The city's best dance party

I could have danced all night! I could have danced all night! I could have danced, danced, danced all night!  Enough of that.

Friday's at Home Sweet Home is the city's best dance party - no doubt!
New York Night Train 
by DJ Jonthan Toubin

Imagine pulp fiction meets hipster fanatics and all that jazz. I love it. Soul, Rock, and R&B from the 50's, 60's that make you want to shake your bootie until you can't stop. I danced with the magic man shown in these pictures and if he was even remotely as amused by me as I was by him then I can die happy.

Who is a better dancer you ask? I really don't know, but what I do know is that DJ Jonathan Toubin selects the perfect melodies and when I'm there I can't help but move my body (oh and toss my hair). Bourbon in hand or not I'm in bliss.

I'm sharing this information, because it is pretty safe to say that, this is one of my favorite places to go on the planet. Of course I could dream of places like this, but there is something about HSH that is very special.

When the darkness falls, you'll be all that I need

Last night during my evening jog, I discovered a group of tango dancers and oh boy did I wish I knew how to tango. The scene was perfect...the sun was setting, music was playing, and they were doing my favorite thing...SWAYING.

They danced under this pavilion.

And as the sun set I realized that I was NOT in the mood to jog and that these tango dancers had saved me from a grueling activity.

For the record, I know I've said this before, but I'm not a swoon girl. I don't believe that everything retro is to-die-for. I don't think that Kate Spade is the best brand ever! And I don't make random statements indicating over-the-top pleasure. But I do think that men and women dancing tango is breathtakingly beautiful. Just imagine one of the women whispering in the ear of her partner and saying, "I'm going to move to your beat, wherever it may lead me." SWOON. OK, I swooned, leave it alone.

Now we dance

A friend told me this amazing story from his time volunteering in Ecuador. He was living and working in a small village and during that time he encountered a life of hardship. To him, as a wealthy American, their lifestyle was nothing short of unbearable. Food was limited, work was laborious, and the culture was highly traditional - men worked and women took care of the home and children. One thing that stuck with him was their ability to stay positive in what seemed like times of trouble. How exactly did they do this? They danced!

He remembered a town hall meeting where they had just finished discussing the dire state of affairs. He couldn't remember the exact issue, but it was related to the small school in the village. Ultimately resources were limited and the school would need to shutdown. After a long discussion about the school the village leader pulled out a small radio and said, "and, now, we dance." To my friend's delight (and confusion) the entire town got up and started to dance. They danced for hours!

This pretty much sums up my view on life. Need a quick happiness fix? Great, dance! Celebrating a life victory? Wonderful, dance! Bonding with friends? Dance! Bored? Dance!

Nothing is easier than this. Perhaps I'm oversimplifying these Ecuadorians, their troubles, feats, reasons for dancing. But I like randomness of it all. Suddenly they turned on music and found distance from their troubles. There is something so moving about that.