Twenty Three
What makes us come back to the studio? Al Blackstone writes a detailed list of 23 things He Likes About a Dance Class.
23 Things I Like About a Dance Class
Photo Credit—Daryl Getman for the film Uprooted
The time passes faster and faster as we get older- and yet, the feelings of being in a Dance Class remain the same. Perhaps they even get bigger. Below is a list of the 23 things I like about a dance class made for our Momen&Friends Newspaper back in 2022.
Being nervous at the beginning and then diving into the unknown to come out the other end feeling completely present and alive.
The smell
The heat
Feeling music on my skin
Noticing something special happening on the floor at the same time as someone I don’t know and feeling closer to them for a second
6.- Tiny friendships that become epic over fifteen classes
7.- Hanging out in the hallway. Really ANY hallway where people are stretching
8.- Realizing the teacher is just as unsure as I am
9.- Being unsure together and then feeling really, really CERTAIN
10.- Asking someone, “see you next week?” and them replying, “YES!”
11.- Wearing a new dance outfit and feeling like a million bucks
12.- Wearing an old dance outfit full of memories and old moves and good energy
13.- Taking the elevator with dancers and their giant bags
14.- “Don’t I know you from…”
15.-“Are you friends with…”
16.- “I love watching you…”
17.- Dust bunnies during pigeon pose
18.- Feeling so far away from it and then realizing it’s been there all along.
19.- Being sore
20.- Exhaustion and joy
21.- Voices mixed with music
22.- The sound of rond de jam in socks
23.- Feeling like I’m home.
Dancin’
Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ on Broadway and Why I Love Jazz Dance by Al Blackstone
When Abe and I received a last minute invitation (from our dear friend Ida, wife of DJ Marc!) to the invited dress rehearsal of Dancin’ on Broadway, we STOPPED, DROPPED, AND GOT OUR ASSES TO THE Music Box Theater. I was the second person in line behind a gentleman in his 70’s who of course turned out to be a Broadway veteran and had seen the original production. “Oh I just can’t wait to have all of those memories flood back,” he told me as dancer after dancer, choreographer after choreographer joined the line. The energy was electric before they even opened the doors.
Dancin’ originally opened in 1978 and is described as an “anthology of dance vignettes, using a wide variety of styles, existing songs, and no book, directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse.” I didn’t know much about the original going into it, but of course, I love the work of Fosse. What a shock- a dancer saying they love Fosse is about as original as an actor liking Shakespeare. I think, in some ways, I may have been a little numb to his work when I arrived at the theater. I was really there to support Ida and many friends of ours that were involved in the production. But as we took our seats in the mezzanine, it became very clear that something special was happening; this was a room of people who had sacrificed and struggled and dedicated our lives to moving to music. This was a room full of DANCERS. I looked at the people around me, ranging from age 8 to 88, and felt that this was what I came to New York to be a part of. The lights began to fade, and the roar was… unforgettable.
”this was a room of people who had sacrificed and struggled and dedicated our lives to moving to music. This was a room full of DANCERS”
Since that night, I’ve been very public about my love for Dancin’. Besides reminding me that I am connected to something much bigger than myself, I think the show also showed me why I love jazz dance; it’s appeal, and it’s power. Dance can often feel like the fourth or fifth most important thing in a new musical. The director doesn’t understand dance, the producers don’t appreciate it, and sadly the audiences don’t always know the difference. But this show will remind them. A musical doesn’t need a celebrity or a flying car, or even a STORY to shift the way someone sees the world. Dance can do that. We can do that.
Last week I met with the older gentleman I met in line that night for lunch. He brought me some old photos of him from his dancing days, and he told me what it was like to work with Sondheim, Rogers, Luigi… He asked me about what I do and how I started dancing. We swapped stories; we laughed, we were good friends before the waiter could take our order. Connecting to the past is important, but what Dancin’ has helped me realize is that the past isn’t some imaginary place we can only reach through photographs; it is all around us. It is the dances we do and the rooms we stretch in. We are a part of something, each and every one of us, that will continue way beyond our time on this Earth. What a relief.