Ole!

So there we were, aimlessly strolling about Old City, contemplating an evening of used bookstores, perhaps last minute tickets to Our Town at the Arden, something cheap for dinner, when we happened on the poster that set our course for the evening - Flamenco on 4th and Bainbridge. Perfect.

Though we strayed a bit too long at the Book Trader, we booked it down to the tiny Shubin Theater, and made it just in time. The attraction was Pasion y Arte, an all-women dance troupe. Fabulous, strong, passionate. Inconsiderate audience members aside, I was just blown away by the movement and the emotion.

One key element for me was that some of the dancers were mature women, not the norm in most dance performance settings. But it was thrilling to see these women dancing from their hearts and their years of experience, as if to say, "we've lived long enough to have something to dance about."

The passion in English dance largely comes from a connection to another person, assisted by the music. It's one that works for me. But the ECD dance form itself cannot come close to capturing the depth of feeling that these women were able to display through music, rhythm, costume and movement. It's amazing.

I may need to become a groupie.