Flamenco

Last Friday night, a friend and I went to Denver's art district for the First Friday Art Walk. http://www.artdistrictonsantafe.com/calendar.php
It was perfectly cultural! Santa Fe is lined with fun, strange, creative and unique galleries. We started at one end and never did make it to the other end before the night was over. I was definitely in a big city - I heard foreign languages, saw alternative lifestyles and chic style (whether cool frames for glasses, funky hair, or wild dress). We all milled about, walking into a gallery seeing what there was to see, helping ourselves to a glass of wine, and then on to the next. Obviously, some art was more captivating than others. One of the first galleries had photography that was most bizarre - maybe it was supposed to impact me morally - pictures of dirt with model homes made out of cardboard.... I didn't get it. The next had beautiful oil paintings - lots of color with wild brush strokes....unfortunately, it reminded me of hotel art. I was completely delighted to walk into a studio where a young female does caricatures and creates little figurines. For instance, she had the coolest little Nacho Libre dude and she also does wedding cake toppers. She showed me original photographs of a cute couple that she had just finished a cake topper for. So fun!

We entered a building - not much to look at on the outside, but there were hallways that lead to lots of little galleries... I could hear fun music coming from one of the shops and we found our way inside. The room was dark and full of spectators. There was a guitar player, a percussion man and a hand-clapper. They were jamming out, and to their music, flamingo dancers showed their stuff. I drank some sangria as they danced. I could have stayed there all night and watched their feet moving quickly on the wooden floor. The two women and one man danced with stiff upper bodies and wild feet. It reminded me of a scene from "Strictly Ballroom," one of C's most favorite movies. The scene has the main characters dancing in the back of an old house, on an old wooden patio, as they dance a train rolls by on the tracks next to the house. It was their tempo and rhythm I was most impressed with. So much fun to watch. If it was all I had seen that evening I would've been content.

We went into a photography studio and saw beautiful places in Colorado I haven't even seen yet. It inspired me, not only to bring out my camera more often, but to travel around and see more of this breathtaking state.

We walked around actual studios, some felt like living rooms with music and couches, some felt sterile with paintbrushes and canvas. There was one that was popular with the younger viewers; The artist integrated wildlife with fun splashes of color and stenciled designs, very now, you know.

I left feeling worldly, in the cultural sense, appreciative of creativity and how differently it is expressed by people.