30-Year-Old Shirt

It was in January of 1994 that I first taught in Australia. In one workshop, a woman was dancing with the others holding a large bag over her shoulder. It was beginning to annoy me— didn’t she know about Orff workshop protocol? So I walked up to her during the dancing and I gently suggested she put it off to the side. She handed it to me, I set it in the corner —and thankfully, didn’t throw it! Because at the lunch break, I saw what was inside— an orphaned baby kangaroo she had adopted! Welcome to Australia!

So here I am, exactly 30 years later, about to board a plane to return to Sydney to teach. 36 students in a Jazz Course and staying again (as I did in ’94) with my dear friend Margie Moore. It’s a sunny day in San Francisco, but the air has a wintry chill to it and I’m looking forward to my second year in a row of Australian Summer in January. As well as the chance to reunite with old friends and acquaintances, meet new ones and teach one of my favorite courses.

 

Many years back, while teaching my Jazz Course in San Francisco, four middle-aged women were in the class along with a vibrant young musician who was deeply immersed in some of the black roots-of-jazz music we were exploring, something new to the women. When the class got to the 1920’s and the beginning of the Jazz Age, the women suddenly felt at home and were so happy to spring up and dance the Charleston, while the young man looked up in confusion thinking “What is this?” When he confessed that he had never encountered this style, one of the women asked, “How old are you anyway?!”

 

“20” he replied and without missing a beat, she retorted, “I have clothes older than you!!”

 

So imagine my surprise when I looked at the above photo again and realized, “I still have that shirt!” And still wear it also. It was a handmade gift from my Orff colleague Susan Kennedy and it has held up over time. I think I’ll take it back to Australia. Maybe take another photo with a joey.