Transcendent moment

On a steamy spring day in New Orleans in 1976, I was standing in front of St. Louis Cathedral listening to some street musicians and balancing S., then a rather gangly three-year-old, on my shoulders. A gorgeous young man emerged from the crowd, did a leap like the one in this mural, and walked on, leaving the crowd too stunned even to applaud. Someone whispered that he must be a member of Balanchine's New York City Ballet, which was performing at the Saenger that week. I have forgotten many great performances in concert halls, but I have never forgotten that one unexpected, unpremeditated, absolutely transcendent moment on a hot city pavement. I wonder if the person who painted this mural in Portland was in New Orleans on that day, or if that kind of thing happened in all the cities where the Balanchine dancers performed...or if maybe ballet dancers all over the world, when moved to do so, offer such moments to unsuspecting bystanders.