Current mood: pensive
The beat of the drum carried through space and time awakening a feeling of deja vu. The spirit-body connection, once thought severed, was momentarily reconnected. The intensity of the drums mirrored the intensity of feeling I seek in life’s experiences. For a moment, it seemed as if my senses were instinctively responding to an experience as old as time. What was this? Dance Brazil…
Yesterday morning before heading to church, I saw an ad for Dance Brazil’s performance schedule in Saint Louis. The run dates were February 23-25 (in other words, yesterday’s performance was the last one). I decided that if I could make it happen after I left church then I would go, although the performance began at 2pm and I had no idea where the theater was located. I was still divided as to whether or not I would go once I left church so I went to the grocery store and one other store before going home. I arrived at home around 1pm, called the box office and found there were maybe three seats still left. I quickly changed clothes and made a mad dash over to the theater where the performance was staged. With ten minutes to spare, I made it to the box office and bought the ticket for the last seat (using my student ID for a discount – yay).
I’m glad I put forth the effort. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Generally when I’ve watched a dance performance, I’ve been somewhat bored with the controlled motion that I’ve seen. Of course, it is that same controlled focus that separates the professional dancer from an amateur flailer such as me. However, with other performances it never seemed as if there were much spirit or passion in the dancing. I now think that may be attributed to the music. This performance was different because the music was different. I wasn’t a passive member of the audience, I could actually feel it. I could hear the deep throbbing bass of the drums and I felt as if my body were connected to the earth by its insistent repetition. I’m not a person who is generally grounded in my body so that says something for the intensity of the drums. However, it wasn’t just the drums that provided the soundtrack for the performance. There were various traditional instruments that rounded out the beat of the drums to provide a lush soundscape. With that as a backdrop, the dancers performed moves that were an amalgamation of traditional African dance moves, capoeira and samba. I saw muscles and body parts move in rhythm and with amazing ease, especially while performing the capoeira inspired moves.
As I later contemplated the performance, I felt like an amnesiac distant cousin of Africans. They can see us and recognize us as family, although we are unable to connect to those kindred feelings because of the years spent here with our identities erased. Africa is on my list of places to visit and my ex-husband recently extended an offer to visit one country. Depending on my situation at the time he goes, I will take him up on his offer. Maybe I’ll come back with a little more African in my “African-American”…