Wade In the Water–Joan’s Last Dance
27 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in In Memory, Intergenerational, Legacy, Performance
I have known Joan Calof for over 10 years. We are both storytellers. Joan joined Kairos Dance Theatre two years ago at the age of 81-spunky, talented and full of “chutzpah”. Joan had a wonderful gift of creating Jazz like poetry mixed with her life experiences– experiences that sometimes had a wild Bohemian edge to it. Joan brought her sexy, sensuous, jazz persona into the dance company. She was playful and flirtatious and over the two years we danced together– I watched her heart open in the arms of the “Kairos Family.”
Joan entered hospice four months ago. Several Kairos dancers came to her bedside one evening. There was one dance that Joan loved–”Wade in the Water”. It seemed a perfect dance for her transition into the next world. Maria, Peter, Jesse, Georgiana and I created a tight circle around Joan’s bed, we pushed the CD player, and each of us with Joan so, so thin under her thick covers, looking heavenly– began to dance, together, synchronized, our arms moving lyrically, as water. The room filled with presence. We breathed, we cried and we danced. What a perfect last dance.
We will miss you Joan.
Carla
