What else would I want to do on New Year’s Eve, but dance?

Silly question. However, some weeks back it became apparent that there wasn’t a New Year’s Eve dance planned for the Guiding Star Grange. Not sure how this happened, an oversight,  I guess because it wasn’t on a weekend and falling under the purview of a regular dance organizer, but this had to be remedied. It certainly wasn’t ok with me. The dance-organizer alchemy went into high gear, starting with Will, who knows the bands and callers. He wasn’t even going to be attending, but he put his time in and made the connections that made it possible for us to have first class musicians and caller. The “Friends” board ok’ed it and the events committee (Liz, Christy and I) got into motion.

There are those who hate to organize things and then there are those who love organizing anything and do it effortlessly. That’s we three.  Granted we tend to have our infrequent meetings at wonderful local cafes over a pleasant meal. We are all high-powered women who figure out what needs to be done and do it. It is easy and fun and we come out, in this case, with a New Year’s Eve dance.

What else would I want to be doing on New Year’s Eve?  Absolutely nothing. There is First Night and parties, concerts, gatherings, but all I want to do is dance. I want to be with my dancing community, losing my mind with delight.

While in the planning stages, I was sitting at Midas Muffler waiting for my car to be repaired and wrote this poem. I was feeling a little shy about reading it at midnight, feeling like the words were simply so obvious as to be overly simplistic, but I think it was well-received.

Dance is my religion.

I come to these hallowed halls for communion.

Music, enter me.

Percussion, pulse through my blood, beat in the marrow of my bones.

The dance steps progress from conscious thought to mindlessness, missteps rolled through with easy laughter.

New dancers, starting with deer-in-the-headlights and death-grip, hit that moment when light comes into their eyes and bodies ease and flow…Hey! This is fun! More! More!

I come to dance with you, to move with you, beyond thought, into breath, eyes slipping half-closed, all I can do is grin, gliding my way into transcendence.

Dance with me.

Greet the new year with breath and flow, with peace.

Dance with me. Just dance.

Dance is my religion.