Lately 'round these parts, when people hear "Main Street" they think of the movie that's being filmed here. But for me, I also think of Alivia's - the restaurant on Main Street where The Monti holds most of their shows.
This was my third time to attend a storytelling show by The Monti. This time we took Jennifer and Kyle along with us. Jennifer is a big fan of The Moth's podcasts, so she was excited to hear that there's a local group doing the same sort of thing. My favorite story of the night (and the winner of the Story Slam) was about a Jewish vegetarian boy's first glorious experience with bacon. Jennifer's favorite story included a pair of rabbits named Crocket and Tubbs. Really great stuff. The food was nice, too. Mmm ... cheeeesecaaaaake.
Thursday was lining up to be a perfectly normal, ho-hum day, but at the last minute I decided to do something a little different. I ended up going to a synagogue for the very first time.
How is this possible? Why did it take me almost 34 years to enter a synagogue? Granted, I ate at a Chinese restaurant for the first time when I was 19, so maybe this isn't so surprising after all. I must admit that it was not a crisis of faith or any other religious motivation that drew me to the synagogue. Rather, it was dancing - specifically, English country dancing.
If you'll recall, george and I tried out English country dancing for the first time at Veronica's wedding reception. Well, maybe not at the actual reception, but during it. Anyway! I know it's kinda dorky and old-fashioned, but I had a really good time & I seemed to catch on to it fairly quickly, so I was interested in trying it a second time. I heard that there was an English country dance group locally that meets every week on Thursdays at the synagogue. I wanted to go, but I kept forgetting about it! I cannot tell you how many times I've woken up on Friday morning and thought, "D'oh, I missed the dancing again!" so when I finally remembered it on a Thursday afternoon, I had to jump at the chance.
The group was so nice, so warm, so welcoming. About a dozen people showed up. They had all been attending for a while & had a fairly good grasp on the terminology, but they were also very good about explaining things to me. I didn't get a chance to snap any photos of people dancing because I participated in every. single. dance. For two hours. If you know anything about English Country dancing, you'll know that it's really more of a challenge for the mind than for the body. It's very fun, but it's also very complicated! If you want to see what I'm talking about, just watch this this video of a dance called "Faithless Nancy Dawson".
Some of the dances were really elaborately detailed & I never got them quite right, but I faked my way well enough. The dance of the month - Old Friends - was especially mind bending. The only way I survived it was by watching the other dancers & trying my best to spot the people who were doing what I was supposed to be doing. I guess I managed okay because our teacher for the evening, Allan, said I was a natural. I'll definitely have to go again - especially on the nights when they have live musicians!
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