Right on Q>> A blend of breaking, vogueing and |
 DANCE DEFENDERS: Nick (L) and Cynthia (centre) Younes
Last October during Pop Montreal, Nick Younes and his sister Cynthia crashed the Saints Showbar stage during Yelle’s set. Flanking the French electro-pop star, they erupted into a hyperactive mélange of raving, vogueing and breakdancing. The pair had been practising their moves for weeks. Their moment of glory didn’t last longer than a single song, and didn’t need to. To many in the crowd, it seemed like no more than an impromptu burst of entertaining extroversion. Others, though, immediately grasped what the Younes siblings were up to, and sought the two out in the crowd once they left the stage. Until that point, the French dance phenomenon referred to, and in fact legally trademarked, as Tecktonik had been consigned to the bedrooms and basements of blog-addicted electro-heads. That night, Tecktonik—often referred to simply as “Tck,” or to avoid copyright issues, the “electro dance”—made its public debut in Montreal, and now Younes is on a crusade to build a Quebec following for a style he calls “free, in your face, like old-time Greased Lightning, very macho, with lots of colours and lots of life.” Bedroom breakoutIt all began eight years ago when a group of French DJs associated with the club Metropolis, in the Parisian suburbs, came up with three thematic nights—Tecktonik Killer, Blackout and Electro Rocker—intended to catch up with and promote the Dutch and Belgian music styles known as jumpstyle and hardstyle. Of the three, Tecktonik Killer alone rose above and gave birth to a dance style of its own. The name Tecktonik, with its deliberate if dramatic seismic implications, stuck. This electro dance, also known as “vertigo” and “milky way,” involves repetitive arm movements such as the now infamous obsessive-compulsively-combing-your-hair-forwards, and its close cousin, obsessive-compulsively-combing-your-hair-back. While the upper body does most of the fast, disjointed work, the feet follow by going from the normal to duck-walk position every beat or two. Metropolis artistic director Cyril Blanc and party promoter Alexandre Barouzdin, a former equities trader with Merrill Lynch by day, sensed further possibilities—fiscally, in particular—in the fad. By disseminating teach-yourself-Tecktonik videos on YouTube, Dailymotion and various blogs, they created a tidal wave of teenage bedroom hoofing. Over time, the wave spread across Europe and, recalling the early days of hip hop in New York City, Tecktonik teens took to the streets to show off their moves and challenge each other in high profile public spots like the foot of the Eiffel Tower and in front of the court house in Brussels. After taking Europe by storm, Tecktonik is quickly approaching the mainstream on this side of the Atlantic. Rumour has it that Madonna, having previously milked French Touch house and parkour for their Gallic cool factor, is working with star Tecktonik dancer Jey-Jey on a new project. 
PARTY PIONEER: Nick Younes in action Copyrighting coolValérie Cornelis, a Brussels-based dance instructor, says that the DJs from Metropolis did not invent anything new. “They only borrowed from a bunch of different movements,” she says, “such as funk, hip hop, rave’s glowsticking, breakdancing’s footwork and even Madonna’s vogueing.” The same could be said for the typical Tecktonik look, featuring the business-up-front-party-in-the-back mullet with a mohawk twist and lightning bolts often shaved into the sides. Standard apparel includes vintage neon sweaters and matching wristbands, ball-crushing tight pants and old-school day-glo sneakers, ostentatious sunglasses and, for maximum glam factor, a star painted around one eye. Although Tecktonik is constructed entirely from bits and pieces of pre-existing This unprecedented trademarking of a dance style has left people like Cornelis to dance around various legal hurdles. The 32-year-old says, “It’s a trademark like Coca-Cola. If you’re not an officially credited dancer, you can’t advertise yourself as a Tecktonik teacher without the risk of being sued.” Stéphane Lavoie, a Montreal breakdancing teacher, wanted to incorporate the dance in his courses. His partners advised against it. They weren’t sure the style would stick around, and the trademark thing meant legal headaches. But Lavoie says, “Tecktonik needs to diversify itself and become incorporated into different styles to grow a solid foundation. This fad has the potential to be the electro version of breakdancing, which appeared in the 1980s and never really went away.” 
READY FOR TECK-OFF: The Younes siblings at Yelle’s show 514 on the floorThe labyrinth of trademark laws didn’t slow Nick Younes, who now goes by the handle TeckNick, cleverly dodging the law by switching a single letter and calling it TecktoniQ, with a Q. The Dawson graduate says he’s not looking to compete with the French movement, but rather wants to tailor it to the Montreal scene. “Here, hip hop and hipsters are more in, the clothes are a bit heavier, we don’t have such tight pants and I don’t think we’ll see much make-up. TecktoniQ is much different from what we get from France.” The young promoter goes on to explain that even the music is different. While the French dance to the fierce, fast strain of trance called hardstyle, a descendant of the pounding gabber of the ’90s, Younes says the music preferred here is much more “dark and groovy.” In that respect, he’s been working closely with DJs Hakim Guelmi and Paul R. of Projekt Underdog, who Younes feels represent the increasing intermingling of techno, electro and minimal house in Montreal. “The dance is very versatile,” Younes says. “It doesn’t need to get stuck to one very specific music style.” Another teenage fashion frenzy, the emo style, also banks on wild haircuts, tight jeans and make-up. Emo’s bleak outlook on life might seem at odds with the vivacity of Tecktonik, but Younes is confident that its disciples are swelling the ranks of the dance craze’s following in Montreal. “They realize it’s more fun than being sad at home. Emos are really converting to the electro scene. They’re not going to exist in about a year.” 
STEPS AHEAD: Cynthia Younes Follow the leadersTo assess the responsiveness of the Montreal crowd and build a bit of hype, Younes threw a small initial party at Velvet this past January. With only a week’s notice, he generated “one of the busiest nights for Velvet. It just blew up. “The only problem,” he continues, “is that not a lot of people actually knew how to dance the electro dance.” To remedy that, Younes is currently working on hiring dance teachers to give lessons in a studio before the first official TecktoniQ party on April 18 at Space Ultralounge. Moreover, although you’re not likely to see neon-clad crews facing off on Montreal’s metro platforms for the time being, TecktoniQ dance teams, such as Cantek, are coming together and starting to post their own Canadian videos on YouTube. Tecktonik’s royalty-free Quebecois cousin is getting its fair share of attention from the source. French DJs Said and Nass-r have contracted Younes to shoot their video. Rumours abound of an upcoming visit from Jey-Jey and fellow Tecktonik superstar Elektra—but in the meantime, Jean-François Beaudoin of Café Campus is throwing an Electro Dance All-Stars party on May 2 as part of their monthly Beatitude events, sticking to the original hardstyle tunes. “When I first saw it on YouTube,” says Beaudoin of the dance, “I thought it looked very goofy and funny. Then I started to receive mail from Montrealers to bring such an event.” Although Younes and his friends will be invited, the main feature will be four dancers from the official French teams Gladiateck, Pirateck and Elite Vertigo. “We have a friendly deal with the dancers, but this is not an official Tecktonik party—[the Metropolis promoters] are too big and too well established, it’s almost impossible to strike a deal.” The ultimate goal for Younes is to have “an Old Port electro version of the tam-tams on Sundays.” He might very well have joined forces with the already existing Piknic Électonik, whose summertime DJ parties are a plugged-in extension of Sunday afternoon rhythm jams on Mount Royal. Thing is, Younes polled his Facebook group and people were still “iffy about associating themselves with Piknik Électronik. “They’re already well established, and we want to have our own thing.” Tecktoniq in space party at space ultralounge |
hip hop, new wave, disco and rave subcultures, Barouzdin and Blanc copyrighted the name in 2002, a crafty financial move. The business of being cool is a lucrative one, with royalties rolling in from Tecktonik dance classes, clothing lines, CD compilations and energy drinks. In Paris, pre-teens go to Tecktonik salons to get haircuts for a modest 85 Euros—or $130 Canadian. |
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