The Dance
I have been flying over the Planet Earth lately, using my mouse to zoom down into steppes of Siberia; to traverse the highest mountain peaks of the Appalachians; to follow the great rivers to their sources, noting major cities and nameless villages built along them--the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges. I cannot see the people there. I can know something of who they must be by seeing the topography of the land that shapes them. But I could know their heart if I could hear their music, and feel their dance. There is not a civilization yet that has not been moved by music--to sing, to cry, to dance. It is truly mankind's common language.
And so, being a spectator at the Friday Night Jamboree is more than a simple diversion or a voyeuristic peek at the peculiarities of a mountain community. It is more like communion--a sharing of a much larger celebration of life that, even in this sad and distressed world, is happening across the planet under thatched roofs and on sandy riverbanks; in opulent ballrooms and on livingroom rugs. The world sings, the world dances.
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Fragments Web Galleries of music and dance: Jamboree; Winefest 1; Winefest 2
Comments
Ah...I detect palpable longing...you really should hitch up the ole backpack and hit the trail Fred. Grab Ann and/or Nate and go experience a few of the exotic climes on your screen...dance to difference music...have an adventure or two...before you're too decrepit.
Which segues into my response to your posting and recollections of music once danced to long ago. Our rear neighbors had their roof re-shingled earlier this week. The crew was either highland Vietnamese or Thai. Not speaking either language but having lived in both cultures 30 years ago, my ear easily recalled the melodic lilt of Southeast Asian highland speech. The two slightly-built middle-aged men and two teens deftly skimmed over the roof like birds...but the best was a softly sung work song or perhaps an epic poem, much as Aegeans might have recited The Illiad, each man adding or reciting a verse in rounds...it was absolutely beautiful. I have never seen a roofing crew work so fast or quietly (no power tools)...dropping nothing, leaving no trace of their presence other than an enchanted neighbor and a newly shingled roof.
The worst fate of all is not to die poor having spent your money on adventures; but with regrets for not having done so. As D.H. Lawrence said "I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets"
Posted by: BJ | July 30, 2005 3:45 PM
At a public library event last year, Janisse Ray read a fantastic passage about attending a local contra dance where young & old were mingling on the dance floor, their motions a tangible sign of community & connection. I don't know if it was a passage from her latest book *Pinhook* or if it was a shorter unpublished piece...but that image of swirling bodies was a breathtaking metaphor for the together-ness of the human race.
Posted by: Lorianne | July 30, 2005 8:40 PM
Flickr has a bunch of people who are tagging different parts of the world with their photos of the places. I don't know much about it, but my guess is that you can see the people you are talking about in these photos.
Posted by: trish | July 31, 2005 6:24 PM