"Let's twist again, like we did last summer!"
The dance floor was always occupied during the Big Shebang (the Reunion) back in June. Happy feet! Swaying to the music! Tripping the light fantastic! Dance, dance, dance! The music we hear often finds its way to our feet. I have always loved to dance. My parents were wonderful dancers (great jitterbuggers). And in this day, Kathi and I enjoy going out to dance when we make the time. Good music just seems to get the toes to tappin'. Once the toes start tappin', I just want to dance.
Certainly an early influence was Miss Bobbie's School of Dance. My mother enrolled me in dance class at the age of four or five (memory lapse) and I took lessons until age thirteen. I guess Junior High School got in the way and most of the boys left dancing class before then. I was one of the last holdouts along with George Mark Walden who was a really good tap dancer. Of course the classes were held in the studio at David Sibley's house since his mother was the teacher. I recently discovered some pictures of my sister, Lana, and me in full dress for a dance recital and I still have in my possession the green and white striped jacket I wore during that recital about the age of eight.
Just this week Mary Wynne Parker sent me a photocopy of a picture of the two of us dressed to the nines before a Christmas dance. It must have been 6th grade. Boy, was she pretty (as she still is). "Slow dancin', sweet romancin'." (Boz Scaggs) These pictures sparked my memory. Growing up, many of our parties were centered around dancing. I remember "winning" a twist contest at a birthday party for Linda Grady at her house when we were about ten years old. The "twist" was a new craze as Chubby Checker and Sam Cooke were hitting the charts with "twist" theme songs. I also remember watching American Bandstand religiously on Saturdays trying to pick up a new step or two. Later it was Soul Train that I followed especially when the the Motown sound hit the airwaves.
After "picking up" something new, I couldn't wait til the next dance to try it out. Those dances at "the Hut", the First Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, the old Armory, or the Country Club were loads of fun. But other than the "slow dances," we danced alone in the shadow of our partner unlike the times of our parents. Every once in a while I would go watch my parents "cut a rug" at the Silver Moon. Today I am trying to improve my swing dancing, jitterbugging, fox trotting, and waltzing that are resurging in popularity. The days of the twist, the pony, the mashed potatoes, the jerk, and the alligator are waning. But I still love the music! Close your eyes and listen for the sounds of the Empty Room, the Seven Wonders, the Mystic Blues, and the Know Body Else.
I received a message from Cherry Lou this week informing me that her daughter Whitney reached the age of 21 and they were off to the casino in Tunica (Shame, shame!). She mentioned just how quickly time has fast forwarded from the days that Stacey (her 19 year old) and Evelyn (my 19 year old) were taking dance lessons as preschoolers in the eighties from Linda Fann Kent (Class of '69) and Nancy Albright Nicholson (Class of '75?). I can still see them with their rouge colored cheeks, smartly coiffed hair, and sparkling costumes as they got ready for recital. Such memories take me even further back to the times when our classmates and I were preparing for a similar experience in our lives in the fifties. The common bond of dancing to the music brings a big smile to my face. Whether performing on stage in a recital at the high school auditorium or "kicking up our heels" at the Legion Hut, we were dancing through life together.
These memories of "going to the hop" brought back the faces of George Mark Walden and Linda Grady, two classmates who spent much time with us, but who did not walk from Remmel Park with us in the spring of 1970. Where are they now? Does anyone know? What about others - Steele Minton, Susie Babb, Billy Duckworth, David Heasley? Well, we can pursue their whereabouts in the days ahead. If you know how to get in touch with them, invite them to dance along with us in the Miles' Files. There is a popular country song by Lee Ann Womack entitled "I Hope You Dance" that speaks to my very existence on this earth. I will leave you with the words:
I hope you never lose your sense of wonderYou get your fill to eatBut always keep that hungerMay you never take a single breath for grantedGod forbid love ever leave you empty handedI hope you still feel smallWhen you stand by the oceanWhenever one door closes, I hope one more opensPromise me you'll give fate a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or danceI hope you danceI hope you dance
I hope you never fear those mountains in the distanceNever settle for the path of least resistanceLiving might mean taking chancesBut they're worth takingLovin' might be a mistakeBut it's worth makingDon't let some hell bent heartLeave you bitterWhen you come close to selling outReconsiderGive the heavens aboveMore than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or danceI hope you dance
Time is a real and constant motionAlways rolling us alongTell me who wants to look back on their youth and wonderWhere those years have gone
And when you get the choice to sit it out or danceDance
The spirit of living is in the dancing. The joys of our youth are in the dancing. The vivid memories we now hold dear are from the dancing. Put aside those thoughts of "sitting this one out" and dance. Life is too short to be a wallflower. The fun is on the dance floor. Don't forget our class prayer time tonight and each Sunday at 7:00pm CDT. Somebody needs you. Ask them to dance!
I'm still Miles From Nowhere ... dancin'
joe
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