Anyway, today's Bob's blog entry is a piece about yesterday's magical encounter in a yoga class with a former Broadway professional dancer, Carolyn Kirsch, whom I suspect is a few years older than me, but still extremely lithe and beautiful. She still has Star Quality. And, later, a magical encounter with a group of young men on the disco floor at the Mezzo Grille, where we were all showin' our dancin' moves by taking turns in the center of the circle. And eventually, when these young men see that I'm out there on the floor, with the best I've still got in this old body of mine, they truly accept me, at least just that one magical night, as one of their own. Magically, the more than 30 years which separate our respective entries onto this wonderful earth are suddenly erased, as if blown totally away by the approaching Mad Woman of the East Coast, Hurricane Irene.]
For today's Bob's blog entry, I'm repeating verbatim an email I just wrote to my new, dear friends, Jeff Hush and Lucia de Leon, about an extraordinary Broadway musical dancing star, Carolyn Kirsch, who now lives in Middletown. Although Carolyn is probably a few years older than I, she still retains the underlying radiant beauty of her Broadway performing youth. Carolyn still has star quality.
Here's the email which talks about Carolyn Kirsch and the "Yoga and Stress Relief" workshop, given by Jeff and Lucia. I am glad my yoga mat was right next to Carolyn's and that I got to know her a little bit better than I did in years past, when I saw her at theatrical events around the City, but never moved myself to introduce me to her.
Dear Jeff and Lucia,
Yesterday was another magical day. In the afternoon, your "Yoga as Stress Management" workshop at Vinnie's Jump and Jive, during which I was on a yoga mat next to Carolyn Kirsch. You told me after the class about Carolyn, who is probably a few years older than me, but still retains her Star Quality as a Broadway musical dancer, and her incredible beauty. At the end of this email, I show you the results of my Google search which turned up Carolyn's extensive Broadway biography.
Then, in the evening, I again loved your monthly "Barefoot Boogie," also at Vinnie's J & J. Then I walked next door to the Titanium Club, where a bunch of "kids" in their 20's, about half men and half women, mostly white but a few black guys, were standing at the bar or sitting over on the little wooden platform, sort of like a very narrow stage, which runs about 20 feet along the south wall of the club. Across, on the north wall is the bar, which is about 40 feet long. A DJ was situated in the upper level of the club, where the men's suits department was located when the club was in an earlier instantiaton many years ago, including from when I was a Wesleyan student from 1967 to 1971, and then from when I began practicing law in 1975 until the store closed in the late 1980's, under severe economic pressure from the new mega-malls outside Middletown.
Then, in the evening, I again loved your monthly "Barefoot Boogie," also at Vinnie's J & J. Then I walked next door to the Titanium Club, where a bunch of "kids" in their 20's, about half men and half women, mostly white but a few black guys, were standing at the bar or sitting over on the little wooden platform, sort of like a very narrow stage, which runs about 20 feet along the south wall of the club. Across, on the north wall is the bar, which is about 40 feet long. A DJ was situated in the upper level of the club, where the men's suits department was located when the club was in an earlier instantiaton many years ago, including from when I was a Wesleyan student from 1967 to 1971, and then from when I began practicing law in 1975 until the store closed in the late 1980's, under severe economic pressure from the new mega-malls outside Middletown.
To the surprise of the young people in the Titanium Club last night, I simply began dancing, solo, and thereby entertaining a bunch of kids, two of whom, one a girl in a very short, very tight dress, very long legs, very pretty, and her girlfriend, finally got up the courage to dance with me, after about a half-hour of my solo show. She even initiated a little bit of body contact, my back to her front. Her boyfriend was obviously okay with this, because he had been watching me dance by myself, saw how much older I am than they, and he obviously could see that his girl wanted to dance, and he didn't. So he "let" her dance with me. I got lots of high-fives, raised forearm bumps, and fist bumps, as guys came in and out of the club and saw me dancing. Several girls and guys took I-phone flash pictures of me, or maybe even tried to film my dancing.
The club also had retained a photographer to record the action the management had hoped this Saturday night might bring; which plan, this Asian-American young man told me, Hurricane Irene disrupted. As it turned out, of course, the high hurricane winds did not hit Middletown until the wee' hours of this morning, so there was no force majeure naturale (major force of nature) which kept the young people from packing the disco clubs but, rather, what I made fun of earlier in the evening to Susie and to some of my Facebook "Friends"--the extreme and overwrought hyping-up of weather events by local "news" TV stations which are looking to pick up audience share.
So the photographer took some picture of me and I pretended to take some pictures of him, as part of my dance "show" for the dance-inhibited 20-somethings who probably told each other all afternoon they were going out on the town to dance, at the Titanium Club on Main Street. But by the time they got to the club, all their courageous plans to dance the hurricane away turned, like the prince into the frog, from The Dream to The Inhibition. Even all that alcohol they were sipping on did not clear away whatever mental chains were holding them back from being the free, unplugged, dancing machines their beating hearts tell them they were born to be.
Then I walked back to the Mezzo Grille disco, where I spent a good hour and a half mostly dancing in a circle with young guys, black, white, hispanic, one of whom, a mixed guy named Travis, spent a good amount of time getting me to follow, and learn, his dance moves, which were really cool. The majority of the crowd on this rainy, Irene-soured night were young men in their 20's. When they saw how uninhibited a dancer I am, they really go going. A circle was created, totally spontaneously, and a short, dark- and curly-haired Puerto Rican guy, dressed in a bright red English football team's jersey and shorts, went inside and danced his stuff. Next, I took my turn, danced vigorously, and with total abandon, and the guys went wild. Then everybody else took a turn in the middle.
In the Mezzo outdoor patio, when I'm "puttin' on a dancin' show," I always pretend at some point to be smoking a marijuana joint, take a long toke on the imaginary joint, and flip it with the outstretched thumb and quickly flexed and extended index finger of my right hand, up in the air and out into the assembled multitude of hundreds of young people and some older folk thrown in for good measure. Last night, a young man who remembered me from Friday night in the patio, was standing with his male friends next to the pool table, watching me and the other, mostly male, dancers. He remembered the pot performance piece and flipped me an imaginary joint to share with him. I took an imainary toke and flipped it or handed it to the non-dancing bystanders.
Later in the evening, a well-nourished black woman, probably age 29, deigned to dance with me for a few minutes. From what I observed of her interactions in the disco, especially her and her girlfriend dancing with the tough-looking, but very friendly to, and protective of, me, bouncer, a black guy who looks about 35 and is average height by extremely strong and well-built. He's not a man I'd like to surprise in a dark alley, even if all I planned to do was discuss Plato's "Republic" with him.
Also about 10 minutes before closing time, the very thin, pretty Hispanic/black girl in the very short black hot pants and spike heels danced with me for a few minutes. She was obviously in the disco with a young (about 26), tall, very well-built white guy with a blue tee shirt, black baseball cap, and dark jeans. They did quite a bit of serious frontal dirty dancing with each other. So intimate that it's possible a child will be born to this woman 9 months from now, conceived on that dance floor last night, at the Mezzo disco.
Then, a white girl who I think is one of the bartenders danced with me by rubbing up against my back with her front. She was very blonde, with long, curly blonde hair running down her back. She was about 30 and had several tatoos which could be seen on her upper chest and her arm when she was dancing vigorously and her black cotton jacket opened to show more of her skin. She was wearing black tights, also, which showed off her thin, muscular legs. She danced with me, briefly, a few times. Her boyfriend, a man in his mid-thirties, also danced with her and didn't object to my dancing with her at the same time, but just from a few more feet away.
After Last Call at 1:30 a.m. tonight, I drove home, where I stayed up eating the rest of a pint of Key Lime Graham Cracker sorbet from 2 to 3 a.m. I must have fallen asleep at 3 a.m., woke up at 6 a.m., and now I am a bit tired but have plenty of energy.
Also, I just did a quick Google search of Carolyn Kirsch. As you told me, Carolyn was the "older" woman next to me at your yoga class yesterday afternoon. I had seen Carolyn around Middletown over the years but never seized the moment and introduced myself to her. Although she's probably a few chronological years older than I, I've always noticed her extraordinary physical beauty. Now I know why. While I totally accepted your telling me that Carolyn was a former Broadway dancer who appeared in the original "Chorus Line," working under the legendary Bob Fosse, I didn't quite understand just how talented a dancer she was/is. Take a look at the results of my Google search: the Broadway biographical summary of Carolyn Kirsch. I'm now stunned to think back to yesterday afternoon. Everybody in town was waiting with baited breath, on the lookout for the arrival of the Star of the 2012 East Coast Hurricane Season, namely, Hurricane Irene. Yet right before our eyes, lying next to me on a yoga mat, just yesterday afternoon, from 2 to 4 p.m. was a true Star from the Past. "Mesdames et Mesieurs, je vous presenter le un et le seulement........
Carolyn Kirsh. And here is her extraordinary resume as a professional Broadway dancer:
[Link to information about Carolyn Kirsch]
http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=81346Female Performer |
| 1976 Theatre World Special Award | ||
 | A Chorus Line [winner] Performer: Carolyn Kirsch ( for Ensemble Performance ) | |
| Productions Dates of Productions | |
|---|---|
| A Chorus Line [Original, Musical, Drama] July 25, 1975-April 28, 1980 | |
| |
| Ulysses in Nighttown [Original, Play] March 10, 1974-May 11, 1974 | |
| |
| Coco [Original, Musical] December 18, 1969-October 3, 1970 | |
| |
| Dear World [Original, Musical] February 6, 1969-May 31, 1969 | |
| |
| Promises, Promises [Original, Musical, Comedy] December 1, 1968-January 1, 1972 | |
| |
| Hallelujah, Baby! [Original, Musical] April 26, 1967-January 13, 1968 | |
| |
| Breakfast at Tiffany's [Original, Musical] Never officially opened-Dec. 14, 1966 | |
| |
| Sweet Charity [Original, Musical, Comedy] January 29, 1966-July 15, 1967 | |
| |
| La Grosse Valise [Original, Musical] Dec. 14, 1965-Dec. 18, 1965 |
30 Chimney Hill
Middletown, CT 06457
blog: Bob's blog
blog link: http://wwwbobs-blog.blogspot.com/
cell: 860-759-9860
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retired trial lawyer (35 years in court)
a writing-daily writer (see above for link to Bob's blog)
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