The Rites of Spring (or, "An Uncharacteristic Lightness of Being")

(Youtube clip shows Pan's People dancing to The Hustle on Top of the Pops, posted by TVInsiderV)

'What has come over him?' I hear you ask.  "Why this Pan, and his People and their less than lustrous Hustle?" Ah, friends. I can assure you that I have not entirely taken leave of my (less than pristine) senses. I have not recklessly abandoned Melancholywood for a land of Babydoll dresses, come-hither hitchikin' thumbs and inexpert formation dancing. I just thought that, right now, everyone could do with a bit of a laugh, or failing that, a wry smile. This clip perfectly encapsulates my mood. It is just an aberration, no doubt, but I finally felt my sensation creeping back this week. I cannot ignore Spring any longer. Yes, work continued to be loathsome but I somehow found it easier to live and laugh at it all. To notice my fellow-travellers, not just my navel. It was as though I sat bolt upright on Tuesday, scales fallen from my eyes, ready to face the world again. Oh, how my endless self-absorption of the last few weeks has wearied me. Not as much as it has wearied us, I hear a wag from the (modestly-sized) audience hiss, to muffled laughter.

So, here is a smattering of the week's bounty:

1. I was vindicated in the Great USB-stick Bungle of a few weeks ago. The blooming documents were on that cursed stick all along. I was so excited that I took a screen dump. As unsavoury as that may sound.

2. The gods of scavenging smiled on me. Just when I thought the well had nearly run dry. It gives me hope. Below is a tantalising glimpse from Quest for the Queen of Begonias. The rest will turn up on Flickr at some point.

3. Dear, dear, Madame D returned from a trip to Capetown in one piece, despite flying Qantas. Yesterday she presented me with my very first, my one and only, my never to be replaced............

                                             KAFTAN!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot overstate the significance of this happy square of fabric as a mood-improver.  I slip it over my head and I want to emit a high-pitched squeal. I slip it over my head and bluebirds pull it down for me (modesty delicately preserved in the process).  I slip it over my head and I AM Bea Arthur in Maude.

(Darling M, meanwhile, rocks in the corner, trembling and moaning softly at the prospect that I will, as is my wont, normalise the whole muu-muu experience and soon be tripping off to the shops in it. I assure him he need not worry. He nods and his laugh is of a higher pitch than usual...)

But back to Pan's People. You may have, by now, noticed that my insatiable thirst for meaning leads me to look for the lesson in nearly everything. So here is what I have gleaned from Pan's People dancing The Hustle:

1. It is ok to be crap

2. It is ok to be out of sync with those around you

3. Smile. Smile. Smile.

 

(Detail from advertisement for My Mother lives in Cincinatti in After Dark, November 1972.)

In closing, I just wanted to say Peace and Love to you all. Be free. As you can be.

And I promise to be miserable again next week.

Comments

[elizabeth]

Thank you! That was the silliest Hustle I have ever seen! I especially liked the pat-a-cake parts. I was imagining the dancers thinking, 'I went to The Royal Dance Academy for THIS?" (See, a little melancholy can creep in anywhere, so you're covered.)

Also, re the kaftan, tell M. that Egyptian men commonly wear a kaftan-like robe called a Galabya. Tell him also that the U.N. recently had a vote and Egyptian men were rated as "least likely to wear anything resembling a mu-mu." Really! So it's more like Rudolph Valentino in "The Sheik" and less like Divine in "Hairspray."

[elizabeth]

Thank you! That was the silliest Hustle I have ever seen! I especially liked the pat-a-cake parts. I was imagining the dancers thinking, 'I went to The Royal Dance Academy for THIS?" (See, a little melancholy can creep in anywhere, so you're covered.)

Also, re the kaftan, tell M. that Egyptian men commonly wear a kaftan-like robe called a Galabya. Tell him also that the U.N. recently had a vote and Egyptian men were rated as "least likely to wear anything resembling a mu-mu." Really! So it's more like Rudolph Valentino in "The Sheik" and less like Divine in "Hairspray."

[a thousand shades of twilight]

Yes, I am always partial to a bit of pat-a-cake myself! I also like the coquettish little waves of the hand. And I agree, there is a defiantly melancholy strain of "You can't pay me enough to do this".."I coulda been someone".. etc etc.

I think that they look like fluffy ducklings - wasn't The Hustle meant to be a bit more "Street"? It's gloriously absurd.

Thanks for the Galabya information - I need all the support that I can get in my crusade to reinstate the Man-dress as a fashion staple!
:)

[boynton]

Yes ducklings or cygnets.
Not too far away from "The dance of the cygnets" from Swan Lake. The remake.

Anyway, wryly smiling, thank you.

[a thousand shades of twilight]

Hi Boynton! Yes, cygnets is probably kinder and closer to the mark than ducklings..
Thanks for dropping by and glad to hear that you are wryly smiling - a wry smile is the best type of smile in my book!
:)