shoes off, game on
Life coach Laurance Price delights in outdoor dance.
Words by Laurance Price
Liftoff — The author finds levity on a grassy dance floor. (Photo: Lucy P. Dickinson)
My kids are the first to tell me that my dance habit is embarrassing. A bald, old(er), white guy flailing and jiving barefoot in the park, come rain or shine, with a resplendent cohort of latter day Woodstock groovers who move like the wind. “Thanks for the offer but no, Dad, probably not. Ever,” is the response of my teenage daughters.
Soul Motion, 5Rhythms and Ecstatic Dance occupy studios and dance halls in non-COVID times. But Corona has moved dance tribes outdoors. And the best way of describing the type of dance I share with renegade groups of joyful revelers around Kitsap parks is nameless and shameless freestyle with lots of heart and laughter. The bluetooth speakers get spaced in a circle. Shoes and socks come off. The designated DJ drops a playlist and off we go.
The stoic Heraclitus was spot-on when he said “man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.” In one park, the mature fragrant cedars have branches spaced by design for the maladroit at climbing. Perfect. We are on it. In another, the grassy slope gets a-rolling. Remember when you rolled down grassy slopes, dizzy and delighted, dashing up again to repeat? This is playtime.
I like to blame COVID for my lugubrious dating life. Though in truth, it was pretty bleak even before we all holed up. My search for a date was really a deep desire for connection and human touch. I mean, when you are alone and literally out of touch and it crosses your mind to offer a long hug to the groceries bagger for all he is doing for you, there is something missing in your humanoid wonder machine.
So this is where I discovered another of the incredible gifts of dance communities. It is a safe space. We come to dance, to flow with the music, to celebrate earth and sky, to offer hugs and to connect. Even if we don’t know one another’s names.
One more thing. Did you know that the average American adult has not made a new friend in five years. Crazy, and yes, I know you are not average. Still, what is keeping us apart? No mystery here. I work from home. Earbuds at the gym. Don’t go to pubs. And Facebook is just that: a book of faces.
So imagine my delight. In the last eight months of outdoor dance, I have a pod of new friends. People I love and meet each week, dance with and climb trees. OK, so my kids are not convinced, and you may still be pirouetting on the fence. But should you want to get out of your head and into your body, no matter the weather, you could join us.
Laurance Price is a life coach with a passion for barefoot dancing. He lives on a farm with his family in Poulsbo. You can reach him and follow his blog at laurancecoachesme.com.
