The Beautiful Dancers

I just re-discovered this bit that I wrote in my journal after Homebake last December. I meant to blog about it at the time, but never got around to it. I smiled for a long time after I read this again today...

I went to Homebake yesterday at Sydney's Domain and there I mingled and danced and elbowed and laughed with and got irritated by and smiled at thousands of people.

There were people who accidentally spilled their beer on me and people who purposely threw their water at me. There was mud, and BO, and sweaty people who felt sickeningly slimey as they pressed up against me on their way past.

I had just lost my friends in the crowd and was feeling hot and sweaty and thirsty and I really needed to pee. As I was heading towards the porta-potties, I passed by a group of about 10 people. Six of them were in wheelchairs, looking to be in various stages of mobility.

Some of them could move pretty well from the waist up, while some had more limited movement, and could only move their necks and heads. One guy had a Mohawk that was dyed lots of gorgeous colours. He looked very rock.

The music from the main stage started up again and they all started to dance.

And I started to cry.

The chair dancers were all so into it, huge smiles on their faces. They were moving to the music, totally feeling it. Before the music began, some of them looked a bit uncomfortable (although that may have just been me misinterpreting) and a bit contorted, but when the music began, they all found a way to move and groove and show their love for the music.

It was absolutely beautiful.

They looked like they were relishing every second of it and and I felt truly happy to be witnessing their beautiful dancing. Each chair dancer had their own style and I couldn't imagine a more inspiring picture of music appreciation anywhere.