i got an email from colorado aids project about a fundraiser called backtracks (october 11 at exdo events center $10) and it got me thinking about dancing. it's funny to me. if i look at the list of friends on my fb page, let's say, i realize that about half know me in my present incarnation. person living in recovery, counselor, and hiv activist. but then the other half know me as i was before these days came into being. these friends and confidantes knew me when something black-something earring, nipple pony round-up, collar up syndrome(it's first time around) and techno-pop and crossover basslines ruled the day- and certainly the night-my dance hall days.
now i can't change them, nor would i even considering doing such a thing. i had a blast from 1975 until 1988 doing the club thing. after that, it became something very different. but during those times, i lived, i laughed (a lot), and i loved. the camaraderie that was instilled in me during all those after hours parties and all those tribal chants on the dance floors really helped lead me to the person i am now.
and i have a much better understanding of what makes younger gay men tick because their trials and tribulations are not so very different from my own path.
on this saturday, i salute once again my dance hall days. and i salute the dance hall days of now. gay men's culture has almost forever found gay men meeting and socializing in some very alternative and intimate ways and no doubt will continue to do so. we set standards, we set trends, we say yes to pleasure, we have forged new paths.
long live dance halls. long live gay men. lord help us learn to love each other and take care of each other with deeper intention each year. we definitely have shown we know how to work it.
today's sound choice is a frankie knuckles remix of thompson and lenoir's "work it to the bone."
