April 29 is the International Dance Day. At Momondo we totally support a day dedicated to dancing and we've decided to celebrate the day too. Therefore we’ve asked our city bloggers to come up with their favourite spots to go and dance or watch others do it. So put on your boogie shoes and let our bloggers guide you through the best dance spots in cities across the world.

Let's dance #4: Melbourne

We’ve all seen the show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’, and yes, thank you very much, I do think I can dance, especially after a few too many drinks. And there was plenty of that last night, at the monthly dancehall gig called ‘Pressure Drop’. Held upstairs at The Laundry, in Fitzroy, Pressure Drop gets going on the last Saturday of every month.

And ‘get going’ it certainly does, with the offer of free beer between 10 and 11pm. Yes, that’s right – free beer at the bar for all the early birds. So by the time midnight rocks around, pretty much everyone in the club thinks they can dance, and why wouldn’t you, with the quality reggae and dancehall DJs who feature regularly at this event spinning the latest hits direct from Jamaica and all your classic favourites.

Dancehall evolved from decades of Jamaican music: mento, ska, rocksteady, roots reggae and dub. At first, a ‘dancehall’ was simply a sound system in a yard that people would dance to, whatever the style of music. But by the early 80’s the term defined a new form of Jamaican music which reflected the change in taste and technology.

Crack cocaine and Casio keyboards supplanted stoned dub and puritanical Rasta roots for a far racier, sexually charged boom boom crack! Today’s better-known exponents of dancehall include Sean Paul, Capleton, Sizzla and Beenie Man, artists you will hear on soundsystems worldwide.

Pressure Drop usually hits its peak between midnight and 1am, with the dancefloor kicking in every direction. It’s not a huge space, and can get very hot, but of course, that’s the way everyone likes it, especially on a cold Melbourne winter’s night.

And if once a month is not enough dancehall for you, you can head back to The Laundry every Thursday to get your fix, although being a weeknight it is a little quieter (and there’s no free beer). But it is free entry (Pressure Drop being AUS$10 and if you’re travelling, well then, it being a weeknight should make no difference to you. Laundry is open seven days and hosts a variety of gigs throughout the week, including hip hop, dubstep, jungle and drum n bass, so just check local street press to see what’s on.

Other regular dancehall events include 'More Fire' (second Saturday of every month at Miss Libertine) and 'I Love Dancehall' (on random, but regular nights at First Floor in Fitzroy). For other reggae and dancehall gigs around Australia, hit ozreggae.com

So if you are in Melbourne at one of these events, and you see a bloke on the dancefloor who obviously thinks he can dance (but clearly can’t), come up and say "g’day".

Meet Bernie

What do you like about dancehall music?

The songs are playful, fun and sexy too.  The beat is impossible not to dance to: it gets everyone up on the dance floor.

Have you mastered the style of Jamaican dancehall dancing yet?

Everyone can dance to dancehall but there’s so many cool, sexy or even goofy moves being made up all the time. At dancehall nights people really let loose so there’s plenty to watch and learn!

What do you like best about Pressure Drop?

I love Pressure Drop because in one night it squeezes in lots of different DJs, MCs and vocalists. There’s always heaps of different people from around the world and they’re all there to smile, dance and party!

Go further:

Let's dance #1: Moving and shaking with Cairo's own
Let's dance #2: Swinging New York: Fancy a shag?
Let's Dance #3: Dancing down the Spree
Let's Dance #5: Dancing 'til dawn on the booze cruise
Let's dance #6: London's retro dance explosion

Photo: Mugley

There’s a change in the air here in Melbourne. Leaves are turning red, orange and gold… the sun is setting sooner… the wind has a certain chill to it… people seem more drunk… definitely more drunk… what can it be? Of course…! Huzzah! Football season has come at last!

If you happen to be in Melbourne during footy season (March to September), you cannot escape it. The coaches and players are splashed all over the media, punters sport coloured team scarves and the pubs are packed for pre- and post-game parties.

Sound familiar? Of course. You see it in your own home town, from London to Liberia, Budapest to Bogota. But there’s a slight difference here.

Photo: Mugley

In most other parts of the world, the term ‘football’ refers to a round ball game. A game comprising exquisite skill, meticulous footwork and a certain amount of flair. In Australia, football refers to Australian Rules Football, a game played with an oval ball on a large oval field with four posts at each end. A game comprising equally exquisite skills yet a certain amount of savagery (and perhaps stupidity).

In Australia, the round ball game that attracts billions of viewers and is played worldwide is known disparagingly as ‘soccer’. To the average Australian, soccer is characterised by big money, endlessly boring matches, nil-all draws and most excruciatingly, the hideous practice of ‘diving’ (see the 90th minute of the 2006 World Cup match between Australia and Italy and you will understand our distaste).

Photo: Irene

Yes, I have been told all about the fantastic atmosphere at soccer games - the singing, the chanting, the (sometimes violent!) passion in the terraces. But with all the kicking, jumping, marking, handballing, bouncing, tackling and shirt fronting on display in Aussie Rules, there’s no time for all that other stuff. There’s barely enough time to get your beers.

Aussie Rules (also known as AFL) is played throughout the country, by rough and ready kids in the suburbs, sheep farmers in the bush, and barefoot Aboriginal kids in the desert. In fact, football features a large number of incredibly talented indigenous players who possess skills that could have only been forged during the dreaming.

Melbourne, although not the capital of Australia, is definitely the capital of footy. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is the spiritual home of football, a world-class sport’s stadium which holds at its capacity in excess of 100,000 fans.

Photo: JamesDPhotography

Generally speaking, you can just show up at the MCG (or many of the other stadiums around the country in which footy is played) and buy yourself a ticket for a match. But there are some big games which you may like to book ahead on the internet a couple of weeks in advance, such as a semi-final, the ANZAC day match, which honours all the Australians who have died in war, or the Dreamtime at the ‘G’ match, which acknowledges all Indigenous people and players. Of course, you’ve got to be in quick if you want to go to the Grand Final – the play off for the number one team – which is held on the last day of September.

If you can’t get to a game, you can certainly watch the footy and join in the spirit (and drinking) at many pubs around Melbourne with a big screen TV. My local pub, The Brunswick East, shows most matches live-to-air, which is handy for me, as I don’t have Foxtel at home (nor do I have a bar).

I hope that the below video will convince you about how fantastic Australian footy really is:

Meet Brad

What is your country and which footy team do you support?

I am a Gunditjmara man and support the Fitzroy/ Brisbane Lions. I also play for the Fitzroy Stars footy team.

What makes Australian Rules Football so special?

It’s a great team sport and requires different skills to play, such as ball handling skills, plus you also need to be a quick thinker.

Why are Indigenous players so talented at the game? [Note: The percentage of Aboriginal players in the AFL is far higher than their percentage of population].

Aboriginal players are highly skilled at AFL  because of their genealogy. We used to be hunters and gatherers, so of course you’d have to be quick on your feet to catch a kangaroo. Also, Aboriginal people have found that when they are good at footy, they become more accepted in the community, it breaks down racism.