I want to share with you today my memories of dance. It must have happened when I was an infant watching my parents dance. No, I don’t remember seeing my parents dance, but I can just imagine how beautiful the moment must appear to a child. For the first time, the child is witnessing the movement of limbs and hips in harmony with the beat of the music.
As older children, my brothers and I would play for most of the day in front of our apartment building, but sometimes my mother would gather us in the house with our friends and turn on her record player. The song that comes to mind in memory is “Car Wash” by the R&B group, Rose Royce. I remember we would all take turns dancing in the middle of the circle. When my turn came up, I would close my eyes and just allow my body to flow with the rhythm of the music. I remember the exhilarating feeling and laughing as my mother cheered me on, "Go head Stevie!" The moment left an indelible impression on my mind. It influenced how I interpret movement and music. It helped me to understand the marriage between the two and the beauty that it can impress upon a child's mind. "Happy music! Music on my mind..." ~The Blackbyrds
Painting: William H. Johnson Jitterbugs Series ca. 1941
As older children, my brothers and I would play for most of the day in front of our apartment building, but sometimes my mother would gather us in the house with our friends and turn on her record player. The song that comes to mind in memory is “Car Wash” by the R&B group, Rose Royce. I remember we would all take turns dancing in the middle of the circle. When my turn came up, I would close my eyes and just allow my body to flow with the rhythm of the music. I remember the exhilarating feeling and laughing as my mother cheered me on, "Go head Stevie!" The moment left an indelible impression on my mind. It influenced how I interpret movement and music. It helped me to understand the marriage between the two and the beauty that it can impress upon a child's mind. "Happy music! Music on my mind..." ~The BlackbyrdsPainting: William H. Johnson Jitterbugs Series ca. 1941
