This is a very touchy subject that I am about to tackle. You see I was one of the original "wanna be's" meaning I was 15 years old when I first heard "Lucky Star" and nearly lost my mind. I used to take dance class three times a week. My teacher's name was Miss Lynn, she was a former Rockette. She was perfect to me. She did everything with such grace and her high kick was something to marvel at. Anyway, she hired a teacher named Lisa, who was 27years old. She walked into class wearing a pink faux fur coat, she had black curly hair, big green eyes and bright red lipstick. She sauntered in with an attitude, I had never seen anybody like her. She was sexy and I had never encountered a woman with her prowess before, all the adults in my life were so Catholic, prim and proper. Later when I moved to NYC and got out in the world I encountered people like her. They knew they had "it" and worked it.
She introduced herself and smiled at all of us. We were a rag a muffin bunch with our holey leotards and messy ponytails. Lisa took off her coat and she had on a ripped tank top that hung off of one shoulder, black tights cut off at the ankle and high heeled jazz shoes. I sat on the floor and stretched my legs, I was so happy that I could finally do the splits. I distinctly remember her pulling an album out of her fluffy bag, it had a black and white cover of a blonde woman with a chain around her neck. "Ok girls, we are going to do our warm up" she said. She lifted the needle on the record player and placed it gently on the record. Synthesizer sounds filled the air and I heard Madonna's voice for the first time. I think I changed that day. I got in touch with a part of me that I never knew was there. I moved differently and I tried to perfect each combination as the songs just played out; Holiday, Physical Attraction (still my fave, OMG such a sexy song), Everybody, Burnin Up. Lisa only taught the class for a few more weeks and to this day I have never forgotten her. She was the coolest.
So I grew up with Madonna. When through a lot of phases in life with each one of her albums. I ended up front row center at her Confessions on a Dance Floor tour. I was hanging out with a supermodel at the time and she was friends with Guy, Madonna's manager. We got the royal treatment. I was surrounded by Madonna's homies, her brother, Ingrid Casares, Chris Rock, and Gwyneth Paltrow. It was breathtaking. Her body was taut and her skin luminous and she put on a performance like no other. Her dancers were so fine and they were impeccable. At one point she sat on the steps in the front of the stage and sang "Live to Tell", she was scanning the front row, stopped and looked me in the eye while she sang. I got so excited, I peed a little. Can you imagine? Ha.
I was so inspired after that show that I marched into the restaurant where I worked and quit my waitressing job. I didn't know what I was going to do but I knew that I didn't want to do that anymore. I panicked for about a week and then I booked a recurring role on a TV show and got my first poem published. Needless to say, I love Madonna.
Cut to today and unbeknownst to me I have HBO. I didn't think it was part of my package but it was, the DirectTv peeps neglected to tell me this and I have been paying for it blindly for the last three months. As I channel surfed I came across "Lady Gaga in concert". Now I have always had a certain disdain for this young woman because essentially she is a Madonna copycat. Gotta give it to her though, she does it well. As the show progressed she was slowly earning my respect, she CAN dance and she CAN sing and for the most part she keeps it real. She talks a lot throughout her show and her little monsters just lap it up. I like her. She's cool, she's talented and she grabs your attention.
Madonna was my first love and Lady Gaga is my current fling. There is no comparison. M will always have my heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment