Well. I am here to report that there was dancing at the Baptist Assembly at Eagle Eyrie outside Lynchburg last evening. Lots of dancing. By lots of people.
Actually, it was more like liturgical dancing (or as some Baptists call it, "enhanced liturgical movement") than doing the Hustle. About 300 of us at Music Camp gathered in the auditorium to learn the moves for the "Resurrection Sunday Dance," first done in Budapest, Hungary in 2010. (Here's a link to a video of that dance--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dSIL358NM.) It's a flash mob style event, and we will tape it when we do it on the parking lot Thursday evening. Our version will be cut into a video of groups from all around Virginia and shown at the October meeting of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board in Richmond. I'm at the end of row 10 but don't expect any expert moves from this dancing Baptist. Although I did have dance lessons once.
They were offered by my elementary school as part of their general effort to civilize us. We met after school in the cafeteria, I think in sixth grade, contributed our quarters for the lesson and watched the steps demonstrated by a nice young woman who would have been fascinating to watch if any of the boys had any interest in women at all, which we didn't. Then we practiced the fox trot or cha cha or mambo or meringue with girls in the class (reluctantly). I did become a pretty good dancer after a while although those skills have faded.
Once memorable lesson our teacher brought with her a slim young man with a dark mustache. I think they did a demonstration of the tango which I thought was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. I still would like to learn to tango, but I don't think we'll be doing that at the Baptist Assembly any time soon.
Followups: Yesterday was shopping day so we went over to River Ridge Mall outside Lynchburg. I took my broken glasses to the Sears optical department there and an incredibly nice woman fixed them in two minutes and didn't charge me a thing! A happy ending. In other news relating to what to pack, the AAA battery in the cordless mouse for the notebook went out, leaving us at the mercy of the diabolical touch pad. Something else to remember to pack: spare batteries.
We Presbyterians actually had tango lessons as an item in our silent auction last spring..I could put you in touch. Hmm..Presbyterians and Baptists doing the tango..what a mental picture..
ReplyDeleteDan, I don't know if this is good or bad, but I was interested in women, at least girls, when I was in 6th grade, I must confess.
ReplyDelete@Mary...a difference in denominations. And Presbyterians and Baptists doing the tango makes me smile. I always wanted to learn the tango!
ReplyDelete@Brad--I was a late bloomer, apparently and didn't care for girls until I was in eighth grade.
Thanks for reading and commenting!