I don’t mean to brag, but I know how to party.  Now I do mean to brag, I look really good in hats.  Now I don’t mean to brag again, I know how to shake a tail feather on the dance floor.

I started clubbing when I was 15 years old.  My friend and I did not have fake ID’s, so we would wear the sluttiest outfits possible in the hopes that the doorman would care more about our whore-factor than underage-ness.  We knew it was bad when one night while walking to the club a guy said to us “Uhhh girls, the beach is that way.”  Whatever dude.  We would get to the door and beg to come in, showing our already exposed tattoos as proof we were old enough. Come on, how can you reject two girls with a Tinkerbell and Winnie the Pooh tattoo for being too immature to go to a bar?

When I moved to NYC at 19, going out dancing became my part time job.  For the 12 years I lived in NY, I shook my ass and wiggled around to music so many times I should have gotten an award.  Part of the appeal was the party aspect.  The drinking, the losing yourself, the escapism, the grinding, the looks, the dressing up… But I also think I was searching for meaning.  Looking for some primal connection to my ancient ancestors who danced under the starlight gazing towards Godliness.

I think there is something significant to be said about the concept of collective dance.  Since the dawn of time humans stomped around and moved their bodies to a rhythmic sound.  There are obviously many cultures where dance is a major part of their community, culture, and spiritual practice.  Dance isn’t something they do, it is part of who they are as people, a piece of their collective identity.

I think in many ways dance is rooted in our humanity.  Showing the ecstatic appreciation of music through the language of our bodies.  Granted, I can’t say that was exactly what I was doing while in a dark dingy place drinking cranberry vodka’s as “Shake That Ass” boomed through the speakers.  But maybe this whole club culture is an expression of need for a very real element that is missing in our lives.

But this issue with clubs and musical festivals as the only outlets for communal dance, is that it is not exactly the most conducive atmosphere to bring your child.  I know there are hippy mom’s who bring their kids to Burning Man or Moon Bark Rainbow Tribe Gatherings, and maybe I will figure out how that works at some point… but as it stands right now I am too attached to things like water to wash her shitty ass at night.  But I still would like to experience adult fun with my child.

So this weekend we went to my cousin’s wedding and had the best time! Weddings are this controlled environment where there are an abundance of people to look out for your kid while you can have fun and feel like a grown up.  So often it is parents entering into their child’s world, but this was an experience where The Munch and her young cousin’s were entering into an adult world.  Everyone was laughing and dancing and having the time of their lives, only the kids didn’t have to be drunk to lose their inhibitions… but I do think maybe they were taking ecstasy.