You will recall that one of the highlights of my dancing career was getting to dance onstage with the inimitable Sharon Jones at the Apollo Theater in October of last year. Well it happened again today!
I was at Central Park Summerstage to catch Sharon Jones with a bunch of friends of mine. I actually got there early enough to get a spot directly in front of the stage, which was awesome. The opening acts, Ms. Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens and the Menahan Street Band were great warmups for the main event, performing soulful gospel and latin-tinged funk respectively. And when Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings started doing their thing, a couple thousand of us all jumped up and danced, clapped, and shouted.
Sharon Jones was about four songs into her set when she remarked that "there is a guy in the audience who danced for us at the Apollo last year. I wonder if we can get him onstage?" and pointed to me! I just about died right there.
I had the presence of mind to hand my Flip camera to my friend Andy, who captured this footage. Then I ran onstage and did my thing, in front of the 3,000 or so people that were crammed into Summerstage.
I still can't believe that just happened. What an incredible day.
(By the way, the song is "How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?", on Sharon Jones's "Naturally" album. Photo courtesy of awesome photographer racreations) .
