Dance

Posted byGretchen ButlerPosted inUncategorizedTags:, , , , , , , ,

I’ve been hunched over the computer too long. My shoulders need stretching and my inner child needs to wake up before I calcify into an old fogey. Back in the day, dancing enlivened my routine life–polkas, waltzes, swing, belly, aikido, and folk dancing from around the world. The joy connection was so strong I thought dancing could promote world peace if it were included in summit meeting agendas.

I was never a great dancer. In small increments, the urge to move around for fun slipped away.Yearning for dance became wistful memory.

Instead of hoisting my hulk and making an effort to move, imaginary dancers swooped into my life via the paint brush.

Woodpecker Women
Lime Green Moon

Also, dolls concocted from fabric scraps and junk, hijacked my energy for activating a real dance. Here are a few from the Danzetta collection:

Lola
Starla Fortunada
Jackie Do
Ivonna’s Song
Emma‘s Invitation

Real life memories of dancing celebrations come into focus, but they are few and far between.

Halloween events at the Big Barn inspired extraordinary dancers. The girls’ impromptu Hair Dance is a favorite:

Big Barn parties encouraged ordinary folks to become outrageous, crazy dancers.

In some odd way, this reminds me of Patrick Kelly’s Runway of Love show at the de Young Museum a few years ago. One of his fashion statements was inspired by Josephine Baker’s famous banana dance performed at the Folies-Bergers in Paris in the 1920’s. Never mind the manikin pose lacking vigor–the costume is animated by bananas and our imagination.

Recently, I started noticing small, spontaneous personal dances.

Here, Jim celebrates the end of weed whacking.

Calligrapher Rick Paulus bursts into a Rake Dance as the setting sun glows on the afternoon’s beach art.

Grand kids do a spur of the moment yoga duet.

Santa Rosa kids enthusiastically jump into a street dance.

At home, Jim’s Knife Dance is inspired by our January tradition for tearing off your most disgusting ranch clothes. Note the dramatic fancy foot work.

Our neighbor, Marisa Macklin, introduces her tangerine tree by dancing around it.


Even though a dance is easy, sometimes it’s hard to start. Even by myself I feel foolish. Swaying with the breeze or stomping out frustration with the Arghh Goblin might nudge us into the sphere of fun.

Although inhibited and self-conscious (the way we felt in 7th grade,) Jim and I accept the invitation to learn the electric line dance at my daughter’s house. At the risk of you rolling your eyes at us, here’s the slow beginning for novices learning to join in on the fun. 

Here’s your invitation for more fun:

And so–here’s what I learned on vacation: TTFN (Ta ta for now)

29 thoughts on “Dance”

  2. Hi Gretchen, 

    I love this! It makes me want to dance, and I haven’t been much of a dancer since the days of disco.😊 Hope you and Jim are doing well. Jamie sends his best. Best wishes for this new year.❤️

    XXOO 

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  3. Hi Gretchen,

    Your art is a breath of fresh air! Such beauty, imagination, creativity and fun!!! Thank you so very much for sharing with us!  I realized at the end of the pandemic how powerful dance is in putting me in touch with joy. I danced in the kitchen tonight to John Batiste while preparing roasted veggies. I wish you and John a healthy , happy, joyful New Year with many opportunities to dance. 

    Love,

    Diane

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    “Kindness is more than deeds.It is an attitude,an expression, a look, a touch.It is Anything thatLifts Another Person.”-Plato-🇺🇦(Sent from my iPhone) 

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  4. Thank you Gretchen for that very nice email. I really enjoy getting your glimpses of grace. Good wholesome magical messages. Thanks Greg

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  6. Love your perspective, your words, your art! I have never seen your dolls. Fantastical dancing women! And we can all use a lil hokey pokey during these rainy short days!! Thank you Gretchen 💃🏼💫🥰

    Jenn

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  7. thank you , Gretchen, I supper needed the smiles and inspiration provided in your words and photos. And Jim is “on point”!

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  8. Gretchen,

    I love, love, love this story and pictures!

    You have me smiling and sorry, have to go and dance! Thank you!

    I love you and when can we meet for lunch again? 🌹Elizabeth

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  9. I went from gridiron to the dance floor which kept the athlete me close and a way to move that evolved with the help and guidance of the music and those who knew more. The belly dancers helped me soften, bringing more of the fem into my movement. Rock and roll is the portal to movement without restriction. Besides physicality it takes me beyond the world of words when I dance. (A needed medicine for my over active brain.)

    I salute your broad ranging colorful and delightfully whimsical capture of the many expressions of dance and it’s clear the radical movement embraced through your art is art that dances. Your work hangs on my walls and awaits me on my desk in whatever fashion is always in motion and invites me to join, to let go, to celebrate the wonder of this life through dance.

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    1. Timothy! Thank you for describing your dance history and for generous words on dancing art. Hah! yaaa ! Music entering into us helps us move way out beyond these loopy, pesky brain overload words. And yet, here we are: story tellers.

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      1. My dolls were simple Waldorf dolls made with cotton jersey, stuffed with natural wool. Various”skin” colors and hair. Handmade clothing of my choice. They were given to foster children, who were scared and lonely, taken from bad homes, needed something to hug. If I was given a physical description of the child, I could tailor the doll of their own. The Doll Project closed because most volunteers left due to arthritis, making it hard to do all that handwork.

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  14. Hooray for your lovely piece about dance, interspersed with so many amazing pieces of artwork! I have never been much of a dancer (other than being a Deadhead-dancer with abandon) BUT I am part of this huge massive Balkan dance scene as a musician at some pretty magical events. My favorite is playing in the center of a huge bunch of line dancers (best in an old dance hall in the redwoods). SO glad you shared this with us all!

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  15. Great good dance fun! Thank you Gretchen. I, too, have let the whispered voice that called me to dance when younger fade from my hearing. The Big Barn Halloween parties were a good yearly antidote to the loss…. I first met you there! We talked of Raven’s and their minds, one year, much later, I dressed as a raven! May we all dance at the Big Barn one more time (at least!)!

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  16. Such a great posting on Dance!

    I especially like the woodpecker dancers… did I really not notice the sheer number of them in the dresses! The ever joyful spirit of Gretchen suffuses the text, bravo!!

    I never knew about the slash dance of discarding the ranch clothing… but a genuine delight!! All of love to you two!!

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