Everything had been settling into place, gearing up as it had done in 2018 when I readied myself for America and ’66. I’d begun the search for the right kit, replaced Barbara my trusty dancing buggy with Barbara Mark II (for the dunes and hurdles of the US had been too much for Babs to bear), and set about plotting just how I would go about dancing every step across Europe.
Trishna and I adventured in the February half term by walking half of the London loop. It was an attempt to boost my underlying fitness right from my doorstep, with four or so months to go until Dance Europe began.
It was then that the news started filtering through. First a distant story little covered by the news. Then word of it spreading westwards. Then a fast-revealing horror happening in Italy (I posted the image below on social media around that time). And then everything being stopped in its tracks.
We all know the awful story that followed. On a personal level we took serious precautions, not least because Trishna’s serious brush with pneumonia two years back had left her compromised and at increased risk of Covid complications should she get it. I was lucky to have a job that could hastily move online. We were privileged to be able to lock down in a home with a garden, and thankful to still be able to conjour a summer of adventure as we trekked along the South West Coast Path from Minehead to Penzance that 2020 summer.
Dancing was forced on the back burner until some future time in a future world where it was safer to dance across continents for charity. Ever since, the itch to get back out there has grown – but with life so very different now to how it was at the dawn of 2020, it will take some creative adjustment to make it all fit in. But it’s exciting to think of just what might be possible.
