Today I spent the afternoon enjoying performances of Indian cultural dancing called Bhangra.

To be honest, it wasn’t on my list of 40 things. How could it be, when I’d never heard of it? Today was supposed to be the day I tested myself by eating a super-hot curry. I enjoy Indian food but usually stick to the mild stuff. But that challenge has to wait as the friend I was going out for food with, SJ, asked if I’d like to go to a fundraiser for a Scarborough Bhangra school instead. I thought about it – the invite was via email so I had the luxury of time – and decided to say YES.

I was reminded of Tina Fey’s book, Bossypants, and the section about saying yes. Tina started in improv and in her book she shared the rules of improvisation. The first rule is to AGREE and SAY YES.

She wrote:
When you’re improvising, this means you are required to agree with whatever your partner has created. So if we’re improvising and I say, “Freeze, I have a gun,” and you say, “That’s not a gun. It’s your finger. You’re pointing your finger at me,” our improvised scene has ground to a halt. But if I say, “Freeze, I have a gun!” and you say, “The gun I gave you for Christmas! You bastard!” then we have started a scene because we have AGREED that my finger is in fact a Christmas gun.

Now, obviously in real life you’re not always going to agree with everything everyone says. But the Rule of Agreement reminds you to “respect what your partner has created” and to at least start from an open-minded place. Start with a YES and see where that takes you.

My YES to SJ took me to a Markham banquet hall where more than 10 teams of dancers competed in Bhangra. It was high-energy with colourful outfits and all ages of boys and girls performing. I loved it. I wanted to try it myself… but just the arm motions because my nearly-40-year-old knees could not take all that bouncing and jumping.

It was definitely worthy of being #33. I was proud of myself for doing something different. Next time I need a smile or an energy boost, I think I’ll watch some YouTube Bhangra. The photo below is an internet pic. Today’s dancers were moving so fast I couldn’t get a clear shot.

A stock image of the type of dancing I enjoyed today.