Joyanna Adams

The Lost Art of…Dancing

Nobody Wonders

Remember when America and the world danced? Together? All the time?

Not only was it GREAT exercise, it was fun. I spent half my adult life, DANCING. Really. It was my favorite thing to do.

My parents met on a boat in St. Louis, on the river Mississippi, on a boat called the Admiral. Swing, jitterbug, and the Jersey Bounce were all the rage. WWII…Benny Goodman. Gene Krupa. The Sailors would come home and be glad to be alive, and to dance.

The story goes, my father asked my mother to dance, and they cleared the floor. First time. My dad had “rubber legs” and was a great leader. He won dance contests while on shore leave in Hawaii during the war. He had the most beautiful smile and he smiled all the time he was bouncing high in a kick over my mother’s head.

That dance brought about a son and a daughter who got dancing lessons from the time they were young, and my brother and I were a hit at the Boom Boom room in Miami Beach, where we took lessons from Diego and Divita. We performed for shows, all throughout our youth.

Later on, we were teachers at Arthur Murry’s.

I was…a dancer. I never stopped dancing even though my brother and I quit as a team when I was 18. It was the 60s and ballroom dancing was considered ‘square.’

But it made me a good drummer. Sadly, my husband can’t dance, so it’s been years for me.

As I watch this video I wonder…do the kids dance anymore at all? Are there even places for the kids to go to dance? Have the cities and gun violence shut down all clubs?

During the wars, and the depression, music and dance kept everyone’s spirits up. What happened to those wonderful times?

And I can’t help but wonder, is it a sign of the end, when the people…don’t dance anymore WITH EACH OTHER? Locking us up inside for years, will make everyone even more unhealthy.

It’s 2022. We can watch them dance on TV, On video’s, but only the stars. And I haven’t been to a ‘club’ for years. So, anybody want to fill me in?

Do the kids DANCE anymore at all?

Or has that pleasure been erased for all time?

Nobody Wonders. I don’t know anybody that dances anymore except my brother.

He STILL gives dancing lessons in his basement.

So, enjoy the tape, and wonder like me…what happened to us? What happened to that joy of…

Dancing?

June 4, 2022 - Posted by Joyanna Adams | Uncategorized