Tuesday
Jul272010
To Lift The Spirits (Sequel): Dancing with Matt...in Gaza
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 0:01
In January 2009, we posted a video made by Matt Harding, who filmed himself dancing --- sometimes by himself, sometimes with others --- in locations around the world. (It's re-posted at the end of this entry.)
That life-affirming video now has more than 30 million hits, and Harding's second film has been viewed more than 15 million times.
But here is the ultimate sequel. "Dancing with Matt" has now gone to Gaza.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, whose officials are relatively free from Israeli restrictions on entry into the Palestinian territory, invited Harding to "teach" his dancing to local children. An official explained, “This is an important message: kids in Gaza are like kids anywhere in the world. All they want is to have fun. If allowed to be, Gaza can be a normal place where children can thrive.”
And that for me is the most wonderful of ironies: the reason why I posted the first "Dancing with Matt" video in January 2009 was to offset the depressing, soul-sapping news of military operations taking civilian lives.
You can probably guess where that war was taking place.
Go Matt. Go Gaza. Go UNRWA.
The 2008 Video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
That life-affirming video now has more than 30 million hits, and Harding's second film has been viewed more than 15 million times.
But here is the ultimate sequel. "Dancing with Matt" has now gone to Gaza.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, whose officials are relatively free from Israeli restrictions on entry into the Palestinian territory, invited Harding to "teach" his dancing to local children. An official explained, “This is an important message: kids in Gaza are like kids anywhere in the world. All they want is to have fun. If allowed to be, Gaza can be a normal place where children can thrive.”
And that for me is the most wonderful of ironies: the reason why I posted the first "Dancing with Matt" video in January 2009 was to offset the depressing, soul-sapping news of military operations taking civilian lives.
You can probably guess where that war was taking place.
Go Matt. Go Gaza. Go UNRWA.
The 2008 Video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]