Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Its Balkan Night

Its Saturday, Balkan Night at El Teatro, and I am tired but going out anyway.
We go to Jeremy's with our cheap wine, looking forward to the luxury that is Jeremy's sweet ass pad.
There are fabulous people there,
we have a good time and urge everyone to hurry up and leave!!! We don't want to get there so late that we can't get a ticket!
There is no line, and plenty of tickets.
We shell out the 20 pesos we think is vale la pena for live music.

The place is empty and beautiful.
A larger than life chandelier hangs in the space left by a circular balcony over the entrance way, and the largest disco ball I've ever seen slowly spins over the dance floor.
I watch from the balcony above the dance floor, surveying.
This place is very cool: an old theater with a dance floor instead of seats, and a bar with popcorn instead of peanuts.
We wander over when Jess tells up we can have a bottle of wine for 20 pesos, an our plan to avoid spending money falters. To make up for it I eat an entire bowl of salty popcorn...and then beg the bartender for the tap water he claims he doesn't have but resurfaces with 3 minutes later.

More and more people we know arrive,
including all the Frenchies and we start to talk, and dance to the weird Arabian music.
The French girl is always taking pictures

Finally we realize the dance floor has filled up and we rush downstairs to get in the front. We are ready for this Balkan music phenomenon that is "all the rage" in Europe.
The curtain finally opens....

and its Kumbia.
and Jessica is mad

Most people at this point have gotten tired of waiting and have left, but we are determined to get out 20 pesos worth, so we stay.
I'm glad to have Josh to dance with, Kumbia's kinda lame to dance to on your own
and kind of lame in general
But I just like dancing with Josh

Finally the band finished their set, and the DJ starts back up.
The music is sounding more Balkan now...people are starting to dance kind of strangely,
and I see some one doing that crazy Russian dance my Dad and I used to do when I was little
the one where you squat and kick your legs out

The music becomes more and more frenzied and so does the dancing.
People are dancing in circles, arm in arm - i am transported back to the old country
the room starts to spin, no its the people
and we are all separated as one by one we are sucked into the mix of people who are now mashing,
throwing themselves around, and flailing their arms
as they whirl and whirl and whirl

I like it at first, I abandon myself to it and let it take me, spin me around until...
whack!
An arm to the throat and I almost start to cry.
I pull it together though!
and once again abandon myself to this washing machine on spin cycle
I find Jessica, we dance more wildly than before, and we run into that Israeli guy from Jeremy's party.
We dance and are having a great time. Josh shows up, shirt off, wild look in his eye, he's loving this. I yell "this is my boyfriend Josh" and Israeli guy immediately disappears. Josh soon does too.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I scream into the crowd, tired of, men with one track minds.
Screaming feels...
amazing
Someone says to Jessica, I think you're friend is crazy.

We dance, we are pushed around, fall to the floor, and are picked up again. We find each other, we loose each other, and find ourselves.

4 thirty rolls around, we grab our people and head out the door just as all those inside are getting ready to kick it up a notch. The cool rain feels good at first on our steaming skin, but soon becomes too cold, and we abandon hope of finding a bus and hail a cab.
We arrive home tired, a little bewildered, and wake up sore.

3 comments:

Austin said...

Oh my god, Julia, this is amazing. I love it.

Julia said...

hey, check out the newest one for a small shout out to you!

Julia said...

and thanks