Techno Christmas: Unifying the World at Detroit Movement Festival
Another year embracing the techno city.
Photography by Tatsumi Cline
For 25 years, Detroit has celebrated its deep-rooted history of techno music at Hart Plaza. This year, the Detroit Movement Festival continued to bring people from around the world together to dance as one, with over 100,000 attendees. It appears that more people attend the festival each year, especially after they learn that techno, a globally adored genre, originated in Detroit.
Thanks to the godfathers of techno, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson, the genre has blossomed into various subgenres, including ghettotech, drum and bass, bounce, house, electro, and dark techno, among others. At this year’s Movement, we heard a wide range of music from over 100 artists, including Zack Fox (who coined Detroit as his favorite city), John Summit, TSHA, Mau P, Jamie xx, Qurl, Boyz Noise, Ela Minus, Charlotte de Witte, Skepta, Ferg, Horsegiirl, and more.
And we wouldn’t be anywhere without our pioneers and OGs; trailblazing DJs also blessed the several Movement stages, like Kevin Saunderson and the Saunderson Brothers, Moodymann, DJ Minx, DJ Godfather, Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, WhoDat, and Mike Banks. The next generation of DJs, especially those from Detroit, are constantly paying homage to these legacies, and did so at Movement. Some emerging Detroit DJs we saw tear up the stages included Beige, AK, Donovan Glover, BlackMoonChild, HiTech, Disc Jockey George, FullBodyDurag, JMT, DJ Sphinx, and DJ Holographic, among many more.
Food and drinks flowed in the center of Hart Plaza, along with Hart Plaza’s colorful Dodge Fountain, which, thankfully, was recently restored. As people danced and immersed themselves in the community, they indulged in vendors such as Andiamo, Island Noodles, James Oliver Coffee, My Big Fat Shawarma, Chik-A-D, Little Sicilian, and more. For those looking to soak in art while they danced, the Pyramid Amphitheater was the place to be. 1xRUN and the Movement Artist in Residence tapped Goldie to create a mural called Love: Detroit. At the Underground Amphitheater was the Respect the Architects exhibition, a nod to the heroes and pioneers of techno.
Photography by Tatsumi Cline
Whether techno lovers were dressed as aliens, furries, cowboys, or in their coziest dancing attire, the dancing didn’t stop at the festival. Pre-parties and afterparties spanned across the city, at spots like the Russell Industrial Center, Paramita (a beloved favorite), Spot Lite, La Ventana, Big Pink, and Northern Lights Lounge. The festival may have ended at midnight, but the parties only got the night started, continuing past sunrise into the next day, and repeating.
Techno originated in Detroit in the 1980s with the Belleville Three, comprising Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson. Known as the first wave of techno from Detroit, the genre is characterized by a tempo of over 120 beats per minute. It’s often a four-on-the-floor repetitive beat made with electronic instruments like synths and sequencers. The genre serves as not only fun beats to dance to, but also as a political movement.
Many early Black techno artists expressed Black consciousness, empowerment, and the hardships, such as oppression and racism, through this newfound wave of Afrofuturism. The idea of techno is to simply give people and communities the right to dance. Today, techno remains representative of the same themes, with modern twists that incorporate seductive innuendos and genre-blending elements, including R&B, funk, gospel, and rap. We also see resistance in the form of community awareness, whether that be waving the Palestinian flag throughout the festival, sporting a keffiyeh, or artists confronting injustice during their performances.
We’re already excited for next year’s Movement Festival; eager to see just how many people can fit into Hart Plaza, as well as the new and returning performers. Techno Christmas can never come too early. Who do you want to see at Movement next year and the years to come?
