Kickin' It

Woah. To think I actually declined to go to the Breakdancing Competition with Tasha. I mean, I actually said, no, I'm too tired. Thank god she was contagiously enthusiastic and Peaches questioned me up and down about not going. It was jaw-dropping. We couldn't take our eyes off the dancers. You try looking away from someone spinning on their head. OK, and then imagine you DO tear your eyes away, and they land on someone else spinning on their head. And then you look in yet a third direction, and a six-year-old, using only his shoulders for momentum, is keeping perfect time with the music from the floor, where he is dancing on his back, then head, then knee, whatever, faster than you can blink.

I love Fort Point Channel, a desolate wasteland of urban Boston that reminds me dearly of my hometown. We drove down abandoned streets until we arrived at the beautiful Artists for Humanity space, a renovated warehouse, echoing with the beats of spinning DJs, vinyl synched and ready to roll. "Can they really be breakdancing 8 hours a day for two days in a row?" we giggled, as we drove there. Um, yep. They were tireless. And tirelessly positive, too. The energy in that place, and the ethos, was very special. Possibly the most racially diverse crowd I've mingled with in some time---I mean, incredibly diverse in every sense of the word---and decked out in playful, eccentric fashion, these very fit people clearly prioritized individuality, creativity, attitude and intelligence. And I don't mean to gush, gush, gush, but they also laughed at themselves, a lot. And they hugged each other, a lot. And they spoke up for women dancers. Everyone was encouraged. Everyone was encouraged. A baby in a big old diaper, who could barely walk, breakdanced adorably in front of Tasha and I, nearly killing both of us with adorableness. "How do you learn to do this?" we kept asking each other. The baby was just, well, doing it. Diapered bum up in the air...diapered bum down on the ground. To the beat.

However you learn to be so strong, to embrace musicality, to keep quick wit, encourage others, and to show off attitude while not taking yourself so seriously, that's definitely what I want to teach my kid. Artists for Humanity seemed to have room for team players and for individualists, both; they seemed to have room for all kinds of races and all genders and expressions. It was pretty incredible. Great, great music, too.

Now, if only I could breakdance!