By Kimberley Brown

Tonight we watched All That Jazz. The movie stars Roy Scheider as Joe Gideon in a loose autobiography of director Bob Fosse’s life (stage director/ choreographer of “Pippin,” and “Chicago,” and film director of “Cabaret,” to name a tiny sliver of his work). I had some observations to share.

First, Ben Vereen is great. Second, the 70s, the era of my birth, make more sense to me as I age and also as I explore the popular culture of the time. There was a great deal of emotional exploration. Perhaps there was a quest to define what creates lasting emotional security, how to obtain instanteous emotional gratification, and understand the boundary or crossover between the two.

I found the last scene of the movie really inspirational. (What scene with Ben Vereen isn’t inspirational?)  Sorry, cover your eyes / stop reading if you haven’t seen the movie and plan to.  At this point in the movie, Roy Scheider’s character is dying. His experience is displayed larger than life dancing on a stage to George Harrison’s “Bye Bye Love.” Scheider is joined by Vereen in a scene that includes all the people important to Gideon’s life. It’s a celebration of lights, drama, beauty and flair.

It struck me how the experience of death and dying can be so different from the experience of everyday life. We have the energy and wherewithal when we are fully living to create something like Gideon’s last dance. In death we rarely have this chance. It reminded me how someone at a funeral usually remarks, “{Insert name} would have loved to see everyone here.” This is our chance to celebrate and our chance to dance. We have to do it now!