Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow
I love music - I always have. When I was a kid it was my means of escape. You know, typical pre-teen and teenager, locking myself in my room, playing my music loud and hearing my mother yell to me “Turn that crap down”. The thing with music is that what I like has nothing to do with what genre it is, it has to do with what kind of response the song evokes from me. I feel music, I don’t just hear it. If it makes me think or feel or want to move I know its good. And it goes on my MP3 player and that goes with me everywhere.
Along with my love for music I have a particular guilty pleasure on TV that I cannot turn away from - kinda like if you have ever happened upon a car wreak. I have watched American Idol since it very first came on TV however many eons ago (it’s like 8 years or something, right?). I like seeing new talent, I also like hypothesizing on who I think will have a real career in music, not just who will win the title (think Chris Daughtry, I knew that boy was marketable). So I was watching last week and they debuted Paula Abdul’s video for her new song “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow”. I know people had already heard the track on the pre-game show of the Super Bowl, but I hadn’t.
I have always loved dance/club music because in addition to loving music I have always loved to dance. I started taking dance classes when I was 5 - ballet, tap and jazz - and I was good. Really good. I ended up advancing out of my age group and up to the next age group above me. The year I was to go en pointe in ballet was the year I first tore up my knee skiing. My ballet career ended before it even started. I went on to become a cheerleader in high school and college as much for the dance portion of half time performances as for the acrobatic portion of performing stunts and pyramids. Eventually my knee couldn’t handle that either.
But dance has always held a very special place in my heart. When I went to college, while I will certainly cop to the fact that I loved to drink at the parties I went to, I loved to dance equally as much. And to dance with someone else and feed off their energy? Awesome. Even though I had a weight problem before I left for college I lost 25 pounds my first semester because I would bust out every weekend. When there weren’t parties I would go to clubs with my friends, not because I liked the scene or was looking to hook up with anyone, but because I loved to go dance for 4 or 5 hours every weekend night.
But then I got old and married (or married and old - I think the ball and chain came first) and my husband does not embrace music the way I do - well, except for Pink Floyd. And dude, unless you’re tripping there is no way to dance to Pink Floyd. And music has taken a back seat for me. As much as I try to listen to my MP3 player, 4 kids and a needy husband usually don’t let one “plug in” for more than 30 seconds at a time. And of course along with the music, dance is right there in the back seat too.
So this new song when I heard it - honestly I loved it. I know it’s Paula Abdul and people all think she’s a drunk and crazy and all but here’s something I learned last night. The woman has had 14 surgeries on her cervical spine. 14! My husband has never had spine surgery but he has 5 fractured vertebrae in his thoracic spine and I know the amount of prescribed pain medication he takes for that. And I know how he can get a little drunk-acting when the strength of the medication has been changed or when he over-medicates in a desperate attempt to just try and make the pain go away for a little while. So yeah she does act like a whack job sometimes but I think the woman has good reason. 14 surgeries at 45 years old, can you imagine?
The music itself makes me want to dance, yes dance like there’s no tomorrow, but the lyrics really hit me too.
All I wanna do is stay right here on the floor
Get lost in the night
And dance like there’s no tomorrow
Don’t care about the sunrise
Somebody please just hit the lights
All I wanna do is dance like there’s no tomorrow
That’s exactly how it always felt. I didn’t care about anything else - not where I was or what time it was, not what was going on around me, I just wanted to dance. Dance was as much an escape for me as hearing the music was.
I’m so ready to move my body
Forget about all my problems
When I hear that song
I’ma lose control
Hey, here I go
It was all consuming. It was in my soul.
I’m loving the atmosphere
Feels like I’m floating in heaven
The music’s all in my ear
Taking over me
My heart’s racing
Hearing these lyrics brought me back to something in my life I had always been so passionate about - a feeling I loved. And it made me want to do it again. So I did a little research and found a dance studio in my area that offers adult classes - read for old people trying to relive their youth - but they offer hip hop classes. And I think I’m going to give it a shot. What’s the worst that will happen - I’ll find out I’m too old, tired and lame to dance anymore? I can live with finding that out. As long as I tried.
But there’s a chance of finding something better. Something to answer that restless feeling that makes me want to jump out of skin sometimes and pack my bags, flee across the country and start a new life. Wait, don’t tell my husband about that part, okay? I think I’ll just start with dance classes and see how it goes. Maybe it will serve to teach me something about not ignoring those things you feel most passionate about, who knows?
So anyway I’m posting the video for you - which I liked from an aesthetic standpoint too - even though I thought Paula’s dancing was kind of lame but I understand why it’s reserved. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did but if you don’t then I’ll just dance over here by myself.
So, what’d you think? And you know what I really want to know? I really want to know who else has stopped doing something or who has ignored something that they were once passionate about. Why? Are you trying to get back to it or have you given up on it forever?
American Idol, Me, Me, Me | Jules February 27, 2008
By
Angela Klocke, February 28, 2008 @ 8:59 am
I’m back to it now, but yes, I quit and ignored something for a LONG time!
By
Aimz, February 28, 2008 @ 10:50 pm
You sound alot like me, I use to love music as a teenager too, remember def leppard, bon jovi, duran duran, sad when you think about it now lol
But yeah…If you use to love dance and music then why don’t you get into a class or something now for some time out just for you? You might just enjoy it
By
Jules, February 28, 2008 @ 11:13 pm
Angela - how does it feel to be back?
For me music/dance is just one of the pieces of me I feel like I sacrificed when I “grew up”. They made me so happy though. I want that part of me back - the more carefree spirit…
By
Jules, February 28, 2008 @ 11:15 pm
Remember them Amy? I went to a Bon Jovi concert when I was 16 - the “Slippery When Wet” tour. And then for my 17th birthday my friends surprised me with tickets to see Duran Duran. Did I have the best friends or what?
I definitely want to get back to the things I love. I’m looking into just how I can do that - in many areas of my life.
By
Angela Klocke, February 29, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
It’s like I’m home, honestly. I’m not even the least bit nervous about my new job. And? I’m sitting on other possible good news right now
By
Candi, March 2, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
I have always loved music for the same reasons as you. And my husband loves that old crap that I don’t understand also. Too funny.
I think it is awesome that you are going to take a dance class. I would love to do something like that except I feel so self conscious about my body right now, kwim? Why does everything always have to come down to weight, ugh!?
Paula Abdul is hot for her age, crap she looks better than me and is almost 10 years older. That’s sad.
Okay enough of the pity party, lol!
I can’t wait to hear more about your dance class.
Candi’s last blog post..Missing my girl… oh, and some stuff about Fat