Just dance.

The truly faithful amongst my readership will remember the parade I Bollywood danced by through back in this blog's infancy. It's okay if you don't. At any rate, this annual event came around yet again this year, as annual events so often do.But this year I wasn't in it. I had considered joining the group that I performed the dance to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" with in last year's Halloween parade, but strangely every time they had a practice, I had something better to do. Sometimes it was a tin whistle class, other times my weekly bar trivia night, and many times it was just the fact that it's rained basically every day in the last three weeks of May and dancing in precipitation is not nearly as fun as Gene Kelly would have us believe.

However, while I was not up for the participation aspect, I certainly wanted to cheer on my former MJ stylin' brethren. Also, the day of the parade just happened to be the first time the sun had been out in six days, so it seemed a shame to stay indoors. But now it's back to raining, and so I'm back indoors and ready to share some photos from the day (none of which I took)!

These dancers had some of the best costumes and energy level in the parade. They made me want to be Bolivian in a way that few dance groups can.

There were a lot of kids in the parade who were incredibly enthusiastic about the experience (including a pair of 7-year-old salsa dancers who far surpass the salsa skill level I even aspire to), and then there were those who had clearly been dragged from their preferred childhood activities. Such as this little boy--the saddest little flag carrier in New York.

Pole dancing has become an acceptable fitness routine now, so why not be featured in the parade? I give this woman props for bravery both for hanging on a pole on top of a platform ridden by a bicycle through the streets as well as for having the guts to show quite so much of herself to parade spectators.

The official "Grand Marshal of the Dance Parade." I have no idea what she did to get this gig, but it seemed like a pretty easy job. She didn't even dance.

The unofficial Grand Marshal of the Dance Parade. I remember this guy from last year. You can't see it, but he has a decorated baby stroller he carries the dog in. Also, the bird on his head is a trained parrot, not a rogue pigeon.

Okay, that's one more Bolivian dancer for the road. They just make every photograph so effortlessly composed (and I can say that having supplied none of the effort in the composition of this photo).

You might have noticed there are no photos of Michael Jackson impersonators above. Alas, I was not the only Beat It dancer who had defected, and the practices were so sparsely attended that the group pulled out at the last second. I guess there are only so many times you can expect people to volunteer time to transform themselves into pop song gang members in a single calendar year. I hope everyone is back into fighting shape by Halloween though. I know I will be.