The Simple Act of Dancing

Our spot on the water was incredible, with the breeze blowing steadily across the bay. As I breathed it in, I thought, Oh, how I have NEEDED this! I made it through the school year (plus two weeks of summer camp, one left to go), and I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Or in this case, the Maryland Bay Bridge. 

As one band was packing up, the next beginning to set up, we ordered some drinks. From the online reviews, their fish tacos were excellent, so we ordered those, too. I didn't particularly care for the ordering process - scan the QR code and order from your phone. A reminder that Covid times are still with us, and I'd done it enough times that I was accustomed to it, but I still preferred face-to-face interactions with the servers. 

Oh well, I thought, as I took in my surroundings. Nothing but a thing. 

As I looked around at the people, most seemed to be around our age or older. Still casual, but more nicely dressed than at the tiki bar where we normally hung out. As the band began to warm up, Mike went to the bar to pick-up our order. I ended up having a conversation with another couple and introduced them to Mike when he returned with our drinks and tacos. They were locals, and as the night went on, I realized quite a few of the people at this bar were. The tacos, by the way, were NOT excellent. They were just okay. But the drinks were good.

At some point, the band began to play, and while I'm sure the ambience played a role, I realized they sounded really, really good. The all-male band played mostly 80s music, with some 90s, and a few earlier generation songs mixed in, as well. As I sat and listened, my body intuitively moved to the rhythm of the music. I was surprised there was no one on the dance floor. At the tiki bar, there were always people on the dance floor, whether the music was good or not, and I don't remember which song it was that made me get up off my bar stool, but suddenly (in the words of Billy Idol) I was out there "dancing with myself". I was hoping that others would be inspired to join me, but for the first few minutes, it was just me.

At first I didn't care. Whether it was the alcohol or the atmosphere (that constant breeze felt a-MA-zing), I felt so free and uninhibited, like I hadn't felt in some time. I saw other people dancing in their seats, something holding them back from placing their feet on the ground and walking them toward the floor, but I began to encourage them, waving my hands and even reaching out to help them along.  Part of me was like, who IS this person? But then I recognized her. I just hadn't seen her in a while. Soon enough, I encouraged one person to come out and dance, and then another, and another. It was mostly women. And, before I knew it, we had a sisterhood of arms, hands, and hips moving freely; expressions of joy and happiness on our faces - the only forms of communication necessary. 

Until women started talking to me. Not just talking, but they began sharing their stories. 

One woman said she always wants to dance, but never feels the courage to get out there and do it. Another woman was getting over a divorce, and it was really difficult for her to force herself to come out that night. One lady appeared to be not much older than I, and in good physical condition, until I saw her prop her cane up against her chair, leaving it behind. "I can come out and have one good dance," she said. Wow! Another woman thought I was one of the band's groupies, as if that explained my motive. "Ha, ha!" I laughed. "I've never heard this band before." And my favorite story of the night was a woman my age, who introduced me to her 75 year-old mom, who was this tiny little woman with a sparkle in her eyes, and the dance moves of someone half her age. She looked me in the eyes, grabbed both of my hands, and squeezed them tight. Her daughter said, "Isn't she amazing? If you can believe it, her boyfriend of seven years just broke up with her. This is exactly what she needed". Again, wow. And, soon after that, I bumped shoulders with an LGBTQIA couple. We briefly danced together, and for some reason I felt inspired to introduce myself. "Oh, I know who you are," one of them said. And raising their arms up in the air, they said, "You did all this." 

What??? WOW!

This feeling was incredible, but I was a little taken back. What exactly did I do? 

And, as I'm reading all of this now, it almost seems made up - a fictional story with characters that almost sound too predictable and unbelievable at the same time. 

As I sat down with Mike to take a breather, I observed the dancing from afar, and tried to take-in the last thirty (or so) minutes. All of those wonderful people out there - how much I had needed to let loose, and how amazing it felt to be part of this experience. And I realized it was simple, really, as the best things often are. All of us out there, we needed to dance, but something was holding us back - our fears, our inhibitions, our anxieties, our . . . whatevers. And, any one of us could have been the first one out there. Or, maybe not. Maybe that night it NEEDED to be me. But again, whatever, right? Whomever. It just takes one person. And, while it was just a night of dancing, it is a month later, and just like that rehabilitating breeze that consumed me, I am still remembering, thinking about, and smiling about those people. I could relate to a lot of their stories, and boy could I have shared some stories with them, but it was nice to just listen. But mostly, to just DANCE.