Rule #44 - Avoid acting your age
Baltimore is one funky town. It’s smaller than New York or
Los Angeles, but has the same neighborhood character. And characters…
Whatever you are looking for, you can find it in B-more.
Back in April, the city experienced a lot of trouble, thanks
to a well-publicized arrest. Buildings burned and the riotous actions of a few
knuckleheads brought back memories of the 1960’s. It was the stuff that the
24-hour news channels – of both persuasions – just chomp on and regurgitate it
every 15 minutes, stuffing it down the throats of viewers who can’t turn away –
the train wreck phenomenon.
Citizens kept claim on the city through the variety of
street festivals in the different neighborhoods. One of the biggest ones each
year is Artscape. For a long weekend, the area around the Baltimore College of
Art and a number of downtown performance venues come alive with art of all
kinds – visual, physical, musical, culinary, and dance. This is a festival always
set for the middle of July, which is always the hottest time of the year.
Of course, I had to be in the middle of it. Please do not
tell me you’re surprised.
Seriously, a good chorus friend told me about an opportunity
to dance in the streets. The group, Dance Baltimore, teaches normal people with
lead feet how to dance, with the idea of doing flash mob dancing around the
area. They have done a variety of flash mobs in the past at Artscape and other
areas. This year the tune chosen was “Uptown Funk”. The choreography took 100%
of the body in movement.
I’m the type of person who has problems walking and chewing
gum. You want me to think, anticipate, AND move my feet, butt, head, arms and
shoulders all at the same time? I used to be able to do this. Nothing like
dusting off major skills out of my cranial RAM!
There were several of us who made it down to the African
American History Museum in Baltimore for a rehearsal/lesson on one
90-degree-plus Sunday. It was so humid we worked up a sweat walking across the
street from the parking garage. Inside, we joined Baltimoreans of all ages,
races, and sizes – and skill levels – to get funky and learn the steps. It took
one hour for us to learn all the step combinations. We signed up to receive the
review video by e-mail. Then we were on our own to practice.
For the next few weeks, we practiced on our own. I don’t
have much room in my office to move easily for dancing. There was no way I
could practice in front of a mirror either, which was probably a blessing in
disguise. If I saw how I looked while dancing, I might have chickened out and
not shown up for the mob dances.
So, at my age, what have I got to lose? Become the butt of
cocktail party jokes? Look ridiculous? Been there, done that. And besides, who
really cares? I am determined to do things and have fun. That’s why you live
long… and prosper. So, I signed up. Those running the program got to know my
face. And I made a commitment to dance at least three times through the
weekend.
Artscape weekend came around with its usual heat and
humidity. After all, it is mid-July in Baltimore. That weekend the sun was
blazing all three days. Our flash mobs were scheduled for mid-to-late
afternoon. The location was partially in the shade, but there was no breeze on
that city street.
On day one, I drove myself into the city and used a parking
garage. I ended up close to the dance site and in charge of when I left. If I
had used the Light Rail, I may have been standing at the station for a good
half hour. Oh no…not in the heat…and especially after dancing up a good sweat.
I located the area where the dancers were to meet and found myself in the
general area of all the ruckus from April. Not to sweat about that, Self.
Wow… there’s a Philadelphia-based Italian water ice stand… I
know where I’m hanging out between dances!
The music started right on time. It was easy to get caught
up in the fun. Now, I don’t know if you could day that I did a good job or not.
I don’t care if I did. But I did get out there and shake what Mom gave me twice
on Saturday and again twice on Sunday afternoon. There were only two of us with
any grey hair showing (maybe more friends of Lady Clairol?) but we both made it
through dancing in the heat. And we all had a blast.
Next year, I’ll try to see more of Artscape. With any luck,
the weather won’t be much of a deterrent to my experiencing the concerts. This
year I missed George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic. I’m going to try
not to miss out on the headliner next year. From the classic cars, to the
street painting, to the roller skating demos, to…everything, I’m going to
participate more in 2016.
The group is also doing flash mob dancing on Halloween to
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. I want to head downtown and learn that dance too,
so Halloween will again be a fun day. It hasn’t been all that fun for about
three years now.
Another goal set. I’ll meet this one too. Just love the
street festivals in the city, don’t you? The next one I’m taking in is the
Greek Festival in November. I’m getting hungry just thinking of it.
