ABBA You Can Dance

 



I love ABBA. I think my first real introduction to ABBA might have been Muriel's Wedding, the classic Australian film starring Toni Collette. The main character, Muriel, is obsessed with ABBA, and at the time I didn't really get it. Then I saw Mamma Mia, the musical, and fell in love. I've seen it more than once, and I've written about it here. It's amazing to me that someone wrote a play that fits perfectly with ABBA music. It's like they were made for each other - the music, which existed long before, and the musical. We have the soundtrack and it gets played pretty often. My kids may or may not get annoyed with me as I grab them for a twirl (or three) in the kitchen while belting out Dancing Queen. I was a little skeptical when I heard they were making a movie version of Mamma Mia, starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried. Chris and I were in Chicago a few years ago when it came out, and he was recovering from major surgery so we couldn't do a whole lot. Therefore we found ourselves in a movie theater for a double feature (Dark Night opened at the same time). And I loved it. Really loved it. They nailed it. Streep as Donna and Seyfried as Sophie - they're just perfect. The music might not be as chillingly beautiful as it can be in the live theatrical production, but nonetheless they did a great job and it's a super fun, gorgeously scenic movie.

Since I love ABBA so, so much, I was really excited to be given the opportunity to review the new Wii game, ABBA You Can Dance. Seriously, there is now a dance game featuring all ABBA music! How much awesomeness can be contained on one little game disc? A whole lot, as it turns out! If you've ever played the Just Dance games, the ABBA You Can Dance game is very similar and played in the same way. Up to four players can dance at a time to compete against each other. You can choose a song, or let the game randomly choose one for you. There are characters on the screen doing all the moves and the players copy the moves. Each move is rated as follows:

• X - You missed a move
• OK - You can do better!
• Good - Nice move
• Perfect - Awesome!

Based on your rating, you get a certain number of points. If you perform a special "Gold Move" correctly you get 500 points. But there is more to this game than just dancing along and getting points. You can even hook up a USB microphone (or two) to your Wii console and sing along to the music as you dance! Besides Play mode, there are two other modes, Musical and Karaoke. In Musical mode, you can choose your choreography and dance and sing along to a musical based on ABBA's music. For the Karaoke mode, up to two USB microphones can be connected to the Wii console to sing duets with your friends! The song lyrics are on the screen. Vocals are not scored or recorded, it's just a cool little bonus!

According to the instruction booklet that comes with the game, "The flow of your movements is sensed by the Wii Remote and compared with those of professional dancers in order to evaluate your performance precisely. The amount of energy you put in is also detected and affects your score, so give it your all!" Don't be discouraged if it takes you awhile to get the moves, this is supposed to be fun! And it takes a little getting used to. I am anything but coordinated, but even if I don't score well I still have fun playing!

I had some friends over to try out ABBA You Can Dance. We had a good time being silly and feeling our disco groove, and the disco light definitely helped create the ambiance. Pretty much everyone I know is getting sick, sick now, or just getting over being sick. So I'll be honest, we maybe could have been slightly more energetic. Even so, we enjoyed the game. I'm really looking forward to playing it with my kids soon. I think the Musical mode will be fun, and I know Bethany will dig the Karaoke mode. And since two of my friends were not familiar with the music of ABBA before trying out ABBA You Can Dance, I thought it fitting that we end our evening watching the movie Mamma Mia. I think I've converted them.

ABBA You Can Dance for Wii would make a great Christmas gift for any ABBA fan, or anyone who likes to dance, sing, and have a good time. It definitely gets my seal of approval.


Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please  click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Thank You For The Music

Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia! I just returned from the theater. I love Mamma Mia. I love the music, I love the story. I love that that the music fits the story perfectly, like a well engineered puzzle. I always tear up at the beginning when Sophie is putting the invitations in the mailbox and singing about her dream, as I am reminded of the first 30 years of my life when I had that very same dream. Actually, I tear up repeatedly throughout the show...as Donna is reunited with old friends, as the friends reminisce about old times, as Sophie meets her three prospective fathers, as Donna prepares for her only daughter's wedding day and I think of the days that will come when it will be time for Chris and I to face each of our children beginning their own adult lives. I'm pretty sure the smile never left my face.

Stories feed the human spirit. Whether your food of choice is music, books, theater, television, movies, or all of the above, chances are not many days go by that you don't feed yourself with some sort of story. Maybe you like to get your stories directly from the source, from talking to other people, or writing your own. Whatever your chosen form, if you don't feed your spirit with stories, maybe you feel like something is missing...a connection to the greater picture...a connection to the world around and beyond you.

If you haven't yet had the chance to see the stage production of Mamma Mia, you should at least watch the movie. The movie is beautiful, with it's lovely Greek backdrop. I love it too - maybe not quite as much as the play because there is something sort of magical about plays, but it's definitely one of my favorite movies. And if you just can't get enough ABBA, another great movie is Muriel's Wedding, starring Toni Collette. Great is a ridiculously weak adjective, but anyway, it's a movie I love and Toni Collette is genius in it. Even if you fall a little short of loving ABBA, you should definitely still watch this Australian classic. It's not a musical, so ABBA doesn't exactly infiltrate every scene like it does in Mamma Mia.


It's just another snowy (April) day in Michigan. There is no longer any room for surprise in regards to weather around here. I painted my toe nails last week for goodness sake! And last night we had to turn our furnace back on. However, there is something sweet and transient about April snow...but if I have to get the snow shovel out of the garage, I might have a minor breakdown.

Tell us, wise Yoda, is the Dark Side infiltrating the weather system?

See those trees there, in the middle of our cul de sac? The kids like to play in the middle of them, it's like a little hideout. A few days ago, a door appeared, propped up between the trees. Then this morning, as I was driving the kids to school, we noticed a thin mattress poking out from under some branches.  I'm going to ask Chris to investigate later, and make sure there isn't a stash of clothing and non-perishables in there too. I don't know where this stuff is coming from, but I hope no one plans on doing some long term camping out in our trees. Unless it's Ewoks, Ewoks we can handle.