Joyful Dance
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow. ~ NRSV
It all started with pickleball. As I stood on the sideline, waiting my turn, I met a lovely woman who asked me if I’d played before. I replied that I hadn’t played for a couple of years because of a knee injury. But since we’ve moved into our new place, I hear people playing, and the sound of the racket hitting the ball makes me (almost) salivate. I love the rhythm and flow of the game. Several days of playing later, I got an email from the woman I had spoken with, inviting me to join a group of women who would be the welcoming act for the first play of the season in February. Twelve dancers, dubbed the Golden Gliders, will tap dance with walkers to Earth, Wind, and Fire’s Boogie Wonderland. Our choreographer/director is young enough to be my granddaughter.
I love music and movement, and moments of solitude when I dance unselfconsciously. But I have a nagging fifth-grade memory of a group of peers making fun of the way I danced. I felt embarrassed and ashamed. My first two thoughts this time around were, “I’ll make a fool of myself,” and “This might be fun.”
Listening to the latter thought, I made my way to the rehearsal room for our first rehearsal. It was challenging to dance with a walker, tap-tap-tapping away, trying to follow the choreographer, and making sure I didn’t run into anyone. It was also fun being among other women, most of whom had no clue, just like me. Perhaps, instead of feeling limited by age or ability or experience, we will rejoice, we will be merry (probably hysterically so). It just might be what we need, mourning turned into joy and sorrow into gladness.
We could all use a dose of that right now. ~ Anne
Wayfinding 