What the Davies Symphony Hall Has in Common with Lacrosse Games, Jewish Weddings, and the Discothèque
Mr. Perlman’s casual airs of fiddly Yiddish folk music clash beautifully with the gilded ceilings and eveningwear. He requests, during the last piece, for everyone to stand up, dance the Hora—and so they do, downstairs, wrinkled hands linked in a lopsided circle, giggling away. There’s only enough room in the skinny aisles of cheap balconies for our jealousy to stay seated. Years ago, I was a chubby and unathletic kid who dreaded outdoor classes until seventh grade gym taught me how to dance the Hora before I ever went to any Bat Mitzvah. I’ll find, somewhere in my head, not only the rusty footwork but also the way frolicking in the muddy fields wielding plastic lacrosse sticks made me fearless even when missing goal kicks, or at least enough of it to stop thinking, stumble downstairs, and grin at the ushers until they let us in to dance.
Sophia Zhang is a semi-closeted francophile attending Los Altos High in the Silicon Valley, where she defends the humanities as a valuable study amongst her STEM-ish classmates daily. Her writing and artwork have been published in Star 82 Review, Sheepshead Review, and Meat For Tea. Instagram: @fiachanel
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