Deep underground in a New York City subway, a tap dancer inspires daily commuters with the clickety-clack of his beautiful art. Ja’Bowen is more than an entertainer dancing for his supper though. He is a subway therapist, helping New Yorkers through life.
Children and adults dance along while smiling, and laughter echoes throughout the terminal. Some commuters stop and watch, losing themselves in the steady rhythms and sounds bouncing off the subway walls.
Ja’Bowen told The New York Times that commuters like to talk with him. “I think it’s because I’m being so open and vulnerable with the way that I’m presenting my art,” he said. “Little interactions really mean a lot because I feel like those are the things that make you know your art is really art. It’s touching people.”
Reading Ja’Bowen’s story brought a series of questions to mind. Why don’t I dance anymore? If I did, where would I dance? What kind of dance would I perform? Would I invite others to dance with me? Or would I dance alone?
You may have figured out by now that no one wants to see an old man with no rhythm dance. Therefore, the dance I speak of is the dance of life. The dance of life is filled with myriad movements.
There are times when the rhythm is fast. There are other times when the beat slows down. There are happy dances and sad dances. There are dances you perform with others and moments when dancing alone just feels right.
In Psalm 150:4, the psalmist writes, “Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!”
The Hebrew word used for dance is machol, meaning to dance. It comes from the root word chuwl. Chuwl can mean to dance, to whirl or to writhe.
In other words, the psalmist recognized the many dances we perform throughout life. However, for each dance – whirling with joy or writhing in pain – we should praise God for all the rhythms and beats by which we set our dances.
Anderson Cooper interviewed The Late Show host Stephen Colbert last year. Colbert is a devout Catholic and vocal about how his faith has sustained him, primarily through difficult times.
Colbert lost his father and two brothers, Peter and Paul, in an airplane crash in 1974. The loss was difficult for a 10-year-old boy. However, as an adult, Colbert has had time to reflect and develop a beautiful outlook.
He told Anderson: “It’s a gift to exist. And with existence comes suffering. There’s no escaping that. But if you are grateful for your life, then you have to be grateful for all of it.”
He continued: “I want to be the most human I can be, and that involves acknowledging and ultimately being grateful for the things that I wish didn’t happen because they gave me a gift.”
In essence, Colbert was referring to the life dance – the ongoing movements to music, speeding up and slowing down at times. Parts of the dance make you laugh, while others make you cry. Through it all, though, you keep dancing.
Friedrich Nietzsche quipped: “We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.”
Back in New York, Ja’Bowen continues to tap dance. “I’m inviting the kids up, and I’m wishing everybody a good day and that’s intentional,” he said. “You know, more than tap dancing, I’m working to bring some good energy to the city, to the moment where I am.”
It’s that last comment that struck me: bringing good energy “to the moment where I am.” How many times do I evaluate dances from the past? How many times do I worry about dances in the future? How many times have I lived in the moment, dancing to the music life plays each day?
The author of Ecclesiastes wrote: “For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” The writer went on to list several life moments, but one is relevant for this moment: “a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
No matter where you find yourself today, make sure to listen carefully to the music in the wind and dance to its melody. As Martha Graham, named “Dancer of the Century” by Time magazine, once commented, “Dance is the hidden language of the soul.”
Listen to the music today and take your first step.