Elle’s Journey

I was off to taste a bit of the Big City (New York) the night before New Year’s Eve. Though Times Square was tempting, I decided warm company, music, and a drink sounded far preferable to freezing cold, rainy weather, security checkpoints and 75,000 people crushed into 2 city blocks. So I found myself listening to the most outrageous Brazilian dance music and dancing the night away til 5 am to celebrate New Years. Jeesh that felt good, so very good!

Day after day it was another set of amazing adventures. Sometimes what I did was the adventure. But mostly, it was about the people I met and the stories that were created in the moment. Just to share a few snippets:

1st – There was Paul who just returned from China after studying Chinese medicine for the past 11 years. I met he and his brother and friends dancing to the Brazilian music New Year’s Eve. His work in body-mind healing modalities from the Eastern perspective is awesome and is preparing him to research and work on healing AIDS. But not only that, Paul is a native Long Islander, so I learned to pronounce New York names with a Long Island accent. That was much fun and laughter.

2nd – There’s the two gentleman sitting at the end of the bar where I was going to eat dinner one night. They were wearing lovely hand knitted sweaters, sipping their cocktails and knitting away at the first two seats of the Fish Restaurant of Restaurant Alley in Hell’s Kitchen. One of the gentleman Chris is currently working on his commissioned Broadway musical called “In High Heels and Backwards”. It’s all about the lovely Ginger Rogers. Now there’s a lady I’ve related to for years with my Ballroom dancing. So the saying goes, “Why was Ginger so much better than Fred Astaire?” Reply, “Because she did it all in high heels and backwards, of course!”

3rd – There’s Frankie Manning, the icon of the late 1920’s swing dance scene in Harlem’s Cotton Club, Savoy Swing Club and the films of 20’s dancing. Even closing in on 90 y.o. and 2 hip replacement surgeries that man can DANCE! Frankie bought me a glass of wine at his regular Monday night hangout and we sat and chatted about our mutual Seattle dance acquaintances and how they’re all doing. But when the 17 piece brass jazz band kicked in, all we could do was kick up our heels. All evening long those gentleman had me huffing and puffing. And the average age of the men I was Swinging with was around 74! Ahhh, how I wish all men understood what a gift it is to know how to dance and take a lady out on the floor and enjoy an evening of dancing and live music. I consider it the perfect combination of entertainment, exercise, and ecstasy. The world truly would be a better place if we all danced!

Cousins Molly and Scott with sons Tim and Jonathan were wonderful hosts and put up well with my energetic self, seeing every corner of New York I possibly could while I was there. And through it all, the people, the noise, the big-ness of the Big City, I fell totally in love with her. New York, you will always have a special place in my heart. There truly is nothing in the world like you!