Dancing and Living Part II

Last night I went to an awesome student recital. My friend Adam Clark, a ridiculous drummer, had spun a musical tapestry based on the idea of trinity. There were trios, funky 3 upon 3 rhythms, program notes describing every mystical trinity symbolism in human history, and 3 sets. The 3 sets were labeled: spirit, mind, and body.

I showed up in time for the beginning of the "mind" set harboring a pretty funky mindset. I had just been slaving away at another project for my "career skills" class and was not quite prepared to enjoy this music. Of course I tried to get into it, but my insides were churning out too much chich for me to actually hear a damn thing.

I tried to it cool down during the second intermission, but all I ended up doing was having a few vague conversations- all of which inspired me to think about more random bullshit.

Then the "body" set began with a nice reggae groove. I bopped around a little in my seat in the back of the room as I searched for any other signs of activity in the otherwise stilled audience. And there he was, off in the far right corner getting his little groove on... Hankus Netsky!

[Hankus Netsky was the first teacher I met from NEC when I first visited this school back in the fall of 2001. I went to a Jewish Music Ensemble concert he directed and danced my ass off!] Seeing Hankus dancing in the corner instantly reminded me of the person I was back then (a person I've been struggling so hard lately to get to know again...). For a brief moment, I felt my courage come back. I shimmied over to Hankus, kicked off my shoes, and discovered a little right leg wiggle on beat 3.

Ah, but I was still thinking and churning smoke out of my ears. Still in the correlation of Hankus and my past selves, still in the nervous planning of my recital next month, still in blah, blah blah, blah blah blah, blah. Sadly, there was no room for some real dancing to take place and before I knew it Hankus had left. I was alone with a pretty lifeless right leg wiggle. The song ended and I clapped, secretly praying it might have been the finale so that I wouldn't have to suffer again.

Then Adam brings up the 12 piece Afro-Beat jazz orchestra:

4 (FOUR!!?!!) percussionists, bass, guitar, keys, and a host of horns from the balls of a bari sax to the nipple tips of a trumpet.

[Holy Shit!!]

I just wasn't even prepared!

Only a few moments later a hellacious groove began that was ...... so..... deliciously......

Saaaaaah..... LLLLLLLLL......Ooooooooo.....Wwwwwah.

It just crept in it at a drunken snail's pace.
I'm talking a good 4 or 5 minutes of serious introductiary grooblication.

After about 30 seconds my mind, who until this time had been wholly in control of the organism,

PANICKED!!!!

My toes were wigglin', my toe hairs were vibratin', my legs were twitching and tossing my helpless feet like rag dolls, my hips were shakin', my breathing grew full and heavy, my heart raced, my throat screamed, my arms flailed, my fingers pulsed, .......

(... you see, when one walks directly into a free-floating pocket of funk, the body becomes infused with the funk and, therefore, funks accordingly.)

In its final desperation my bewildered mind held tightly to my eyes, searching in vain for another dancer. But the crowd was motionless! Totally motionless! "This is a crime!!!!! How can this BE?!?!" Oh, great... so now I also have my Aquarian ideals (and my empathy for these hard-playing groove creators) reeling alongside some uncomfortably placed fears and a bursting body explosion. I was splitting apart and frothing away at the beams, feeling simultaneously joyous, scared, furious, righteous, sexy, thirsty, nervous, intoxicated and powerful.

Finally, it was my heart that broke:

I ran out into crowd sending finger tendrils across the heads and shoulders of audience members. I danced harder and harder and as the horn melody finally came in I began throwing unused chairs out of the way, thrashing wildly about. I was pouring my joy into these people along with the joy in this incredible music and still no one budged.

I kept it up (I had to) and eventually Tom Arabia put down his horn and joined me in absurd celebration. [From nothing comes something comes the myriad things...] Once there was two of us we were joined by a few others and then by a host of newcomers led by Ethan Philbrick who walked into the room (pocket o' funk) already mid-boogie. Soon, we had taken out the first 3 rows and the 12 piece band hand suddenly tripled in size.

After the music stopped I could hardly function, nevermind talk. I just wildly hugged anyone who came into my fuzzy field of vision and tried to thank them. I began to cry, heartbreak rushing out in waves.

I wonder why it is so beautifully painful to be fully alive?


A Quick Dancin' Ditty

Sweet dancin' feet
how I love you so,
If you weren't around
then on my knees I'd go.

I'd dance about the floor
and spin around on a stump,
discover God without legs
like Lieutenant Dan (Forrest Gump).