I’ve always known the Power of Dance.
It’s something you can literally feel after every single class.
A weight lifted. Your mood shifted.
An otherwise inexplicable feeling of happiness, calm, confidence and self-love.
It feels like a hug for your soul. Especially when surrounded by a group of people, dancing together.
Well, a few months back, the Power of Dance showed up in a new-to-me way.
A way that touched me so deeply for weeks. And still makes me smile thinking back.
It was a beautiful Wednesday evening in mid-July. And it was 80’s day. So we are all looking some sort of way LOL.
I get to the beach to set up for class and there was a large (20+ people) family having dinner. I’m not sure if they were Indian, or Muslim, but definitely of middle eastern descent as visible by their clothing. I wonder what they thought about ours – HA!
A couple of the girls appeased us and took our group picture. And we began dancing. They watched, curious.
A couple of the younger girls stood in the back and joined in a bit.
Towards the end of class, one of the older women of the group came up to me in-between songs and asked how much longer, that they too wanted to play music.
It was very respectful, honestly. I quickly wrapped up our class and began picking up.
And as I began picking up, their music started playing. They started chanting. It was pretty fabulous. It reminded me as a kid when I would see the Native Americans do their performance at the NYS fair. A small glimpse into a new culture, a world so different from my own. Yet much the same.
I was visibly intrigued. I couldn’t help but start dancing. I grabbed Kayla’s arm and tried to drag her over to join them with me. The young girl who took our picture and danced with us walked up and invited us to join her family in their dance. And we did. Our entire group of (15?) joined hands and just danced. We didn’t know the moves or the beat or the rhythm. But we knew so much more. The Power of Dance. To bring smiles, and joy and love. The power to unite. To celebrate. To live as one. To forget what we are taught about one other and just be. Be community. Be love.
Cultural differences, religious differences. None of that mattered. What mattered was the love for dance, the power it has to radically accept others. No matter what.
I’ve seen a lot of things at our beach classes over the years….
But never would I have thought that our 80’s day would turn into a communal ethic dance celebration.
And a reminder of what truly matters. Love and kindness above all else. And the Power of Dance.