Club Dancing

This is a slight departure for this blog: I tend to write in direct relation to "guerrilla dancing," or rather, the times when I say "Now I'm going to dance as part of my project!!"

yet, last night something stuck out to me like a sore thumb. I took a trip to a local bar of downtown Columbus to dance with some friends of mine. While we were there doing our thing on the dance floor amidst the bumping, grinding, and awkward shifting of feet most displayed, one person stood out. There was this really short (5 footish), slightly husky, spectacled, semi-attractive guy dancing his heart out...all by himself. On a dance floor where almost everyone is either with a group, dancing with a partner, or if alone is on the side looking for another to dance with, this guy was truly outside of what seemed to be that dance floor's norm. For quite some time though, he just kept going, as if it was the last night he'd ever be able to dance again. It wasn't as if he was dancing - "like no one was watching" - but instead as if he was completely aware of his surroundings, and was simply unaffected: he wanted to dance, his way, and so he did.

Within 15-20 minutes after he began dancing, girls started to approach him. First it was just one, then another, and soon a space had been cleared, he was surrounded by a crowd, and several girls took their turn (sometimes two at a time) to dance with him. Even then, while he did seem to be enjoying himself, his face showed no sign of "yeah! look at how many girls I'm getting, and everyone is watching me!" instead his expression stayed in a place of somewhat of a solemn, internal focus. In a place where just about everyone followed a set of rules, rules that depended on others in just about every case, the one person who was gathering the most amount of positive attention was the one who had little to no dependency on the thoughts, support, or perspective of others - even when he was flooded with all those "power in numbers" social supports. He was never tempted to let it affect him; nothing seemed important except for that moment in which he was doing what he enjoyed; and this continued to be true when the crowd had dissipated and he was back to soloing again.

interesting

Blind Man

A blind man asked us to dance today. It hit me as a monumental happening. I feel like there are about 50 million potent meanings (probably related to my documentary) that I could find within that event. But what could they be?

My initial thought is simply the fact that most people are going to pay attention to a blind man attempting to dance, and that there is a potential for embarrassment. Why would he decide to be involved then? Especially when he is perfectly aware (he said as much) that he doesn't know how to dance - he wanted to be taught.

It all makes me wonder if he simply doesn't realize the social implications of a blind person attempting to dance, an act - while mainly kinesthetic - is largely learned via the visual sense. It seems obvious to me that everyone will be looking at him...but maybe that's the point. He probably, as someone who did not grow up seeing, has little to no concept of others looking at him, and him (as a result) getting embarrassed. It probably does not cross his mind in the same way as one who can see.

But he must have some concept of others awareness of him. I wonder what makes him embarrassed then. Especially because I usually feel embarrassment when I feel others' eyes on me. I am so interested in talking to him, and knowing why he finds such an interest in dancing, and if the thought of embarrassment even crossed his mind. Simply because, well, most people I talk to don't want to join the dancing simply because of fear of embarrassment.