The Day I Danced with Matt

One night 4 years ago, I was awake at 2 in the morning, unable to sleep, feeling blue.  Checking my emails, I see my sister in law Tami had sent me a link to a You Tube video called “Where the Hell is Matt?” she thought was beautiful.  I could use some beauty right now, I thought, and I clicked on it.  The video was amazing and yes, beautiful.  The music stirred my heart.  The dancing made me smile. I sat there with tears rolling down my cheeks and a grin on my face as I replayed it over and over.  It took my sadness away by reminding me there is a big wide world out there, a world of laughter and wonder.

I am a fan of anyone who could spread such good feelings with such a simple formula – dancing the same simple step all over the world.   I went to Matt’s website  and signed up to be notified when Matt might be dancing in LA for an upcoming video.  Last year, I got a notice he was coming to Los Angeles for his 2012 video and emailed my fun loving friend Zan to join me at the Watts Towers to dance with Matt.

We drove down with another friend of hers.  There were about 100 other people there too, of all ages and races.  What fun!  We spent about 20 minutes just dancing in a group, following Matt’s suggestions for steps, as this video was not going to be just one dance like in his 2008 video.  I was thrilled to be there, and acted like a total groupie afterwards, as you can tell from the photo.   I am a sucker for men who spread happiness, what can I say.

Alexandra, groupie

Los Angeles did not make the cut for this year’s video, which is almost as lovely as the one I first saw.  The music is stirring this time too, and it is impossible to watch without smiling!  But Matt sent outtakes and you can see the LA crew dancing their hearts out at exactly 2 minutes 50 seconds into the piece.   Zan is in the front row far left with purple pants, pink top and a light blue shirt tied around her waist, dancing with glee.  I am in the second to last row, far left, in the turquoise top.  Hard to see, but I am having a blast!

I love all Matt’s videos as they remind me how similar we all are the world over, and how amazing this planet is.   Matt will never win Dancing with the Stars, but he might garner a peace prize.  If politicians and military generals danced with Matt, I know there would be no more wars.