Dancing in the Streets: Hoboken 2014

Yesterday was Hoboken’s Arts and Music Festival and a good time was certainly had by many. The good news is that there was dancing in the streets. The not-so-good news is that there wasn’t enough of it and, as I explained in this post, Children in Search of the Dance, about a different outdoor musical event, many kids were frustrated and confused. The music had them moving, but they didn’t quite know what to do. At least a half dozen times, for example, these little girls would run into the dance area in front of the stage and then turn around a go back to the sidelines. They wanted to move, but didn’t quite know how or where.
This little girl kept moving to the front and dancing, her little brother at her side: He wasn’t so sure as she was. But momma would pull them back for some reason. Did she think their dancing somehow inappropriate? Still, she got some moves off: Notice the white slacks behind her? They’re on this man: He would dance in a deliberate and stately way. He knew what he was doing, had been doing it all his life. And after awhile he attracted a partner or two: Fact is, the most dancing took place with the last act on the bill, Frnakie Morales and the Mambo of Today: He attracted a Hispanic crowd and they seemed more comfortable dancing than the whiter denizens of Hoboken. They grew up in a culture where social dancing was more common.