Day 394: Dancing Boffin

I can't BELIEVE I forgot the dancing boffin yesterday. 

Ruth and I travelled down to The Barbican early to take in an exhibition before the Bobby McFerrin show (did I mention that...?). All very grown up, and a good use of time. We got there to find the place absolutely heaving with people, many of them children. It turns out we'd stumbled upon a Barbican Weekender called Brainwaves - stuff all about the brian. Neuroscience for everyone. How tasty is that!

Information about brains and how they work is up there with my fascination with anatomical diagrams (and if you get both at once... oh my goodness, I can hardly contain myself). We found where we needed to be and did a little wee - all the things it's sensible to do before going into a show (especially one without an interval) and then we went back up and headed towards the gallery. We didn't get far. There was a crowd gathering and someone evidently doing something on a little stage. We gathered.

The man was Dr Peter Lovatt, and what we'd stumbled upon was a 'Brain Flash' - a brain-inspired flash mob. It was brilliant! He was getting people to dance to their own beat and then to short sequences of co-ordinated movements to demonstrate the difference between the different ways neurons function - alone or in synch with others. He introduced sequence after sequence, then put them all together with some funky 'Feel It All Over' music. The fluid-hipped doctor bopped and boogied and moved like a hand through water. Then he did the routine with such eager delight and skill with an audience. I've often thought that good lecturers (like great preachers and musical performers) are often as good at banter as stand-ups, and in a way easier, as that's just a by-product of what they're there to do rather than the whole deal. He was great. We danced until the moves became too tricky and we fell over ourselves a bit. We kept dancing after that too, just not quite as effectively. I was all hot and grinny after that. It was the perfect start.


I just looked up the guy and he does this a lot. He studies dance and the mind. He was a dancer and then became an academic. Wheeee! Very exciting. Check him out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kCZZp3u_xE

I flew to Geneva today. I'm there now. I never quite get over taking off and landing. It's always a little excitement for me and always makes me smile. AND today, all alone, I had the lovely experience of having a gentleman waiting for me at the airport with a little sign. It had the company name on it, and when I got there, he greeted me with my name.   Would I get over that? It's lovelier still being met by a beloved friend, but that's a different kind of pleasure. This is a good kind, though. A childish glee, but one I have no interest in growing out of. Bring it on!