Rochester Lindy Hop Reunion

(Rochester, 18–20 October 2019)

A thriving, resilient society is a patchwork of overlapping communities. Thriving comes from specialisation. Resilience comes from decentralisation.

Some communities are hierarchical. Others are flat. Some are competitive. Others are cooperative. Each one has a language. To flourish as an individual is to find a mix of communities—and solitude—that suits one best.

Dance and music are universal. So is silence. While the medium is not the message, the medium does define aesthetics, to which one is drawn at a visceral level.

Identity is the continuity of memories. Soundtracks glue memories together and, later, evoke them. Dance reveals the illusion of time. Past does not vanish. It all is one long conversation.

Some individuals are like music. They realise that, sometimes, in order to keep running, one must stay in place. They grow but do not age. They tie past, present, and future together. They tie people together. They facilitate the Conversation without ever attempting to dominate it.