Tasha Blank is a celebrated international DJ, motivational speaker, and founder of BODY LVNGUAGE (formerly The Get Down), a global dance party reviving the soul of nightlife. With its uniquely raucous, sexy presence and rich culture of respect, all bodies are welcome. Blank is known for liberating hips in New York City’s most legendary clubs (Cielo, Output, Verboten, House of YES), the world’s wildest festivals (Envision, Lightning in a Bottle, Burning Man, Wanderlust, Beloved), and museums, churches, helipads, boats, roving desert ships, forests and mountaintops everywhere.
As Tasha prepares to make the move to Las Vegas, EG caught up with the creative dynamo to learn more about BODY LVNGUAGE, her role as master of ceremonies, the new Powerhouse DJ School, and much more.
EG: Hi Tasha! Welcome to EG. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us. Where are you based right now? How have you been?
Tasha Blank: Pleasure’s all mine! Right now I’m in Phoenix, Arizona for a 2-week training in somatics and trauma release. I’m a junkie for this stuff and a forever student of bodies in movement, so I’m in my happy place. But gotta say, I’ve been on the road since January and am really looking forward to landing in my new home base of Las Vegas in a couple of weeks.
EG: So, you’re the driving force behind BODY LVNGUAGE. How did this come to be?
Tasha Blank: 10 years ago I was living in NYC and looking for the kind of dancing that turns us inside out and shakes loose all the bullshit we so easily lose ourselves inside. The kind of dance floor where we remember how to fall in love again, with the best music and sound systems available.
I couldn’t find it, so I set out on this obsessive mission to make it happen. We called it ‘The Get Down’, and it turned into this gorgeous community dedicated to real expression, big sweat, and the wildest dancing I’ve seen. After making it through the pandemic with a bigger vision and mission than ever, we decided to go with a name that speaks more to who we are now, and what we’re here to create in the world. The name BODY LVNGUAGE showed up, and after a decade of doing this, it suddenly feels like we’re just getting started.
EG: What’s the ethos behind BODY LVNGUAGE? What sets the concept apart from other events in your opinion?
Tasha Blank: We create sweaty, sexy, safe dance floors that leave folks feeling better the next day. So much goes into serving that mission, from the way we build culture and community to how we structure our events. We get down early (usually 6:30-10 pm on Thursdays), which flips the whole late-night paradigm on its head and makes it accessible to all kinds of folks who otherwise miss out on really good dance music. We aren’t here to lose our heads and fuck off all night. We’re here to go HARD for 3 hours, revive our souls, remember the beauty of who we are … and then get back to the rest of our lives more inspired and energized than we were before.
Everyone who enters agrees to turn off their phone and put it away for the duration. And while the bar is open, we keep drinks off the dance floor. This isn’t the place for nodding your head to the beat while sipping a cocktail all night.
We also emphasize practicing a culture of love and respect in real-time. It’s not just an abstract idea, it’s how we celebrate and uplift each other, get courageous with kindness and connection, make space for each other on the dance floor, and get consent before moving in for a close dance with someone new.
We’ve got 3 hours to make our own world, build our own paradise. How do we want to be with each other? How do we want that to feel?
EG: We know you also officiate as master of ceremonies. What does this entail?
Tasha Blank: I hold the kind of space where we can fully let loose to the beauty of who we are. I give people permission to play, focus the energy when it needs focusing and explode it when it needs exploding. I’m on the mic a lot throughout the night, dropping little reminders and guiding folks here and there on their journey to full-body bliss.
“We create sweaty, sexy, safe dance floors that leave folks feeling better the next day. So much goes into serving that mission, from the way we build culture and community to how we structure our events”
EG: How does the moment of silence and posterior group meditation ‘affect’ how we perceive music later? When did you first start trying this out?
Tasha Blank: When I first started out, I was going to clubs all over NYC and people weren’t really dancing. The vibe was splintered. It seemed like they cared more about how they looked and who they were partying with, how expensive their bottle service was. I realized if all I did was play music it would probably re-create the same thing … and that I needed to do something to shift the culture if we wanted something different. And maybe I could have come up with a more subtle or creative strategy, but I was just like ok, I’m just going to ask everyone to be quiet and talk about what we’re doing here.
I started taking a few minutes before my set to pause and get us all on the same page. To be like “yes, we’re all humans who showed up tonight living their crazy lives and we’re here to do something amazing together.” The impact of those few minutes on the rest of the night is HUGE. It’s like we all get on a spaceship together and blast off to places we’ve never been.
EG: The pandemic gave us all a chance to slow down and reassess. In the electronic music scene, it even gave us time for some much-needed discussions. What would you like to see more and less of?
Tasha Blank: Yep, it gave me the opportunity to reflect on everything that had happened in the previous decade. Losing dance floors overnight made me confront all the ways I’d been attached to my identity as a cool DJ and let it all go.
I did a ton of virtual DJing over those 18 months and stripped the craft down to its essence: getting folks out of their heads and reconnecting with their power, pleasure, and creativity.
I started asking more and more about what the world was gonna need to make it through the coming times (which only seem to be getting more intense), and that led to the idea for Powerhouse DJ School – our global DJ Academy that trains aspiring DJs to hold powerful space for the kind of dancing that changes lives.
EG: What’s next for Tasha Blank and BODY LVNGUAGE? What particular milestones are you looking forward to now?
Tasha Blank: First we open enrollment for our second round of PhDJ (Powerhouse DJ School) in September for folks who want to create blissful, cathartic, and transformative dance floors through the art of DJing, culture building, and embodied awareness.
We’re also doing a mainstage takeover at Sundown Festival in Denver, continuing our New York and Denver residencies, launching in Las Vegas, and planning a US tour for 2023.
EG: What can you tell us about BODY LVNGUAGE’s forthcoming US tour and residencies?
Tasha Blank: We launched in Denver this spring (headed up by badass and PhDJ co-founder DJ Maro). It’s such a solid crowd, fully down for the cause and building steadily. I’m relocating to Las Vegas a week from today and am so excited to connect with the community and some wholesome dancey energy to that desert. It’s the first time I’ve moved to a new city since I landed in New York back in 2004, so I’m lookin’ forward to feeling like the new girl in town again 🙂
We’re also gearing up for a 2023 tour of the cities we’re most excited to activate with regular events – so be on the lookout for those dates in LA, SF, Miami, Chicago, DC, Austin, and more come January.
EG: Thank you so much for your time, Tasha! We wish you all the best for the future.
Tasha Blank: Thanks for having me!! Come dance anytime.
Follow Tasha Blank: Website | Instagram | SoundCloud
Follow BODY LVNGUAGE: Website | Instagram
