12/9/02
Last week brought a pleasant surprise for Paul and me. We discovered that instead of being forgotten after almost a 3 month absence at our old Wednesday dancing haunt here in Toronto, we were welcomed resoundingly by numerous staff asking where we'd been and having our coats given royal "behind the bar" treatment.
It was back in the beginning of September, a few weeks before our October stay in Arizona, that Paul and I last went to The Fluid Lounge on a Wednesday night for dancing. I remember that we weren't happy with the rather low energy music played by the DJ on the main side becoming routine before midnight - the "other side" is always hip-hop those nights. Unfortunately, when some upbeat rhythms finally were played, the dance floor was too crowded to really dance. So instead, we'd gone to the Tonic, further west on Richmond, that plays a lot of techno and there we got our mid-week exercise work out till we left for Arizona.
This past Wednesday was actually our first mid-week dance outing since returning - Paul had that bout of "whatever" (see 11/14 Kitty Reflects entry) and then I was just not in the "go out in the cold" mood on 11/27 (I think I wasn't fully recovered from the "border departure"), but resolved the next day that we'd "do it" the following Wednesday - even if it snowed. Late last Wednesday afternoon after awakening, I entered us on the Guest List for the Tonic. We were attired in very complementary black with white under our outer wear when we rounded the corner of Richmond and Peter and were met with a closed club. ??? There was no sign of explanation and doormen at a neighboring club had none to give either, though they did say that others had also asked.
We decided quickly that we might as well see whether we could still get in The Fluid as members. The previous Friday we'd passed by and didn't recognize the doormen, so we didn't know what reception we might have this night. (Our favorite place - The Cathedral on the Joker's 3rd floor - had not opened Friday due to insufficient clientele; but that's a whole 'nother story.) We were pleasantly surprised when on approaching the chained entry (two lines of patiently waiting customers to each side along the wall, shorter on the "Guest List" side), one of the doormen quickly unlatched the chain and, with a pleasant "good evening", motioned us to the door. As I reached the bottom of the short flight of stairs, a bouncer who did not know us gave the usual "$10 each" announcement; the young fellow in the booth to my right with his head extended quickly responded "They're members." And to us he continued animatedly, "Hey, it's been a long time. Where have you guys been?" Caught a bit off guard, Paul replied that we'd been in Arizona for a month, to which came back "Sounds like a good place to visit right now."
I could hear the emotionally upbeat and lively music from the main floor to the left past the entry and stuffed Paul's light wind breaker into the sleeve of my quilted winter coat as we headed to the check room situated at the back. Before we could actually get in the short line, a fellow was at our elbow announcing that he'd put our coats behind the bar and that we need just ask for them when we were ready to leave. As a result, our entry onto the dance floor was still to the good selection being played as we descended the entry stairs.
There were numerous smiles and even a few little waves from staff and customers as we began to dance on the floor, which was already occupied by several semi-dancers (those who make some movements in rhythm to the music being played, but are noticeably restrained in the territory they cover and the leg and arm movements they make; almost as if they are undecided whether they want to be noticed). Paul and I are not in this category; we are each quite comfortable with the way we move - independently most of the time - to the music, and "traveling" on the floor in various ways depending on the selection. The floor population actually thinned out for several minutes with the customers on the sidelines as we danced. I could see several that I recognized from previous months and others apparently being informed by their neighbors as to who we were.
Gradually, customers joined us on the floor, one woman even asking me if it was OK if she danced with us, to which I smiled and responded, "Of course." A somewhat overweight young woman approached me from the sidelines and strained to convey the message (remember, the music is loud in these places) that she'd seen us last year and thought that we were "just great". I shouted a "thank you" in her ear and added that she should visit our website, MoreLife. Seeing that she may not have fully understood, and the fact that Paul was nearby, I obtained a business card and gave it to her. She enthusiastically gave me a big smiled "thank you", looked at the card, showed it to her friends, and slipped it into her little purse. (I like to think that she's actually visited MoreLife by now and will, as a result, alter her life style practices for a healthier, longer, more fulfilling life.)
When we paused for our water break at our usual side bar, the bartender immediately reached for the large glasses, depositing ice and cold water without being asked. We'd not been forgotten by her either and Paul left our usual tip. We didn't bother to sit on the "other side" since it was crowded, playing non-dance (in our opinion) hip-hop, and the music was still good on the main side, even though the crowd was making dance "travel" more challenging.
It was a good 90 minutes of energetic dancing that Wednesday at the Fluid, though not of the caliber for Paul's "off the floor" moves. When we signaled the bartender that we were ready for my coat, he yelled (to insure being heard) that he'd been there 3 1/2 years (we'd been going there together regularly for well over 2 while Paul started more than 5 years ago) and that we should just let him have our coats every time, adding the hope we'd be back soon. We assured him we would and then made our way around the periphery of the dance floor to the entry/exit. There, the young guy in the booth called out, "Coming back next Wednesday?" to which Paul replied that we were planning on it.
In fact, we were back two nights later when the Limelight, where we had planned to go instead of the temporarily closed Cathedral at the Joker, was found on arrival to have its retro/disco floor under renovation. (It's only open floor was playing that non-dance hip-hop we dislike.) Again we were warmly greeted (the box office fellow with a "Hey, you're back!" as Paul gave him a business card) and even by name by another bartender who eagerly took my coat (Paul's windbreaker up the sleeve) whom I didn't recognize till we were ready to leave about 90 minutes later. His wife had been the regular provider of our water for many months (during which time I'd learned of their move to "the city" for more opportunities) and now we learned from him that they'd had a baby 2 months previously. Hearty congratulations were in order; we gave him our business card and I encouraged him to have his wife drop me an email when she had time. (Next visit I'll urge him to drag out the baby pictures :)
As we left The Fluid again on Friday (dancing had been good, first on the "other side" then playing energetic Latin, and later on the main floor when House replaced the hip-hop), we remarked to each other, as we had on Wednesday, that we hadn't realized how much we'd been appreciated there. Despite the drawbacks at the Fluid - frequent smoking and drinking on the dance floor, and increasing numbers (as the crowd grows) who simply stand on the dance floor - we can get enough energetic music and sufficient floor space for our desired 90 minutes starting about 11:15pm on Wednesdays and 11:00pm on Fridays (the latter until the Joker's Cathedral is again in operation with its real high energy music). There are likely only 3 more Wednesdays at most that we will have at the Fluid before we are off to Arizona. But now we can be sure that on that first Wednesday when we return - we'll let people know of our upcoming absence - that we'll be warmly welcomed back. And we'll let them know too that it will be a 3 day delayed "celebration time" of my 58th birthday; and the first time there after Paul hits the big 65 at the end of February ;>)
 |
 |
This website is not copyright because its creators do not agree with government copyright laws. Readers are welcome to copy and distribute any text within the site as long as they do not modify the text and they provide a link to this website as its clear source.