Front Row of the Dance Parade

we live on the corner of st. marks and avenue a in the east village.  we are in the heart of the action, which i love, but sometimes i feel sheepish that we didn't realize that moving onto st. marks was like moving onto 18th street in adam's morgan.  it's noisy and full of bars and you can hear drunk nyu students stumbling home at 4am.  i haven't slept without earplugs since we moved up here.  but, sometimes living on st. marks makes my heart swell.  case and point.  a few weekends ago we noticed that metal barricades were erected along the length of the street.  we assumed some sort of race was coming through.  upon questioning a mildly interested police officer, we learned a dance parade was coming through!  our fire escape overlooks st. marks, so i perched myself on the balcony and had a front row view of the action.

the dance parade was part exhibit of world dancers and part freak show.

this woman was twirling in the most stunning gold dress.  i couldn't help but snap a few extra pictures of her.

i think these ladies were from mexico.

these guys were playing bluegrass on the back of a truck and had these crazy people on stilts walking behind them:

there was also a pole dancer!  andrew enjoyed this very much.

she had some serious moves.  i suppose technically it is a form of dance.

there were ladies on roller skates rockin' it out.

and then there was just all out dancing in the street.  it was fantastic.

here i am watching the excitement from the fire escape.

by the way, the little sign hung on the wrought iron in front of me says that if you put anything on the balcony you will be assessed a fine of ten dollars.  i love that sign.  it's a vestige of the past, that someone used to live in my apartment back when ten dollars used to be a prohibitive amount of money.  i wonder where they worked, what they did, what the apartment looked like...but i digress.  

what i did not take pictures of was my own little dance party out on the fire escape.  it was so much fun watching the dance parade and wondering what troupe would round the corner next.  it's these magical moments that new york brings me that makes all the hardships of living in this city totally worth it.