Admit it; you dance alone in your underwear. You dance alone in your car to 80s songs, and you sing them loud and proud while you bounce around in the driver’s seat. I bet you even quietly sing into your shampoo bottle while you shake your booty just a little bit in the shower.

It’s great, right? Flailing your arms, jumping up and down, or even just bobbing your head to a good beat can easily loosen someone up. Letting your body and mind get lost in the trance of a good tune can be euphoric for some people. And with a feeling like that, who needs anything else?

I’m sure it’s not hard to believe that some people do need a little something extra to enjoy the scenes they love. The reality of any music scene, as far as stereotypes go, is that the members involved sometimes do need something else. The clichés are there: The country scene usually involves the cowboys throwing back an ice cold Coors Light around a bonfire. The hip-hop scene can usually be associated with graffiti and maybe even a little bit of coke here and there. Punk involves a little bit of everything from vandalism, to binge drinking, to heroin (like Sid Vicious, right?). Hippies like to enjoy a nicely rolled joint to smoke while they relax to Bob Dylan or The Beatles. And ravers… well, some of them don’t care about possible holes in their brain, and they do ecstasy. And, of course, we’ve got straightedge kids who are sober and completely cool with it.

Lately I’ve been trying to find some new scenes in the Fresno area to broaden my musical horizons. Between flyers posted, MySpace, and word-of-mouth around campus, I’ve noticed a huge electronic music and dance scene growing and expanding. I was curious to see what it was all about.

I’ve always loved dancing – I’m totally the person that dances every morning in my underwear to start my day off as exciting as possible. But being under 21 in Fresno, there hasn’t been much for me to do in the electronic dance scene that didn’t involve being carded to get in.

There was an all-ages electronic dance, or a “rave,” in early February. It was held at a relatively small building downtown, no bar involved, but it was a just what I expected: glow sticks, crazy outfits, black lights, and some good bass making my heart beat faster while I let loose next to the DJ table. I love the feeling I got being on the dance floor. People were shoulder to shoulder, everyone was dancing together, and when the beat dropped and went back up again, the whole room went wild and the moves continued with more intensity than before. It’s amazing to see so many people letting everything in their mind stop and run on impulse. You can’t help but let the music take over and you almost can’t control the movement once you get going.

When I walked out of the venue to get some air, I wasn’t surprised to what happened. A girl I didn’t know walked up and asked the question I’d been expecting to hear all night: “Are you looking for some E?”

I knew it had to come up at some point in the night.

I believe it’s people like this who create the stereotypes I mentioned before. That’s why certain scenes are often looked down on – not only by conservative parents or city officials, but the police and agencies who have the ability to shut these events down for “possible” drug use.

The sad thing is that some events do get watched closely or even shut down, even when the promoters and event holders want nothing to do with the drug scene (in this case, the notorious reputation of ecstasy at raves) and are honestly passionate for the music.

I was curious to see what the event holders thought of this. I was grateful to get the opportunity to speak with Shant Postoyan (better known as DJ Shant) and Jeremy Cusimano (or J-Cuzi) from VibeRite, a non-profit organization that hold events around Fresno and also sponsors or DJs at events such as the one I attended.

Again, I’m under 21, so for there to be an all-ages dance that doesn’t suck is awesome. According to Postoyan and Cusimano, VibeRite is involved strictly for the love of “spreading the right vibe” (hence the name) and creating a rave scene in Fresno that can be appreciated and respected by everyone.

VibeRite is working hard to make this scene not only fun, but safe and enjoyable for everyone. They do their best to have proper watch and to keep drugs and alcohol out of their passion. Newbies to the scene who don’t want to be associated with ecstasy need something like this to help us let loose and enjoy our weekends in a safe environment.

Honestly, I don’t need to pop a pill to enjoy glowsticks and intense lighting. As Postoyan explained, glowsticks and creating crazy light streams are just a form of art that go well with the music. I for one can be completely sober and as entertained by a glow stick as a cat with a string of yarn. It’s just one of those simple pleasures to see. I don’t want holes in my brain, and there are a lot of others out there who just want to enjoy these “right vibes” put out by passionate artists.

I hope this scene continues in the right path, and I’m excited to see companies like VibeRite working so hard to make it happen. I want a good scene that lets me let loose. I want to be able to dress in the craziest, tackiest clothes I have and hit the floor without that feeling of dread that police will shut it down. Simply, I just want to dance.