Paradise Park Inspirations

I ordered some books from Amazon yesterday. One of them is written by a woman I once rubbed elbows with, although honestly I don't remember her. The book is called Paradise Park and I have heard from a friend in Hawaii that the writer talks about the folk dance groups (International and Israeli) I was once involved in. She said that some people didn't like the author's characterization of the group. The book intrigued me when I heard about it. I might have ordered some time ago, but I have not been one to do much online purchasing. At Amazon site, I read some reviews of her book some time back, and one I remember described the author as basically narcissistically (spelling?) self-focused and whiny.

But since the book describes this woman's struggles with religion and boyfriends and her feelings about her experiences, as well as the fact that our lives once intersected, I think it will be an interesting read. Also I had at one time harbored daydreams about trying to write about my experiences with the folk dancing community there in Hawaii and things I went through when I was involved with them.

It was quite intense for me and I still don't think I have processed through it so that it doesn't stir up tension in me. I wonder how does anyone write about such things that are so intensely personal and put it out there for public scrutiny?

I wrote a poem about the Bulgarian influence on folk dancing. I guess I have it squirreled away somewhere but I wouldn't want to hunt for it. I recall that I said:

Oh, (a name of a real person) what have you discovered on Bulgarian heights?
Or how shall we then dance?

and later on in the poem I said:

A tyrant rules by means of persuasion.

I don't know if anyone reading the above would be able to understand where these thoughts were coming from, however.

In the writing class I took this year there was a guy who was writing about Bulgaria of all things. There are some interesting spiritual influences that he talked in his writing, that I would say are part of what I was getting at. Dancing can be about more than just dancing.

I enjoyed the sense of community that I experienced in the dance group and the fluidity especially of social interaction. I am so shy. But I did meet people there and even made a few good friends. So that is one thing about that experience.

There aren't so many opportunities in our modern society to interact with people like that. Well not I have found anyway. You didn't need to have a partner to folk dance. Most of the dances we did were line dances. I went to classes until I started to master some of the basics and then I began to go the second half of the evening which was for people who already knew the dances. You don't have to dance every dance and in fact will be in the way if you are trying to dance dances that you don't know, which definitely annoys experienced dancers. After five years of dancing with the international group I never did get to the really hotshot level.

So between doing dances that you know or want to do, you can talk to people, move around talk to other people, so on.

The Israeli group was an offshoot of the international and started later. The woman who started I can't remember her name, Miriam, maybe, she sort of breezed into town and started the group and then left again. Fortunately some ladies stepped in and kept the group going to this day. One of those ladies is a friend of mine.

I learned to enjoy music that has words that you don't know the meaning of, and music that has different beats. I loved a certain sort of harmony heard in Bulgarian folk songs. Unfortunately I lost one tape I had purchased at the international group, and have never been able to find a replacement. It is sort of an obscure thing to hunt for. I know the sound when I hear it, kind of thing.

When I first started dancing I experienced a sense of exhiliration, I could hardly wait for the next class! Dancing can be lots of fun and it was challenging to learn the steps, remember the sequence, to move to the beat and relax so that you aren't death gripping the hands of the people on either side of you.

By the time I had been doing it for five years I had become somewhat bored with it all. Now, I rather remember those days with some fondness and bittersweetness.