Dance Home

We finally make it back to our Monday night dance group, its called  IM JAM, meaning ‘improvisational’ or sometimes ‘conscious’ or 5 Rhythms. If Zumba is dance and exercise then this is dance and meditation. We are welcomed by the DJ and our many dance friends. Songs come and go, some sweet, some pounding. I love that dance here is a way to both let go and to connect. On one pulsing beat I almost throw out my shoulder trying to throw out the cancer within. And I get caught up in the dance, just being present. And I dance a lot with Susan. And then I hear ‘I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today’  and I want to soar but my feet feel stuck in mud, I sit sobbing while many hands touch and hold me. I feel frail, more sad than glad but at home. 

On the first Mondays of the month many of the group gather at the local ale house to socialize. While we explore each other in dance If we didn’t take this social opportunity we might not know anything about some dancers, maybe not even their names. And we would not have the community that has emerged from the dance floor.The dancers are just as interesting off the floor as on it. Vast age ranges from children through, I think, 80+. And there are different dance styles and abilities. Our oldest member, Irv, says we all do our own steps to the same music. And I have the mental model of singing happy birthday. Its not like I can’t hear that one person has a particularly good voice (is that my uncle in the back with a scratchy voice?) but its all being there singing together that makes the birthday celebration.