YouTube and the Urban Experience Embodied

While abstract anthropological concepts such as the 'urban feel,' 'urban spaces' and 'urban imaginaries' are difficult to wrestle with, I would nevertheless like to introduce a new perspective of 'urban-ness'. By focusing on the recent explosion of home-made, worldwide dance videos on YouTube, I will illustrate how, in the search for 'otherness', young people are now motivated primarily by a yearning for cosmopolitanism and urban-ness. I will explore how that desire has taken hold, as well as how it is disseminated. Furthermore, I will examine how this yearning for otherness is shaped by the very vehicle that disseminates it. Specifically, I will explore dance culture that as it has emerged trans-locally from dance clips on YouTube-particular local places. I will highlight several different dance genres, all of which emanate from urban centres. The platform YouTube provides facilitates and disseminates these expressions - ones which, in turn inspire new dance expressions and genres.