Dancing on the Sticky Pan

Attending a dance recital last weekend, I see lots of teeny talent. One highlight of the evening is the little "Strawberries." This is a hot little dancing team of girls all dressed up with little red and white dresses. They are topped off with fluffy green bows in their hair. They are all about three and four-years-old and look like a team of princesses.

Where I live, we are not supposed to be able to hip hop. Even the people on Saturday Night Live make fun of Connecticut people because we walk with tight butts. They do the Connecticut tight butt strut all the time. The new generation is coming and some of them are starting to get a little more unstuck than the rest of us. These little Strawberries could very well represent the new generation of Connecticut dancers. For now, they get mixed messages of "pop" from television and "stick" from the rest of us tight walkers.

The beautiful Strawberries swarm on stage popping and sticking, sticking and popping, popping on time, sticking here. None of them ever manage to pop or stick at the same time as any others. Many of them go on with the dance, some look at the back wall for awhile pondering vast possibilities, another one says hello to people in the audience. Some look off stage to see if they forgot something. Others are amazed by the audience. One or two little girlie Einsteins go on with their dances remembering the whole routine but not together exactly. Some of the others watch them and follow now and then, or generally follow a beat or two late... unless suddenly distracted. In the whole routine, none of them actually pop or stick at the same time as any others. It is all so natural looking as though it is not a dance at all. They actually reflect complete randomness as a dance team. It is so very beautiful and we all applaud generously as they pop and stick off the stage in some sort of a "rowish" formation.

As I watch all this going on, I realize that in some way they agree to dance to the best of their understanding at this time. They are only three, and if you ask them how they agree to dance, or even how they came to dance that one day, they could probably not give a good answer. Perhaps some of them dance when they hear music and Mom or Dad thinks it is nice to receive training in the classics of dance and music. It is a learning experience. One or two of them exclaim they want to dance seeing something momentarily exciting and sign up. This is done through their parents desire for their education, grace and elegance. Some of them most likely never notice a dance and someone drives them to class one day and they find themselves suddenly under instruction. It seems like a good idea. They not only agree to dance by not throwing themselves on the floor screaming and demanding out, they also agree to dance on stage in front of an audience. No one actually askes them if they will dance on stage in front of people, but when you learn to dance this task is implied. Dancers generally do this. There they are, dancing onstage for us with their beautifully random technique. They are a team and yet they are individuals popping like corn and sticking like strawberry sticky pans.

Life is like that. One day, you are dropped off, another day pushed out into the world, and there you are. As far as you can remember, you showed up. You don't even think about why. There you are in the world. You probably start off by screaming and crying one of the first days out of that watery, warm room, but if you are reading this, you remain in the class. Here you are. You dance your perfectly random dance. One day, just like these little dancing Strawberries will someday, you realize just how you agree to come to the show and why. Greater realizations inform you of how you agree and what coming to the show entails exactly... now that you are a little more mature and can see more clearly in some ways.

I realize now that I will leave this place one day with so much more than what I arrive with, including another costume under my "belt." I will dance my dance and hear the music and understand more about why I came here, and what it is I agree to do as sometimes I stick, and other times I manage to pop.