Dancing with Mariano

The summer of 2019. Hehe. I was on a working vacation in Madrid, busking at the Telefonica corner of Grand Via when Carlos Asperilla (@ asperilla on most social media) shot this video. It's a pretty normal scene, me singing on a corner somewhere. But it captured the hearts of Thousands, practically overnight. Why? MARIANO!!!!

Mariano. One of THE coolest humans I have Ever had the pleasure of meeting. Here's the basic gist of his story, as it pertains to this, anyway:

Mariano has ALways loved to dance. But when he got married, his beloved, for whatever reasons of her own, discouraged him from dancing. When she passed away, several years ago, Mariano went back to his love of dance. Now, he dances frequently at the community gatherings in his area, and then in the evening, weather permitting, he wanders around central Madrid seeking out the musical buskers so that he can dance some more.

The first time Mariano found Me last winter, I was overjoyed. He just exudes such powerful positive energy, a balm to the spirit of Anyone he encounters. Any time I was in Madrid, he would bump into me again and dance. After a while, I realized that I ALSO wanted to dance. I mean, he was having So much fun. It was also an opportunity for me to finally sing some of the songs I loved that had interludes too long for normal busking. So I danced with Mariano. And it became our thing. Apparently, after those first couple of dances, he started to seek me out. Anytime I would visit Madrid, there he would be.

This shot, I think, may have been like the 6th or 8th time we ever danced together? Something like that? And good gracious, I am SO grateful that Asperilla captured this moment. Not just because it went viral, but also because very few of the people who had captured us together actually sent me a copy that I could hang on to. This is such a gift.

Anyhoo, enjoy 🤗

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