lawrencegullo:

I saw this gorgeous woman perform at a night club with another belly dancer - their limbs entwining, their dancing as expressive as it was enticing. I remember thinking, at last, I have finally seen belly dancing that moves me, that is clearly art.  (this was before I’d seen the impressive Elizabeth Muise, who is another favorite of mine) 

Months later I saw the two dancers again, in a circle of people dancing at a Roma music festival.  We shouted joyous Romani words at each other over the band.  They were from Romania and usually played weddings - even during Soviet occupation when they were forced to work in factories, they were “permitted” to play music at weddings.  Now they had an entire outdoor stadium in New York, their souls soaring to the music.  

Myself and these two dancers talked about how there needed to be more of this in New York.  That we needed to create a proper venue for performers like us and expose people to proper music.  We couldn’t help but dance, we were compelled to, and to the chagrin of people sitting on the ground, we danced with the others in a circle.  

I heard this morning that this gorgeous woman was killed while being given a ride by a drunk driver.  I feel angry at myself for not seeking these ladies out sooner, and angry at this driver for making it impossible for me to know her better, or ever see her perform again.  

These two moments when I met this gorgeous woman shine in my memory.  And though I’m breaking a big rule of this blog by posting something that has nothing to do with my own art or performance, I wanted to express myself about this.  The New York Post article “Woman brain dead in ‘drunk’ crash on L.I.E.” doesn’t do justice to what was lost - not even a little.