Thursday, April 21, 2011

My own "dance diary"

A few weeks back, some colleagues and I drove to Tulsa to see a dance show, and one of these colleagues told me she keeps a "dance diary", jotting down the companies and works she sees.  I was terribly impressed by this. 

So I'm going to try it.  Mostly because I've been thinking about some of my travels lately, and I'm wishing I'd kept a diary along the way.  Most of my travel these days involves being transported by music or dance, so here goes!
Since my last post about Compania Nacional de Danza II, I've seen a few other shows, but the one I want to be sure I remember is the one I went to this past Sunday.  It featured the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Del McCoury Band, the former known for their swingin' Nawlins jazz marches, the latter as the granddaddy of bluegrass.  I heard these two groups play together in NYC a year or so ago.  I'd been waiting to see them since then.

They didn't disappoint.  I honestly couldn't tell you what songs they played, other than "I'll Fly Away" and "When the Saints Go Marching In." But they had the whole crowd (except the gentleman to my left who had clearly been dragged by his wife and was nodding off) tapping their toes.  It was such fun to watch the collaboration of two distinctly American music forms coming together, and the musicians were clearly enjoying themselves.  Someone said to me today "I don't think they needed the audience; they were having such fun playing together."  That might be true, but I'm glad we there.

It also helped that I was there with a new friend, who either enjoyed the show or was too polite to tell me otherwise.  :) It was fun to be a part of a crowd that was just having a good time, not thinking too hard, not worrying about much - just enjoying some swingin', trumpet blarin', mandolin pickin' goodness.

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