You Always Sensed Something Was Missing

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More About

• Benny Goodman
• Patrick Buchanan

There are some things in this world — not many, but some — that exist only because they haveto. They don’t make sense, they have not an ounce of rationality to them, but they’re there all the same, and the world is somehow more complete because of it. Pat Buchanan was once such a thing; “paint dancing” is another. If you go to YouTube and search for “paint dancing,” one of the links shows you a room full of people, bopping crazily around a bunch of paint-splattered tables while Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” blasts from what must be a monster of a stereo system. The people are wearing frumpy blouses, T-shirts, old jeans -- the kinds of things you wouldn’t mind ruining just for the hell of it. They’re all holding paintbrushes. Between their gyrations, they attack small, white pieces of paper arrayed in front of them, creating swirls and rough figures and blotches. They yell “whoo!” very often and seem to mean it. This makes sense when you see it — you may find yourself wondering why anybody would want to paint withoutshaking ass to Benny Goodman — but not in any way you can explain. It’s a feeling thing, and it can be checked out today at the Gallery One Plaza (1169 Old Dixie Hwy., Lake Park). You need paint clothes, a bag of potatoes for a local food bank, and $12. Everything else is provided. For more information — or to see the video mentioned above (and you really, really should, genuinely joyful creative craziness being the rare and precious thing that it is) — visit www.paintdancing.com.
Fri., Nov. 16, 2007