Hi Veena and Hi to all,
This is one of my first posts on the website and I am honored to respond to Veena's thread on Prince. I, too was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of his death this past Thursday. It is a tremendous loss to the music industry, to his fans, and to the world.
I have been pole dancing for almost 2 years and consider it a wonderful and exhilarating form of creative expression. It is also a complete form of exercise that never, ever becomes repetitive! I am so grateful that pole dancing came into my life, even though it is at a relatively older stage (to put it in perspective, Prince and Purple Rain came into view for me when I was 15 or so).
In that regard, life has taken me down some interesting paths but Prince and his music always played a key role in who I ultimately became as a person. Fun, sexual, intelligent,spiritual, philosophical, energetic, intense, tender, confident, laid-back, and sometimes goofy (there are Youtube videos of Prince when he appeared on the Muppet Show many years ago..it's adorable), Prince taught me that it is normal and amazing to have multiple, interactive dimensions to our personalities and to take the best of those aspects and nurture them within ourselves, grow, and hopefully never become stagnant.
I will miss Prince. I was at one of his last concerts (less than 4 weeks ago in Toronto) and marveled at how much a man with only a piano could thrill, move, and inspire an audience. We sang along, danced in our seats, and soaked up his entire presence. Prince lives on, through his music, in all of us all over the world.
Veena, thank you so much for posting an entry about him. The willingness to take on new personal/physical/creative challenges is definitely one of the most significant themes on your website and something that Prince embodied during his life and through his music and performances. I see now that I probably would have never tried pole dancing if it wasn't for him. I am so very grateful that you helped me recognize that reality within myself.
If I ever start losing the drive to dance and express myself, I will remind myself of where it all began.
One day, Prince, I will have a dance to one of your songs worked out for the pole. I might have the courage to post it here. I really hope you'll smile when you see it.
