One of my favorite creation myths essentially posits that at the beginning there was an incredible noise and everything ever since has been the resulting vibrations, the ever-echoing waves from the first sound. We can see this in the shape of the milky way, images of weather patterns from space, cloud formations overhead, the swirling patterns in sand dunes and lines left on the beach when waves crash into shore. We can watch honeybees use movement to communicate pollen repositories and who knows what more. 

I recently attended my first Norwood Day and it was so wonderful to experience the tremendous community desire for connection and see more people out and about than I’ve ever seen here in Town. We had a great time giving out over 100 henna tattoos and talking about all the exciting things happening here at the library and what we’re doing out and about town and online. One of the personal highlights for me was watching all the dancing on the stage near our tables. From young people dancing the Macarena to very talented teens performing tightly choreographed routines, a dance leader teaching people a new dance, to our senior tap dancing group, everyone did such a wonderful job! 

While I took some dancing classes while I was in college (a little ballet, a little modern) I’m much more comfortable just dancing at a party (often to the embarrassment of my teen-aged kids). When a song just hits the right frequency I can’t help myself and have to start moving my feet. I hope you know the feeling. One of the things that many of us have missed during the past 18+ months is the ability to dance with each other, but we can always dance by ourselves, in our chairs, cars, and secluded in our own homes. With brave kudos to those brave soles getting up on the stage, I present some suggestions of music to listen to and videos to watch to inspire you to find the rhythm and join me for a dance!

WATCH

There are lots of ways to watch great dance. Probably the easiest and fastest connection is by logging into our Kanopy platform and browsing the over 200 films in the dance collection: https://morrill.kanopy.com/category/80

Our tap dancing seniors reminded me of how awesome this artform is when performed with spirit. Considered the “first genuinely all-American dance form,” you can watch some real legends and also appreciate some of the complicated racial tensions in the art form in Christian Blackwood’s film Tapdancin’.

There are many more dance documentaries to widen your knowledge. The King of Mambo Perez Prado follows the Latin American bandleader as they travel the world, igniting a global fervor for this Cuban dance developed in the 1940s.

If your only knowledge of Bob Fosse is a quick reference from Robin Williams in The Birdcage I encourage you to spend an hour and learn about this award-winning director, choreographer, and cinematographer in Bob Fosse: It’s Showtime. He brought us The Pajama Game, Sweet Charity, and Cabaret, among others, so you know it’s going to have some great dance!

Dive into the world of ballet with Restless Creature, an intimate portrait of Wendy Whelan as she prepared to leave New York City Ballet after three decades with the company. Watch her contend with serious injuries, brave surgery, and start exploring contemporary dance as she steps away from the world that elevated her to lofty heights.

We have lots of films about modern dance, and I’d like to direct your attention to a short piece introducing the vibrant diversity of contemporary dance in South Africa: Dancedance / Re Volution. Against a post-apartheid backdrop, this film highlights dance-makers finding news ways to address race and gender, grounded in history, memory, and personal identity.

There are so many great dancing traditions all around the world you could spend a lifetime learning about them and still have barely scratched the surface. I encourage you to not let the overwhelming diversity of expression deter you, and rather sample various styles and discover what stirs your heart and feet. Perhaps it will be The Next Samba, Play, Jankunú Play: The Garifuna Wanaragua Ritual of Belize, Puamana from Hawaii, Classical Indian Dance /Two Bharatanatyam Dances, or Bruk Out about the raw, energetic world of Jamaican Dancehall culture and the Dancehall Queens at its heart.

Listen

Hopefully some of those videos inspired you to get off the couch and start moving. When you need a soundtrack, turn to hoopla where Norwood residents can borrow up to ten items every month with your Morrill Memorial Library card. When you select from the incredibly extensive music collection you can even turn on a shuffle feature to play music from each album you’ve currently borrowed.

Embrace the Latin diaspora with some great Mambo (90 albums), Salsa (273 albums), Bachata (63 albums), Banda (> 1,000!), Tango, Merengue, Reggaeton, and so much more. If you’re looking for an introduction, I always like the Rough Guides from the World Music Network. Perhaps you just want to try your luck and dive into some of the sweet results you get with a search for “dance party” – I just got over 3,000 results!

If you’re looking for more guidance, I suggest exploring the amazing collection at AllMusic.com. Explore by genre and scroll to the bottom of every genre main page to find links to tons of subgenres. If any of the Latin styles I just referenced are unfamiliar to you, you can find all of them and more. Need help? Just come by the library, give us a call at (781) 769-0200, email us at norwood@minlib.net or use the form on this webpage: http://www.norwoodlibrary.org/home/about/contact-us/. 

Go get your groove on!

Clayton Cheever is the Director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for his article in the September 30, 2021 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.