So long, and thanks for all the endorphins

Matt and Lotte are leaving Cambridge. They were among the most eloquent teachers I’ve had the good fortunate to study with, and I only wish I’d been able to spend more time with them. Watching them dance at their leaving party, which I left not long ago, was an opportunity to see perfect articulation in body language. As Lotte shared one last dance with each of the folks who had come to The Snug on this chilly evening, her movements expressed not only her usual joie de vivre, but also a sadness to be leaving behind so many friends and dance partners, and a nervous excitement to be jetting off for a new life on the other side of the world.

With their boundless energy and enthusiasm (egged on by a few notable supporters), this couple has built a thriving, lively and - crucially - extremely happy community from people with a thoroughly diverse range of backgrounds. It’s a community that has assembled one or two evenings a week, not just to dance, but - and I think this is true for all the community’s members - to receive a dose of Matt & Lotte’s magic brew of humour, motion and music. Why magic? Because the sum is greater than its parts. These simple ingredients, in lesser hands, would not be a recipe for a sense of elation that can last a week (not to mention a sense of, quite honestly, levitation, that can last at least a day).

How does the magic work? It works, as most magic does, by the silent action of an unmentioned thing. In conventional magic, this thing could be a hidden compartment, a card up the sleeve, or a gap in a steel hoop (hope I haven’t spoiled that trick for anybody!). In Matt and Lotte’s case, it’s a deep and abiding combination of optimism, love and insight. They exude a happiness that’s so welcoming it would be impossible (and, in my experience, is impossible) to leave a session with them feeling glum: they bring you into a glorious, shared emotion. This is a potent kind of communication.