A DECADE OF RAVING - Soof
- Feb 3
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 12
| Since October 2015
Before ever learning the steps, I was already so much in love with the music. The rave scene. There were no classes, no guidance. Only some raw YouTube videos, instinct, movement, and that underground sound calling me in.
I still remember how much joy it gave me to be able to dance to this music, even with so little knowledge about the steps. Not caring what it looked like. And without any other dance background, just moving my body.
This dance is freeform and I grew with that for sure. Little did I know that the steps that I took back then were mostly comming from the Dutch style ‘Konijnendans’. And this would be my roots.
Through Instagram I got in touch with a few other dancers who lived in the Netherlands. Not many, but it felt priceless. Our first meetup began with six dancers. We met up all the way in the north of the Netherlands, Zwolle, and danced all afternoon. From that day on, I knew I wanted to continue this forever. And so I did.
And so it began, Amsterdam Ravers quickly grew to over a hundred dancers. The crew expanded internationally soon as well, and every month there has been a meetup in a different city. Maybe there were no classes yet, but we were always exchanging knowledge and steps during the meetups.
Now we’re mostly meeting up from our home base, Amsterdam. The city of our music.
In the meantime, I went to raves and festivals to dance my heart out and meet new Ravers. I went to a lot of Ravedans raves in the north of the Netherlands and attented bigger events like Amsterdam Dance Event. From the day I was old enough to enter these, I’ve been stuck to the rave scene. The music and the people were my family, my outlet.
I started teaching in 2019 by renting a studio in Tussen de Bogen in Amsterdam. I still didn’t feel ready enough to teach after those years. But I gave it a go, and I’m glad I did. I’ve learned so much by doing since then, and I started attending other dance classes myself in the meantime. It wasn’t easy, but I had the time of my life and knew I wanted to grow in this and keep improving my dance and teaching.
When Covid hit, we still continued some meetups. Those were huge, by the way. Lots of Ravers felt the urge to dance it all out. It was a rough time, but we still had each other and that was the best thing. Even more dancers started to join the community because they had been spending their free time learning some steps of the style. We were growing more and more.
In 2023, the weekly classes started again, this time there to stay. We started with open-level classes that could slowly be split up into beginner and intermediate classes. Some students from day one stayed within ARA and are of course now in the intermediate crew for quite some time now. They defenitely deserve a shout out with this; for believing in the style, the classes and my guidance.
Besides regular classes, ARA started inviting international teachers every month with our concept ‘ARA Invites’ to give our students the best learning opportunities.
Apart from teaching adults, I found my love for teaching kids too. By finishing a training in primary education, I kicked off my teaching journey at primary schools. Shuffle Dance and Cutting Shapes for ages 7–12. And quickly added kids’ lessons to our weekly ARA schedule as well. I love my kids so much and I'm so happy to see them grow not only in dance but also in their creativity and especially their social skills. They are absolutely glowing.
From Amsterdam West to now Amsterdam Zuid (and sometimes Noord too): Beatzone is our new home since 2025. And with pride we can also say that their students are Ravers in training too since that year. We are working hard on the next generation and are insanely excited about that.
I grew with this dance, often starting off against the current. First alone, then together when building my community here. I fought for years for something people around me said would never be real. Middle school wasn’t easy, and this was the only thing I had that gave me motivation. But when you live in a village, you’d rather hide it than openly show it.
I created a new Instagram account to make sure I felt safe to express myself in this dance. I felt accepted and found so many likeminded dancers that shared the same passion. What felt like powerlessness slowly turned into proof. Together with my people, we grew. The dance style and Amsterdam Ravers were rising.
The rave culture didn’t disappear, it rose. And of course, Covid couldn’t stop us.
This style taught me discipline. It taught me patience. It became my outlet when words weren’t enough. I went from being socially anxious to feeling safe and welcomed by any Raver around me. I improved physically but also mentally by hanging out and socializing with my Ravers family.
The dance is my grounding, my strength, my becoming. Sharing this style with so many over the years has been one of my greatest honors. What started alone became family and so much more.
The music, the culture, the people. They raised me, shaped me, and still move me as Amsterdam Ravers carries the underground forward together with their international fam.
Grateful for the music, this dance, my perseverance. Alone, and together.
From that first day on, I would never have dared to dream this would become my life. Being so depressed throughout middle school, all I wanted was to move to the music I loved.
Looking back, especially at all these archived videos, I’m so proud of lil’ Soof for pushing through and continuing to do what she loved most. And sharing it with so many others around the world.
I’ve been wanting to make this decade video edit -
since last year already, but being so busy with Amsterdam Ravers Academy has taken over the entire planning. I can’t say more than that I’m so proud and deeply grateful for that.
Cheers to many more years of spreading this beautiful passion to so many more Ravers on this planet. I'm excited to meet you.
On to the next decade, my Ravers.
Comments