I say this a lot and I’ll say it again: every day in my neighborhood feels like I’m on vacation.
Nearly every night we take Lyric for a walk through the Grove (a corporate behemoth to some, but we’ve worked around that). Best time to go is right after the stores close; usually the only people left are Barnes and Noble patrons and the last of the restaurant crowd. And the fountains, which Lyric likes to stop and throw pennies into. Ideal.
Last night we stumbled upon a wonderful surprise at Ulyssess Cafe, this tiny Greek restaurant (with a real Greek musician), right on the cusp of Farmers Market. We weren’t patrons. Actually, we were headed for a fountain just beyond when we noticed two incredibly sexy women dancing with each other under the Ulysses Cafe awning.
Lyric was completely enthralled as the two women nimbly wound their way around the tables and the other patrons. What struck me was their total absence of self-consciousness. In the dark, with the waiters clapping and the admiration of a growing audience, the women held hands and kept time. Even in high-heels, their complicated dance steps were impeccable. We “parked” Lyric where she could watch them openly, next to the other pedestrians in the Grove who were watching and starting to clap too. Lyric asked if she could join in their dancing and I wanted to say yes, but felt that we would have been imposing. I was wrong. All of the onlookers found the entire scene just as contagious. Two women turned into four and then diners from other tables entered in. Literally, at 11pm, in the heart of the Grove, an entire cafe became a trip to Greece.
Three things struck me:
One, how sensual the women were in an entirely un-selfconscious way – a gorgeous sight to behold – there was no posing, no raunch culture, no dancing for men – just a total uninhibited joy. Something I rarely notice women of the United States doing (especially sans liquor).
Two, how irresistible the dancing was – the women I witnessed both inside and outside the restaurant clearly wanted to join in. And they did. Even my four year old felt it.
Three, before the dancing stopped, I observed women of all ages joining in – the two women who had started the dance seemed thirty-ish at best. The women who got up from other tables appeared to be sixty. The women next to us, who were clapping along outside the cafe were fifty-something tourists from Anywhere USA. An Asian woman with her husband, inside the cafe looked forty-something. It reminded me of the ideal of a coven – women of all ages, dancing in circles, purely for joy, raising energy and stopping time in the most magical way.
As we left, Lyric asked if we could teach her that dance. I was delighted that she was able to witness a community of strangers coming together, unexpectedly. “Unexpectedly”, being the most important thing.
Alas, I have no video of what we witnessed but this clip (sweet, but hardly as magical as what we happened upon last night and with none of the fancy footwork) describes the happy contagion of Greek dance, especially when initiated by two lovely and uninhibited women:
