"I think there’s a state of dancing, like there’s a state of sleeping, or a state of shivering. Some people have a shyness about entering that state, but everybody does it sometime. Often, at parties, people drop their shyness and enter a dance state. And when I’m in a dance state, the movement that comes out through me enchants me. It can be very simple movement, but it always comes with a sense of wonder, and as one of life’s more delicious moments. -Simone Forti

The first dance back in Oakland after 2 ½ years was beautiful, and surprising. I expected challenging emotion. I received, experienced, and witnessed collective joy.

As a community, have we been through so much over the past few years that we’re numb to emotion, or are we simply happy to be back together dancing once again?

Whatever the case, I saw so many familiar faces, and so many new faces. It was truly a joy. And maybe it’s as simple as that. Dancing is “one of life’s more delicious moments,” as Simone Forti shares above.