He walks into the space and his limbs are already moving with the music. His shoulders jump up and down, keeping the beat. His arms fly and thrust into the air. And across his face, a smile grows from ear to ear, never seeming to stop. Within a few moments he is dancing…finding his spot on the dance floor…switching out partners with the change of each song. And all the while he is projecting… joy…joy in the music, joy in the moment, joy in the dance.

During summer evenings, I make my way to Como Park Pavilion to listen to the local musicians who offer their gifts during these precious Minnesota days of warmth and sun. Overlooking the sweet, little lake that creates the backdrop of this idyllic summer experience, I rest in the sound, the scenery and the beauty of a community that forms when multiple generations of strangers come together, held in the power of music.  And I revel in watching this one particular dancer who fills me to overflowing with deep happiness. Always clad in a University of Minnesota T-shirt and baseball cap, he is a walking…dancing…advertisement for the ‘U’. “If you go to this university, you, too, may be as happy an older person as I am.” This is what his movements bring to my mind.”You, too, can exhibit this ‘joie de vivre’! his movements seem to say.

Joie de vivre, a ‘keen or buoyant enjoyment of life’, say the French. And who among us would not want to be able to walk through the world with such a gait? Especially now, as we creep out of our homes and back into this different world where we are so cautious. The ability to embrace life with such zest seems particularly alluring. When I watch this man dancing, I am buoyed that the world is going to be okay. What he is bringing to those who watch, or those lucky enough to dance with him, costs nothing except a little energy and sweat. And while locked down and in our homes, didn’t we all learn over the last months how little we really need? While the joy may have been dampened in our individual and collective lives, his movements tell me that there is hope in recovering some spirit that declares a keen and buoyant enjoyment of life once again. 

Being witness to his movements, I have to admit that I wonder if this is how he has always been. I tend to believe it is. I can imagine him as a young boy gyrating around his kitchen in the mornings before school. Or trying to contain his body that wanted to bounce and kick while sitting in a desk at school. Likely the adults in his life have said more than once,”Stand still! Keep your feet quiet!” I can also imagine that he was a draw for all the young, high school women who wanted to move from the chairs that lined the gymnasium walls and onto the dance floor with a partner who could really dance.

One thing I know from watching this wiry gentleman: ‘joie de vivre’ cannot be contained. I, for one, am glad that his fit, lithe body still propels his limbs and feet into the world. My life is better for it. My spirit is lifted because of it. And from the smiles I see emanating from the faces around that concert space, I believe everyone is filled with an energy and a joy they, perhaps, thought had been lost.

Agnes de Mille, the great dancer said: “To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful…This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.” 

Wherever you are reading this, the invitation is to breathe deeply, to lift your limbs in whatever way is available to you. To dance. To feel the glory on earth. Yours for the taking. Joie de vivre! A keen and buoyant enjoyment of life!