“Powered by Joy,” The Reverend Daniel Simons of Trinity Church recaps Sunday night’s screening at St. Paul’s Chapel
The Reverend Daniel Simons of Trinity Church wrote about Sunday night’s dance lesson and screening at St. Paul’s Chapel in the Trinity newsletter today:
The pleasure and poignancy of the film arises both in the exuberance of the street dancing, and in how passersby interact, or don’t. A few people dare to smile at the dancers, and a couple even dare to shuffle their feet with them. But given that this is New York, most people look straight through the spectacle as if it didn’t exist, or look away, or hunker down on their sandwich or newspaper, or step away warily from the dancers, as if they were contagious (as in fact they are). The film is a wonderful piece of popular artistry that is going viral around the world. It’s pure joy.
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About 200 folks turned up for the class – Nearly all had never been to St. Paul’s before – most probably had not been to church since childhood if at all.
John, one of the main characters in the film (“The Creep”), taught some wonderful freestyle moves. The heart of his teaching was easy participation and unedited joy, the soul’s language spoken through the body.
The film gathered even more people into the room, about 300, many of whom just kept dancing along with the story on the screen. The air was electric with a kind of childlike freedom. Even though I was nursing a cold, I found my feet moving irresistibly. There’s something about watching Joy happen around you that inspires more of it - and conversely, as the film’s footage showed, that grim determination to be somber and focused and even unhappy has a tremendous grip when it is adopted by the masses.
Thank you to Daniel, Emily Bloeker and the whole team at Trinity Wall St. for inviting us to St. Paul’s for a screening.
