TraPara
Trapara
(This article is a loose interpretation of the Japanese Wikipedia article of Trapara)
Trapara (Also called Torapara, based off of Japanese phonetics トラパラ) is a Parapara style that goes to the beat of trance music. In a broad sense, it's in the same realm of Parapara, but there are some differences due to the construction of songs, often being considered entirely separate from Parapara and Techpara.
History
The exact date of origin is unknown, but it was around 2003 that some clubs started dancing with Parapara-like choreography to trance songs. In 2004, some clubs distributed practice choreography videos and featured it in gal magazines such as Ranzuki. In 2003, the CD series "SUPER BEST TRANCE" by Avex released and defined the means of choreographing and how to dance to trance songs, particular to volumes 3 in the beginning. Later, people would cite the birth place of Trapara as club CODE in Shinjuku, Kabukicho due to their professional DVD releases by 2005.
Choreography
Trapara is similar to Parapara in that there's a generally decided routine most people know, but the types, complexity, and style of Trapara is much more limited than Parapara. Therefore, it's a lot easier to learn or Manepara at club events.
Example
- Turn your palms back and spread your hands forward with the feeling of 'welcoming' (Similar to the Egg pose)
- Align the fingertips of both hands in front of your chest and then spread them out in the shape of a banzai ("Fire")
- Crossing your hands back in forth from each other in front of your face
- Make a heart symbol with both hands in front of your chest and moving it
- One hand on the forehead and the other hand diagonally backwards and leaning forward
- Stretch both hands straight forward to the left (with your palms together), and move your left hand as if you were pulling a bow and arrow with your right hand. ("Baby")
- Move the palm from top to bottom while fluttering (once left and right)
Features
- In Parapara, there are usual leg movements. But in Trapara, there is often only upper body movement.
- Often, only the parts with a clear melody, the chorus parts, and the build ups are choreographed. In this respect, this in contrast to Parapara's full song choreography.
- If a song that already has a Parapara/Techpara routine but is arranged for trance, the choreography often will change. For this reason, even if you remember the choreography of Parapara, it may not work as a Trapara routine as is.
- Even for the same song, the choreography that is popular in each club may be slightly different. This tendency is remarkable when the clubs are far apart from each other. For example, even within the same Tokyo area, there is a slight difference between Roppongi and Shibuya, but there are many cases where there is a large difference between Nagoya and Osaka.
- Even if there are people who dance with a choreography different from their own, they rarely change their choreography accordingly, and it is common for each person to enjoy themselves in the way they remember.
In addition, only common songs are on commercially available DVDs. Because of this, if you want to be comfortable on the otachidai, you need to attend clubs and learn from the people around you. This makes learning and standardizing choreography difficult.
Choreographed Songs
Among trance songs, there are many songs with a clear melody made by Dutch epic trance artists (especially songs with vocals) that became popular in Japan after 2000, and then made popular by Japanese DJs. This is because the notes are choreographed according to the movements and beats of the notes in the main melody. It may also be choreographed in house and hyper techno songs as well, but the latter is generally called Techpara and is distinguished from Trapara. On the other hand, Japanese music also has songs arranged in a trance style, but since it is unlikely to be played at a club, there is no choreography.
Common Songs
These are songs that are commercially available on DVDs Videos from FARMIX were on their website, but are now unavailable due to shutting down.
| Song Name | Artist | Source of Choreography |
|---|---|---|
| ADDICTED TO LOVE (DIGI-TIZIO MIX) | DIGIMIND | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #2 |
| 愛の東京コール (OVERHEAD CHAMPION REMIX) | TOKYO CALL PROJECT feat. Kwenji Hayashida | SUPER BEST TRANCE VI |
| ARE YOU WAKE UP? (LIVE VERSION) | YINLING OF JOYTOY vs. TAKESHI KONGOCHI | SUPER TRANCE VI |
| ASS UP! (DJ TEN REMIX) | BARACUDA | THE TRAPARA / SUPER BEST TRANCE VI |
| AXEL F THEME （OVERHEAD CHAMPION REMIX） | JUMPY FROGS | FARMIX |
| BEAT! | OVERHEAD CHAMPION | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| BIG BAD LOVE (CASCADA REMIX) | SPRING BREAK | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV / THE TRAPARA |
| BAD BOY | CASCADA | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #1 |
| BIBLE | WATER BLADER | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST ROUND 1 |
| BODY 2 BODY | DJ KAOS | THE TRAPARA |
| CAN I GET A WITNESS | ROB MAYTH | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #2 |
| CAN'T UNDO THIS!! 2006 | SHAM-POO feat. YINLING OF JOYTOY | THE TRAPARA |
| CARLITO | SPAGHETTINI | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST ROUND 1 |
| CHOCOLATE (CHOCO CHOCO) (OVERHEAD CHAMPION REMIX) | SOUL CONTROL | SUPER BEST TRANCE VI |
| CLOSE MY EYES | ASTROLINE | 俄然パラパラ学園～入学編～ / SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| DISCO BEAT （DJ e-kawa's PARADISE MIX） | SHOT | FARMIX |
| DRAGOSTEI DIN TEI (OVERHEAD CHAMPION REMIX) | O-ZONE | 俄然パラパラ学園～入学編～ / SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| EVERYTIME WE TOUCH | CASCADA | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST ROUND 1 |
| GET UP!! | DJ YOSHINORI | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #2 |
| HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH (PASCAL MIX) | SODA CLUB feat.HANNAH ALETHEA | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| HEY THE PUMPIN' HORSE | GANEZA | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST ROUND 1 |
| HOLD YOUR HANDS UP HIGH | MEGARA VS. DJ LEE | SUPER BEST TRANCE VI |
| HOPPY | STEALTH | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST ROUND 1 ] |
| I WANNA DANCE (OVERHEAD CHAMPION REMIX) | DOMINO | SUPER BEST TRANCE VI |
| I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY | FLIP & FILL | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| INDEPENDENCE (MIKE NERO MIX) | DJ ENDO.CH | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #1 |
| IT'S KILLING ME | DJ TOXIC | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #2 |
| LAST ECSTACY | ORIENTAL SPACE | FARMIX |
| LONELY | DEEP SPIRIT | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #2 |
| LOVE & JOY (LOVE S MIX) | PROJECT Y'S FEAT. 田中みゆき | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #1 |
| MERMAID (4 SKIPS VS. SHOHEI MATSUMOTO REMIX) | TSUKASA | SUPER BEST TRANCE VI |
| METHANE HYDRATE | CLIONE | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST ROUND 1 |
| MONSTER (PROJECT Y'S SM MIX) | DJ YOSHINORI | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #1 |
| MOONLIGHT SHADOW (EXTENDED VERSION) | GROOVE COVERAGE | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| MOSKAU (DIGIMIND MIX) | KHUBILAI KHAN | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #1 |
| MR.VAIN RECALL（Recall Mix） | CULTURE BEAT | FARMIX |
| OHHH! NO! | SHAM-POO | THE TRAPARA |
| PERFECT GAME | OVERHEAD CHAMPION | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| PIECE OF HEAVEN | AKIRA | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #2 |
| PITCH! | OVERHEAD CHAMPION | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| READY TO GO (STAGEDIVERZ MIX) | STAGEDIVERZ | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| SCORPION (CRITICAL SYSTEM MIX) | ORIENTAL SPACE | サンモニ |
| SHAM-POO | SHAM-POO | THE TRAPARA |
| SHINING STAR | OLE VAN DANSK | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST ROUND 1 |
| SOUND OF MY DREAMS | EAST ROKERZ | club complex CODE TRAPARA BEST CHAPTER #2 |
| S.P.A.M. | THE HOSUE NEGRO | FARMIX |
| SPREAD YOUR WINGS | system F | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| SUNDAY (OVERHEAD CHAMPION REMIX) | NUAGE | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| SUNSHINE 2006 (SHOHEI MATSUMOTO REMIX) | SEAN & KIM | SUPER BEST TRANCE VI |
| TAKE IT | FARMIX | |
| TAKE OFF | STIMULATOR | THE TRAPARA |
| THE PARTY （DJ SCHWEDE EXTENDED MIX） | DJ SCHWEDE | FARMIX |
| TOKYO, GO! (SHAM-POO REMIX) | JOHN ROBINSON | THE TRAPARA |
| WHAT'S UP | Alexis Hart | FARMIX |
| YESTERDAY (DJ KOUSUKE REMIX) | CHERRY | SUPER BEST TRANCE IV |
| そこにあるかもしれない | 尼崎まゆみ | FARMIX |
Others
Songs that have known choreography in clubs but are otherwise not visually documented.
| Song Name | Artist |
|---|---|
| 21st Century Digital Girl (Overhead Champion Remix) | Groove Coverage |
| 3D (love Again) | Dj Joker Project Nasca |
| All out of Love | The Foundation feat. Natalie Rossi |
| And She Said (Overhead Champion Remix) | Lucas Prata |
| Another Night (Dj TORA+R-SEQ) | Morgana |
| Arigato (Original Mix) | Aya |
| A-Round (Dj Hibiki & Ken-Bow Mix) | Delaction |
| Baby, I Love You | Dj ET-Q |
| Bad Boy (Club Mix) | Cascada |
| Be the One | Overhead Champion |
| Black or White (Original Mix) | HEAVENS WiRE |
| Blue Sunshine | Nish |
| Body 2 Body (Shohei Matsumoto Remix) | Dj Kaos |
| Can't Undo This!! 2006 | Sham-Poo feat. Yinling Of Joytoy |
| Craft Back | Sonic-R |
| Crazy 4 Love (Dj Kaya Remix) | Dr. Dj Cerla vs Jo Smith |
| D.O.U.B.T!!! ～愛の駆引きはダ☆ウ☆ト～(Original Club Mix) | 4Skips Vs. Floorbreaker |
| Dead Or Alive (Original Mix) | HEAVENS WiRE |
| Distance〜In Your Love〜 | Daito |
| Elevator (Up & Down) (Rico Bass vs. Sasha Van Holt Mix) | Space Jockeys |
| Eternity | Overhead Champion |
| Every Time | Caribbean |
| Everybody (Klubbingman Remix) | Rocco |
| Everytime We Touch (Delaction Remix) | Cascada |
| Flashback (Original Club Mix) | Alphazone |
| Fly Away feat Jax | t-xign |
| Free Radical (Dj Ken-Bow Mix) | Delaction |
| God (Original Mix) | Dj Kaya |
| Grand Shake (Naska's World Radio Mix) | Dj Joker Project Nasca |
| Harder?! | Pedro Del Mar |
| Hardstyle Disco | Yoji Biomehanika |
| Heaven | Dj Sammy |
| Herz an Herz(Club Mix) | RE-Vival |
| Holylance (Crystal Mix) | Dj Yoshinori |
| I Can't Stop Raving (Original Mix) | Adrima |
| In My Heart (4 Skips vs. Dj ET-Q Remix) | TSUKASA |
| Independence | Dj Enzo.Ch |
| Inspiration (Remo-con vs. Toshio Ueki Remix) | Strike |
| K.O (Fighting Spirits Mix) | Dj U☆HEY? |
| Kiss (Airscape Remix) | Vengaboys |
| La Bomba | Eddy Wata |
| Layla (Original Club Mix) | Dj U☆HEY? Vs. Dj MINAGAWA |
| Let Me Go feat. Jax (Floor Edit) | t-xign |
| Let Me Love You | Hanna |
| Listen to Your Heart | D.H.T feat. Edmee |
| Livin' on a Prayer | Cyber X feat. Sean |
| Look @ the Heaven | Yoji Biomehanika |
| Love Sunshine | Arpeggio |
| Mermaid (Delaction Remix) | TSUKASA |
| Merry Christmas(戦場のメリークリスマス) Mr.Lawrence (Heart of Asia) | Watergate |
| Methane Hydrate | Clione |
| Move Your Love (Sham-Poo Remix) | Sean & Kim |
| Ohhh! No! | Sham-Poo |
| One More Time (4 Skips vs. Floorbreaker Club Mix) | Daft Punk (Cover:Yinling Of Joytoy) |
| Out of Border (Red zone Mix) | MSG |
| Poison | Groove Coverage |
| Right Here | S.T.F. Presents Dj You |
| Rockin' (Original Club Mix) | Alphazone |
| Run to Me(Trank Extended) | Al.Ben |
| Sagittarius (Original Mix) | Nish |
| Sham-Poo | Sham-Poo |
| Show Me Love | Indien |
| So Yesterday | Hilary Duff |
| Sound of My Dreams (Decibel Edit) | East Rockerz |
| Stars are Blind (Overhead Champion Remix) | Paris Hilton - London Hotel |
| Stay (Airscape Mix) | Wendy Phillips |
| Sunrise (Rob Mayth Remix) | Angel City feat. Lara McAllen |
| Survivor (Alphazone Remix) | Dj U☆HEY? Vs. Dj Minagawa |
| Touch Me (Overhead Champion Remix) | Gunther feat. Samantha Fox |
| The Anthem (HEAVENS WiRE Mix) | T・R・C |
| The Load (S.T.F Remix) | T.A.K.E |
| The Music is Movin' (Delaction Remix) | Fargetta |
| The Sign | Sven-R-G vs. Bass-T |
| The Summer is Calling (Extended Mix) | Aquagen |
| Tokyo | Dj Kaya feat. Keen & Steven a.Haynes |
| Tubthumping (Everybody Handz Up in Japan Mix) | Hi-End Attack |
| Wait For You (Overhead Champion Remix) | Wait For You |
| When I'm With You | Zane+Foster feat. Dany |
| You Fill Me Up (Dj Ten Remix) | S.T.F. Feat. Keen |
- Songs that aren't trance but are frequented in trance events
| Song Name | Artist |
|---|---|
| Can't Take My Eyes off You (君の瞳に恋してる) | Frankie Valli |
| Everlasting Love | GTS feat. Mink |
| Heavenly Star | 元気ロケッツ |
| 恋はgroovy×2 | 伊藤由奈 |
| Let the Joy Rise (Thunderpuss Club Mix) | Abigail |
| [[LIFE (キマグレンの曲) | キマグレン |
| Lotta Love | m-flo |
| Meu Sonho | Kaleidoscopio |
| September | Earth Wind & Fire |
| Sweetest Day of May | Joe T. Vannelli Project feat. Harambee |
Trapara & Clubs
There are many clubs that have platforms for people to perform, called otachidai, often to the listed songs above.
- In Shinjuku, "club complex CODE (closed on February 18, 2008)" Sunday Morning Report
- In the Roppongi area, "club Vanilla (closed on April 1, 2007)", "Nishiazabu alife", "studio FLOWER", "GARDEN (closed on September 2008)", "club XROSS (closed on June 13, 2009)
- In Shibuya, "CLUB ATOM", "club CAMELOT"
- In Osaka, Umeda's "SAZA*E (closed on January 1, 2008)", "ON AND ON", and in the Shinsaibashi area, "GRANDCAFE", "Club Joule", "PLATINUM (OSAKA)", "club N3"
- In Nagoya, "MAVERICK", "OZON", "PLATINUM (NAGOYA)"
- In Sapporo, "Sapporo a-life"
In clubs with many platforms set up, they often play music of many genres to generate revenue throughout the week outside of trance events as well as playing multiple genres with trance on the main stage. For this reason, there's a lot of social air around the otachidai etiquette and limits. For clubs with multiple rooms, it's possible to keep dedicated trance space, but they often have to be shared among regular club goers outside of Trapara enthusiasts.
This results in fewer men dancing Trapara than women because men aren't often allowed on the otachidai and may be considered a nuisance to the people around them on the main floor. There is a strong tendency for men to get on the platforms but then be removed due to utilizing women as a selling point on the platforms. However, the platforms can be accessible on weekday events that aren't as busy.
Merits & Demerits
As mentioned above, the background of the spread of Trapara was that the clubs used it to attract customers in 2005 and major record labels pushed forward with the same spread strategy. On the other hand, as of January 2007, it is also true that there are several clubs that have banned Trapara. Both the merits and demerits of Trapara have been pointed out from each position related to the clubs.
Clubbers Position
- Merit
- If you remember a certain number of choreographies (if you have a repertoire), you can easily get excited even if you dance with people you meet for the first time or at a club you have gone to for the first time.
- By dancing with the same choreography and teaching it, it becomes an opportunity for communication.
- You can request the DJ to play the choreographed songs you have learned.
- It can satisfy the desire to stand out and look cool.
- Demerit
- Since there are many movements in which both hands are swung around, it may cause trouble to other guests who are enjoying themselves, whether on the platform or on the floor.
DJ's Position
- Merit
- You can easily liven up the floor by playing Trapara trance tracks continuously.
- Demerit
- If you keep playing Trapara tracks, group psychology comes into effect, but other people could be alienated.
- If you change genres after playing Trapara tracks you could risk splitting the dancefloor.
Organizer Position
- Merit
- You can use Trapara as a hook for attracting customers. For example - By distributing a choreography practice DVD created by DJs and organizers, increasing the number of otachidai, and in some cases requesting DJs to play more Trapara songs in a short period of time. You can increase the ability to attract customers.
- Demerit
- If the organizer accepts Trapara, the number of customers who gather for the purpose of Trapara will increase, and it will not be as easy to attract a wide range of customers. For this reason, if the Trapara audience gets too concentrated, they'll cut events to broaden appeal.
- Since the club is basically subject to the Fudosan Law, they will be closed at 1 AM under the guidance of the administrative authorities. There was a time when clubs with trance were banned because customers started to enter around 11PM and started to attract a wide range of customers in a short time. This was pointed out around 2005-2007, when the spread of Trapara accelerated.
End of the Trapara Boom
Due to the closure of club complex CODE and AVEX stopping the release of trance CDs, the departure from trance was accelerated beyond expectations. Around 2011, the number of clubs holding trance events has decreased, but there are cases where they are held jointly with other genres like Eurobeat and Techno. Recently, with the decrease in the Trapara boom, Trapara has been accepted in most clubs around the world.
Media
- Avex
-
- SUPER BEST TRANCE II
- At the beginning of the Trapara boom, guides on dancing were introduced in the CD booklet.
- SUPER BEST TRANCE III
- A "How To Dance To Trance" guide was included as a CD-EXTRA file with gyaru model Aya Hoshi. Though not specifying Trapara, it included elements of dance and some arm movements for lyrics.
- SUPER BEST TRANCE IV
- The first of SUPER BEST TRANCE to release a full DVD of choreography with various gyaru models. However the CD was pulled due to the "Noma Neko Problem" where Avex was forced to pull production of all products featuring the flash animated cat from 2Chan community members for the song Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone (Also known as Numa Numa) due to copyright reasons.
- SUPER BEST TRANCE -THE BEST-
- A "Best Of" 2 disc compilation where the first disc is entirely danceable to Trapara.
- SUPER BEST TRANCE VI
- 6th entry into the series that shared Trapara choreography featuring more gyaru models. However, these weren't intended to showcase proper lessons but just created promotion material for the SUPER BEST TRANCE series.
- The Trapara
- Official choreography DVD produced by Avex, compiling many of the songs from previous entries of SUPER BEST TRANCE as well as new songs.
- club complex CODE
- Consisting of three entries to the series, Chapter #1, Chapter #2, and Round #1. The songs featured in these are songs owned and licensed by Exit Trance, and it's sublabel Decibel Entertainment. The most popular and well known choreography came from this series given CODE is considered the birthplace of Trapara.
- FARM Records
-
- Parazoku, Sunday Morning Party
- DVDs released with the club group CODE choreography with songs owned and created by FARM records. club complex CODE had several record labels providing DJs music to play. However, commercially releasing them had its own licensing issues so while several record labels created DVDs, the majority were choreographed by CODE.
- Clubs
Very few independent releases of Trapara were made. The majority of the choreography was shared among people at the clubs. However some are still documented.
- MzA トラパラ教本Gの法則 Series
- Series of two club DVDs by the event group MzA at Club Garden in Roppongi , Tokyo.
- MEGA PARA
- A single DVD produced by the event group MEGA PARA that threw many events through N3, On & On, and New Cellblock.
- TV & Movie
-
- Gyaru Sa (Gal Circle)
- A TV drama about gals and their community, prominently featuring Trapara.
- Parazoku
- A gal circle movie sharing the same name and songs of the CD and choreography DVD.
- Magazines
-
- Ranzuki
- Ranzuki released two articles on Trapara in March and September 2004 issues.
- Karaoke
Major karaoke companies have released a hand full of songs to be danced at karaoke bars.
Song Names and Request Numbers
| Song Name | DAM | JOYSOUND |
|---|---|---|
| エイベックス トラパラメドレー（トランス編） | 1133-14 | |
| ASS UP | 3021-62 | 192058 |
| BIG BAD LOVE | 3021-31 | 164082 |
| CLOSE MY EYES | 3021-63 | |
| HEAVEN | 3021-32 | |
| HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH | 3021-64 | |
| HEAVENLY STAR | 3106-99 | |
| Move Your Love | 3021-30 | |
| SPREAD YOUR WINGS | 3021-29 | |
| SUNSHINE 2006 | 3021-65 | |
| Everytime We Touch | 1162-06 | |
| パラパラ基礎講座 | 192057 | |
| トラパラメドレー《パラパラ振り付き・Original》 | 192064 | |
| DRAGOSTEA DIN TEI（恋のマイアヒ） | 192050 | |
| PERFECT GAME | 192054 | |
| PITCH | 192053 | |
| POISON | 192028 | |
| TOKYO,GO!（SHAM-POO REMIX） | 192055 | |
| YESTERDAY | 192051 | |
| 愛の東京コール（オバチャンリミックス） | 161199 | |
| 愛の東京コール《パラパラ振り付き・Original》 | 192059 |