Pleasure in the body

Just yesterday I was talking about Eve Ensler's idea for this coming February: a billion people dancing to stamp out violence against women and children. Coincidentally, today 160 people danced. It wasn't for anything but the joy of doing it. Not for charity, not for a purpose. But it was delicious to my eyes. About ten of them are professional dancers; the other 150 are just regular folks off the street, chosen for diversity of size, age, color, and experience. Sylvain Emard, from Quebec, was the choreographer, and he has been staging these shows all over the world. Here's one he did in Mexico, if you'd like to see a video. The dancers auditioned, were chosen, rehearsed for about ten weeks, and put on two free shows in Portland's Pioneer Square today. White Bird, an arts organization, sponsored it; several worthy arts organizations chipped in funds.

Watching 160 people dance their pleasure, touch each other with trust, and entertain an audience of at least 3000 people (maybe more) was such joy to me that I had to stay for both shows. I took over 600 pictures, and it was hard to choose a favorite. I put another seventy-five shots here. I expect that nobody but me has the patience to look at 75 pictures, but such is my pleasure in the movement, in the people's bodies and costumes, in the whole spectacle, that every one of the seventy-five is precious to me. All were shot with my one 35mm lens, but the lens is sharp enough that I was able to select some close-ups by cropping. I loved this day.