The urge to dance...

I was at Westfest this past weekend and found myself noticing people's bodies. More specifically, how their bodies (and mine) spontaneously move in response to music. Same music, yet different movements.

On Saturday night, a couple of hundred rain-soaked heads bopped to the sounds of Skydiggers & Cash Brothers. All bopping, but not always to the same beat. Some people double-bopped, others up-and-down bopped, while some side-to-side bopped... and then of course there were a few who stood freakishly still.

Then on Sunday morning, I listened to two local kids playing rock (electric guitar & drums) and watched a little girl in the audience, surely no more than two, dancing with complete abandon. No matter how heavy the music got, she found her beat and danced. Full body, moving primarily in rythmic circles.

I was reminded of the primal power of music and its intimate connection with our bodies. In so many cultures, this relationship remains spontaneous and natural. Not so in our uptight western world. We seem to have relegated dance and free movement to our dance clubs & studios. It's why we look twice at the free spirit who allows his or her body to fully embrace the music. Am I looking with disdain? Or with envy... Oh! to be an adult who can watch a 2-year old girl dance, and see in her a teacher.

PAX,