Where the hell have you been all my life?

When the James Brown kicked in and the office chairs became part of the dance, I had a sensation of deja vu that I wasn’t able to shake until the curtain call. What was it about Nature Theatre of Oklahoma that resonated so much with me? Why can’t I get this dumb grin off my face?
Later, I came to a realization: I had just watched my private dance party daydreams made flesh before my very eyes. The performers of N.T.O. were doing exactly what the me inside my head does all the time- while I stand in line at the bank, sit in a coffee shop or write this very post. That crazy bastard is dancing his ass off with great abandon, spreading love and beauty among his fellows. But only in my head. The real me is just kind of hanging around, dumbly humming “Dancing Queen,” or as Young MC might say, “Standin on the wall like you was Poindexter.”
Every day I want to bust a move. Had I known that so many of the movements I make as I go through my daily habits (standing, sleeping, sitting) could be part of a ballet, Brut or no, I would have been busting that move way more often.
These are my people. I have developed an affinity for this group of performers. I have found in them something of myself. The connection has struck deep. They read my mind. I swear. I was almost creepy at times. I’d be thinking: “This is great- but it would be awesome if blah blah blah…” and, WHAMO, blah blah blah would happen.
I don’t want to say too much about the performance, Poetics: A Ballet Brut, because surprise is a very important aspect of the show. What I can say is that I have never seen a theatre used so completely, that I have never seen group of performers having a better time than Nature Theatre of Oklahoma and that I have never been flashed by so many people in my life. Wait… forget I said that last part.
Just go. Okay? I’ll be over here, busting a move.
posted by P.A. Coleman