Amazon (currently $25.74).  For those curious about the book you can download a free trial chapter (once there click on “add to cart”) they offer through the publisher’s website or check out the embedded document below:

Naughty Paris: A Lady’s Guide to the Sexy City (Free Trial) Chapter 1

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Carla Bruni, an ex-model and musician, who now is the wife of French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been quoted as saying “I am a tamer [of men], a cat, an Italian… I am faithful… to myself. I am monogamous from time to time but I prefer polygamy and polyandry [its female equivalent].”  Granted she isn’t French, but her attitudes on sex seem to be aligning more with the general attitude French females have toward sex.

According to a recent Telgragh UK news article the women of France are becoming increasingly assertive in their sexual behavior while “1 in 5 men have no interest in sex.”  The article is based on a recent 600 page report on Sexuality in France.  In this report they conducted over 12,000 in-depth interviews with French citizens from 2005-2006.   Here are some of the observations the report made about French citizens and their sex lives:

• women have twice as many partners as they did in 1970 (from 2 partners in 1970 to now 5 partners)
• the number of men’s sexual partners has stayed the same at 13 partners
• male and female sexual behavior is beoming more similar
• a woman’s average age for her first sexual encounter is 17 and a half (a man’s is 4 months earlier)
• 9 out of 10 women over the age of 50 remain sexually active compared to 50% in 1970
• men are still more adept at disassociating sex from love (however researchers attribute this to nurture vs. nature)

I don’t have the stats on the United States women, but if were to guess I would say the trend might be similar to France…

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Liz Tuccillo is the co-author of  the best selling American book HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU and past writer on the HBO show Sex and the City.  After lackluster sales of her book in France, which was also one of the last countries to buy the rights to the book, she decided to investigate why the French had snubbed her mega popular American book.   In this four part video series she tours around France interviewing men, women, and couples to find out if the French are just too proud to read self help books or maybe they know something Americans don’t know.

Before I get to the videos I wanted to contrast how popular the book is in the United States versus France.  I decided to compare the number of customer reviews the book received from Amazon.  In the US vesrion of Amazon.com the book received a healthy 846 reviews (as of today’s date).

In France, the book is called is translated into Laisse tomber, il te mérite pas ! (which according to google translates to “Forget it, you deserve it!”) and on France Amazon.com it received a whopping 2 reviews.

I never followed Sex and the City, but I’ve seen snippets of the show to get a feel for each of the characters.  Watching Liz in these videos I can’t help but get the feeling that the spirit of Carrie Bradshaw is haunting me.  Come to think of it that whole show haunts me…Either way these videos are pretty amusing and eye-opening as well.

Paris: Chapter 1 “Parlez-Vous My Book?”

Paris: Chapter 2 “Where’d they learn that?”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Paris: Chapter 3 “Date Doesn’t Translate”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Paris: Chapter 4 “A Parisian Love Affair”

Click here to view the embedded video.

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