Para Para
Encyclopedia
is a synchronized group dance
Group dance
Group dances are danced by groups of people simultaneously, as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually, and as opposed to couples dancing together but independently of others dancing at the same time, if any....

 that originated in Japan. Unlike most club dancing
Club Dance
Club Dance was a TV show The Nashville Network aired for 7 years between 1991 and February 5, 1999 for a total of 1848 episodes, with re-runs until June 28, 1999The show was filmed in Knoxville, Tennessee set at a fictional "White Horse Cafe"...

 and rave dancing there are specific synchronized movements for each song much like line dancing
Line dance
A line dance is a choreographed dance with a repeated sequence of steps in which a group of people dance in one or more lines or rows without regard for the gender of the individuals, all facing the same direction, and executing the steps at the same time. Line dancers are not in physical contact...

. Para Para is said to have existed since the early 80's when european countries started selling Italo Disco
Italo disco
Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...

, Euro Disco
Euro disco
Euro disco is an all encompassing colloquial term used to describe a variety of European electronic dance music that first originated from disco in the 1970s; incorporating elements of pop, New Wave and rock into disco-like continuous dance atmosphere...

, and in the mid- to late-1970's New Wave music
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 in Japan, but did not achieve much popularity outside of Japan until the late 90's.

Para Para is strongly associated with eurobeat
Eurobeat
Eurobeat is a form of italo-disco/hi-NRG music that developed in the late 1980s.In the United States, Eurobeat was sometimes marketed as Hi-NRG and for a short while shared this term with the very early freestyle music hits....

. Dave Rodgers
Dave Rodgers
Dave Rodgers is an Italian songwriter, composer, and producer.Born in Mantua, he started production with the band Aleph. Since then, he has collaborated with artists from around the world and has produced several multi-platinum albums...

, a highly-recognized eurobeat producer, has described Para Para as the only way to dance to eurobeat, which is usually "so fast".

Description

Para Para dancing consists of mostly arm movements; very little lower body movement is involved save for perhaps moving one's hips or stepping in place (although a few routines require more detailed leg motions). It has been speculated that it is a descendant of the traditional Bon Odori dance, however there is no known link . The dance originated in the early 80's when men working in the VIP room in clubs would choreograph dances to impress women. The dance style then grew from there. The dances are performed to fast, upbeat music such as Eurobeat
Eurobeat
Eurobeat is a form of italo-disco/hi-NRG music that developed in the late 1980s.In the United States, Eurobeat was sometimes marketed as Hi-NRG and for a short while shared this term with the very early freestyle music hits....

, Hyper Techno, and Eurodance
Eurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...

. Fans of Para Para dancing often call themselves "Paralists" .

Variants

Some variants of Para Para dancing are TechPara (which would be danced to Hyper techno) and TraPara (which would be danced to trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...

). This is also known as Torapara due to the word trance being written as in Japanese.

In Popular Culture

  • Para Para experienced a huge boom in Japan in 1998–1999 when pop idol Takuya Kimura
    Takuya Kimura
    , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer and actor. He is also a member of the Japanese idol group SMAP. Most of the TV dramas he starred in produced high ratings in Japan...

     of SMAP
    SMAP
    SMAP is a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. While originally consisting of six members, the current group members are Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori...

     performed it on television . It had such a large impact that even Mickey Mouse
    Mickey Mouse
    Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...

     danced it in Tokyo Disneyland
    Tokyo Disneyland
    is a 115 acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States and opened on April 15, 1983...

     . People in Mickey Mouse
    Mickey Mouse
    Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...

     and other Tokyo Disneyland
    Tokyo Disneyland
    is a 115 acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States and opened on April 15, 1983...

     costumes appeared on television dancing it with Takuya Kimura
    Takuya Kimura
    , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer and actor. He is also a member of the Japanese idol group SMAP. Most of the TV dramas he starred in produced high ratings in Japan...

     .

  • The Japanese video game company Konami
    Konami
    is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...

     has released a series of video games called ParaParaParadise
    ParaParaParadise
    , often abbreviated PPP, is an arcade and PlayStation 2 dance game made by the Japanese company Konami and released under the Bemani moniker following the booming Para Para fad....

    as part of its Bemani
    Bemani
    is Konami's music video game division. Originally named the Games & Music Division, or simply G.M.D., it changed its name in honor of its first and most successful game, Beatmania, and expanded into other music-based games.-Bemani video games:...

     series of music-based games. The games feature an octagonal platform with motion detecting
    Motion detection
    Motion detection is a process of confirming a change in position of an object relative to its surroundings or the change in the surroundings relative to an object. This detection can be achieved by both mechanical and electronic methods...

     sensors above it. Players must trigger the sensors by moving their arms (or other body parts) under the sensors when the corresponding arrow reaches the top of the screen placed at the front of the platform.

  • Para Para Sakura, a film
    Film
    A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

     starring Aaron Kwok
    Aaron Kwok
    Aaron Kwok Fu-shing is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. He has been active since the 1980s to the present. The media refer to him, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . Kwok's onstage dancing and displays is influenced by Michael Jackson...

    , features some Para Para dancing. The theme song for the film, Para Para Sakura, is not related to any form of Para Para based music.

  • In Chapter 30 of the manga
    Manga
    Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

     series Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
    Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
    is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshio Sawai, published by Shueisha, and serialized in the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine...

    , Don Patch performs Para Para dancing with a group of cat
    Cat
    The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

    s.

  • In one episode of the anime
    Anime
    is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

     Dragon Ball GT, Goku, his granddaughter Pan, their friend Trunks, and even the robot Giru are put under a Para Para-type dance by the three Para Para Brothers.

  • In a number of pop star
    Pop Star
    "Pop Star" is a 2005 single from Japanese singer Ken Hirai. The single went on to top the 2005 Oricon Charts and is known for its remarkable music video, featuring Ken in seven different personas, including a raccoon and his own manager. The Video also helped Ken break into the US and Canadian...

     Ayumi Hamasaki
    Ayumi Hamasaki
    is a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, model, lyricist, and actress. Also called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" because of her popularity and widespread influence in Japan and throughout Asia. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to...

    's concerts, Ayumi taught her fans the routines for her songs "Trauma" and "Independent" and got her fans to dance along with her .

  • The rock band Psycho le Cemu
    Psycho le Cému
    Psycho le Cému was a Japanese visual rock band. Its members are Aya, Daishi, Lida, Seek, and Yuraサマ . Formed in 1999, Psycho le Cému distinguished themselves in the visual kei scene via their cosplay, with its members dressing in colorful, extravagant outfits inspired by anime and video game...

     did the same thing as Ayumi Hamasaki. Guitarist Aya and drummer Yura-sama danced to their songs "Gekiai Merry-Go-Round", "Yume Kazuguruma", "Prism", "Ai no Uta", and "Megatron". They even recorded a tutorial video so people could learn and dance with them .

  • In the anime
    Anime
    is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

     School Rumble - Second Term
    School Rumble
    is a Japanese Shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Jin Kobayashi. First serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from October 22, 2002 to July 23, 2008, all 345 chapters were later collected in 22 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. Shōnen Magazine Special published a sequel, School Rumble Z,...

    , Tenma Tsukamoto does Para Para dancing in Episode 17 in an attempt to ruin an arranged marriage between Eri Sawachika, who she is posing as, and an unnamed groom, whom Kenji Harima is posing as.

  • In the anime
    Anime
    is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

     Super Gals!, Para Para dancing is a popular pastime for the main character Kotobuki Ran.

  • Para Para dancing can be seen in parts of the 2006 film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
    The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
    The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the third installment in the The Fast and the Furious film series and currently the sixth in terms of series chronology...

    .

  • Para Para dancing appears in one of the bonus features from "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
    The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
    The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the third installment in the The Fast and the Furious film series and currently the sixth in terms of series chronology...

    " DVD where one of the actors a short lesson on Para Para basic dance.

  • A line of Yoko Ishida
    Yoko Ishida
    is a Japanese singer, employed by Hyper Voice. She is known for having performed theme songs for anime shows such as Prétear, Ai Yori Aoshi and the Ah! My Goddess TV series, as well as for having sung for the Para Para Max CD series....

     albums have remixes of anime songs with a Para Para beat (appropriately named Para Para).

  • In the video game Rumble Roses XX
    Rumble Roses XX
    Rumble Roses XX is a female Wrestling game that was developed by YUKE's Future Media Creators and Konami for the Xbox 360 and is the sequel to the PlayStation 2 game, Rumble Roses...

    , one of the penalty games of Queen's Match is Para Para dancing. The girl who loses is forced to perform the dance and depending on the costume the player chose the girl may have a positive, neutral, or negative reaction.

  • In the video game Gitaroo Man
    Gitaroo Man
    is a video game for the Sony PlayStation 2, published by Koei and developed by iNiS, with visual production by Mitsuru Nakamura AKA 326 and music performed by COIL....

     the background characters on the second level are doing Para Para dances.

  • Para Para dancing is performed and mentioned in the 2001 Hello! Project
    Hello! Project
    is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. Hello! Project's current leader is Risa Niigaki, the leader of Morning Musume...

     Shuffle Group song by .

  • Para Para dancing is also performed in the Soran Happies Video for Odore! Soran Parapara.

  • Para Para dancing appears briefly near the end of the video for the KT Tunstall
    KT Tunstall
    Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist from St Andrews, Scotland. She broke into the public eye with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland...

     song Hold On
    Hold On (KT Tunstall song)
    "Hold On" is an alternative rock song performed by Scottish singer KT Tunstall. The song was written by Tunstall and produced by Steve Osborne for Tunstall's third album Drastic Fantastic . The song was released as the album's first single on 16 July 2007 in the United States and on 13 August 2007...

    .

  • Para Para dancing is featured heavily in the 2006 Japanese dorama Gal Circle
    Gal Circle
    is a Japanese television drama series that was aired on Nippon Television. The series started on 15 April 2006 and ended with 11 episodes on 24 June 2006. It was the first drama in which Naohito Fujiki played a lead role.- Story :...

    . Many of the episodes revolve around it and nearly all of the major characters belong to a gal
    Gal
    -Given name:* Gal Costa, Brazilian Bossa Nova singer*Gal Fridman , windsurfer and first Israeli to win an Olympic gold medal-Surname:* Austrian composer and artist Bernhard Gál* Jenny Gal, Dutch-Italian judoka...

     circle that is dedicated to it.

  • Para Para is danced in La Revolución Sexual music video by the Spanish group La Casa Azul
    La Casa Azul
    La Casa Azul is a Spanish indie pop band that combines many of the qualities of 1960s American pop bands like the Beach Boys and 1970s European disco-pop acts like ABBA with clean, clear production reminiscent of Shibuya-kei. This distinctive sound was created by producer Guille Milkyway, who also...

    .

  • The eighth opening for Detective Conan features the main character Para Para dancing.

  • Para Para dancing appears in one episode of the drama series Seigi no Mikata
    Seigi no Mikata
    is a story first published by Shueisha as a manga by Hijiri Chiaki, and then made into a short-running TV drama in 2008 by Nihon Television, directed by Satoru Nakajima. The story is about a 15-year-old girl named Yoko, who is being tormented by her older sister Makiko...

    (Ally of Justice).

  • Pop group Hinoi Team
    Hinoi Team
    was a Japanese female pop group formed around Asuka Hinoi with supporting members Keika Matsuoka, Hikaru Koyama, and Rina Takenaka. Most of their releases are covers of Eurobeat songs.- Ike Ike :...

     does Para Para dances during some of their songs.

  • K-Pop
    K-pop
    K-pop is a musical genre consisting of electropop, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B music originating in South Korea...

     girl group Kara (band)
    Kara (band)
    Kara is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media . The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara (Hangul: 카라, Japanese: カラ, often stylized as KARA) is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media (DSP). The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara...

     created a rendition of the Para Para dance (also known as the "KARAPARA") for their fourth Japanese single "Go Go Summer".

Current trends

In April 2005, the Para Para dance for "Dragostea Din Tei
Dragostea din Tei
"Dragostea din tei" , also informally known as "The Numa Numa Song" , is the most successful single by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It shot to the number one spot on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004...

" was aired on the show SMAP×SMAP
SMAP×SMAP
SMAP×SMAP is an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it airs from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday...

 in Japan (the same program which started the '98 boom). The Para Para Paradise
Para Para Paradise
, often abbreviated PPP, is an arcade and PlayStation 2 dance game made by the Japanese company Konami and released under the Bemani moniker following the booming Para Para fad....

 video series has since been replaced by the Gazen Para Para!! series of CDs and DVDs marketed to younger teens using popular ganguro
Ganguro
Ganguro is an alternative fashion trend of blonde or orange hair and tanned skin among young Japanese women that peaked in popularity around the year 2000. The Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo were the centers of ganguro fashion...

 models from Egg magazine
Egg magazine
Egg is a style magazine for gyaru fashion, distributed in Japan. It features photos of ganguro girls and synopses about what they like or a popular trend. Egg also usually has photos of the newest fashions, where to buy them, latest hairstyles, cell phones, and make up tips...

. However, as with past trends, the boom has quieted down , though Avex continues to promote Para Para through its Super Eurobeat
Super Eurobeat
Super Eurobeat is a CD compilation series of Eurobeat music in Japan. The series itself is one of the longest running in the entire world. It has been running for over twenty years and consists of 214 volumes as of May 2011...

, We Love Techpara, and Gazen Para Para!! compilation series.

As of 2008, Gazen Para Para!! has ended, and Chouzen Para Para!!, a slight reinvention of the series has begun
.

Outside of Japan

The United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Finland, France, Taiwan, Spain, Chile, Scandinavia, Brazil, and other countries outside of Japan have an active fanbase doing refilms on the internet . These fans have circles and groups who perform at various gatherings, mainly anime convention
Anime convention
An anime convention is an event or gathering with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Commonly, anime conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels...

s . Some of the non-Japanese paralists have been able to travel to Japan to perform at large Para Para gatherings .

In the United States Geneon Entertainment released the Para Para MAX US Mix series of CDs, which contain remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

es of anime theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...

 from Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise
The franchise is an umbrella of Japanese media properties generally owned by the anime studio Gainax. It has grossed over 150 billion yen since 1995. The central works of the franchise feature an apocalyptic mecha action story which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization...

, Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...

, Magic Knight Rayearth
Magic Knight Rayearth
is a Japanese manga series created by Clamp, a manga artist team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi and Mokona. Rayearth combines elements from the magical girl and mecha anime genres with parallel world fantasy....

, and many other different anime productions. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 were released in 2005. Geneon also held contests to promote the CD and its anime series. 2005's contest was held at Otakon
Otakon
Otakon is a fan convention in the United States focusing on East Asian popular culture and its fandom. The name is a portmanteau derived from convention and the Japanese word otaku...

 on 20 August 2005. Geneon's efforts failed to expand the reach of Para Para in the United States. Regardless of this, Geneon released a Para Para instructional DVD called ParaPara MAX: The Moves 101, featuring several well-known United States paralists . The DVD did not sell well due to an exclusive sales agreement with Media Play
Media Play
Media Play was a chain of retail stores founded in 1992 by Musicland that sold movies on video, DVDs, music, Electronics, video games, books, and games in the United States. Each store essentially contained a book store, a movie store, a music store, and a video game store under one roof. At...

, Sam Goody
Sam Goody
Sam Goody was a music and entertainment retailer in the United States and United Kingdom, and was owned and operated by Trans World Entertainment which also runs FYE, Saturday Matinee, and Suncoast Motion Picture Company. It specialized in music, video, and video game sales...

 and Suncoast Motion Picture Company
Suncoast Motion Picture Company
Suncoast Motion Picture Company is an American chain of retail stores specializing in recorded videos, particularly movies but also carried television series. The stores have sold them in the VHS, Laser Disk, DVD, HD, and Blu-ray formats. The stores also carry various other items, including...

, which soon went out of business. After the Anime Fusion Tour's conclusion in the summer of 2006, Yoko Ishida
Yoko Ishida
is a Japanese singer, employed by Hyper Voice. She is known for having performed theme songs for anime shows such as Prétear, Ai Yori Aoshi and the Ah! My Goddess TV series, as well as for having sung for the Para Para Max CD series....

's management changed, which lead to the end of Geneon's promotion of Para Para in the United States.

Recently, Super Eurobeat
Super Eurobeat
Super Eurobeat is a CD compilation series of Eurobeat music in Japan. The series itself is one of the longest running in the entire world. It has been running for over twenty years and consists of 214 volumes as of May 2011...

 Artist Collections have been made available worldwide on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

, with extended versions of certain eurobeat songs.

See also

  • Gazen ParaPara!!
    Gazen ParaPara!!
    Gazen ParaPara!! is the new wave of ParaPara merchandise from avex trax focused on Japanese teenagers...

  • Para Para Paradise
    Para Para Paradise
    , often abbreviated PPP, is an arcade and PlayStation 2 dance game made by the Japanese company Konami and released under the Bemani moniker following the booming Para Para fad....

  • AVEX Records
  • Eurobeat
    Eurobeat
    Eurobeat is a form of italo-disco/hi-NRG music that developed in the late 1980s.In the United States, Eurobeat was sometimes marketed as Hi-NRG and for a short while shared this term with the very early freestyle music hits....

  • Hand jive
    Hand jive
    The Hand jive is a dance particularly associated with rock and roll and rhythm and blues music of the 1950s. It involves a complicated pattern of hand moves and claps at various parts of the body, following and/or imitating the percussion instruments. It resembles a highly elaborate version of...


External links

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