A Time to Sing and a Time to Dance-Think Anew

Dec 17

Dec 17 A Time to Sing and a Time to Dance

As Ecclesaistes beautifully put it “to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” These words remind us of life’s unpredictability and how important it is to be grateful for what we have and enjoy life when and as best we can.

In the year about to end there certainly have been difficult times, but as there is “A time to weep” there is also “a time to laugh.” As there is “A time to mourn,” there is also “a time to dance.” In that spirit, I invite you to balance life’s troubles with its joys in the selections below - five moments that people who experienced them didn’t expect but found happy and healing. Pick any one – or more. May these pleasure-filled moments also serve as a reminder of how much we gain in sharing our common humanity.

If the highlighted hotlinks below don’t work with your computer, copy the title of the YouTube video (it appears above the brief description) and put it in your Internet browser. (A brief YouTube-sponsored ad may precede some of the videos, so skip it or hang in there!)

Flash Mob - Verdi's Drinking Song (Libiamo ne' lieti calici), La Traviata at Drake's

Customers at this Australian market did not expect the staff to offer them this unexpected additional food for the soul. These Italian opera stars perform Verdi’s Drinking Song in their effort to bring classical opera out of the symphony hall to those who might not otherwise get to experience it.

The English title of the song is "Let's drink from the joyful cups." It is from Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata (1853). The song is performed in the first act and is sung by Violetta and Alfredo who are at a party. Alfredo is in love with her and is convinced to demonstrate his voice. After he begins, he is joined by Violetta and the rest of the opera company.

Click here for the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjbNvCQidJc

Grease – Central Station Antwerp

The musical Grease, the story of high school teens navigating the difficult years of peer pressure, sexual attraction and love on their journey to maturity, was first performed in Chicago in 1971 and eventually made into a 1978 movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. “Grease is the Word,” the title song of the movie, was not in the original stage production but was added for the film audience.

In this 2016 rendition, more than 250 people participated in this dancing performance of a medley of Grease songs during rush hour at the Central Station in Antwerp, Belgium. The musical was set to open soon in Antwerp, so this was probably the best kind of advertisement possible. These young people and their feet gave meaning to a line from the song’s chorus: “Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion . . Now, grease is the way we are feeling.”

Click here for the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_hlvRNgGOQ&t=3s

I ask a stranger if she knows Vivaldi Four Season: Winter (L'Inverno) and She Steals The Show

Karolina Protsenko is sixteen years old. She was born in Kyiv, Ukraine into a musical family; her parents play guitar and piano. The family moved to the United States in 2015 when she was 6 and she began violin lessons that same year. Here she is asked by a passerby to play a classic piece. She is reluctant given the outdoor location but Anna Kovaleva, a pianist, offers to accompany her and that ends Karolina’s reluctance. Here the two combine on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – Winter.

Click here for the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SdDL_ar0v0&list=PLgdCnIYA_vvY38L9hw3L5FGUgAn7_Cbkz&index=57

Amazing Moment, Guy Sings Perfect in Italian

Allie Sherlock is an Irish singer and guitarist based in Cork, Ireland. Allie has built her popularity by performing live on the streets of Dublin every weekend. In her 2021 performance of Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, a tribute to love, a member of the street audience asks if he might join in. The result is an amazing joint rendition of the song, in English and Italian, proving someone can appreciate a perfect love in any language.

Click here for the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBkA3YWzy3o&list=PLgdCnIYA_vvY38L9hw3L5FGUgAn7_Cbkz&index=34

Flash Mob –Sing “Lean on Me” at London Bridge Station

At London Bridge station in December 2018, commuters were entertained by a flash mob choir with a heart-warming rendition of Lean on Me. The song was written by Bill Withers who grew up in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. It conveys his appreciation for the strong community in his hometown. This performance was organized to raise awareness for Railway Children, a charity fighting for children at risk on the streets and railways of the UK, India and East Africa. The singers included station staff and rail employees among others. The message is one we all need to hear from time to time as we face life’s difficulties.

Click here for the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifKnqMekWx8&list=PLgdCnIYA_vvY38L9hw3L5FGUgAn7_Cbkz&index=35

Wishing you the best for this holiday season and a healthy and peaceful 2025.

Photo Credit: Geralt - pixabay.com

Terry Newell

Terry Newell is currently director of his own firm, Leadership for a Responsible Society. His work focuses on values-based leadership, ethics, and decision making. A former Air Force officer, Terry also previously served as Director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education, and as Dean of Faculty at the Federal Executive Institute. Terry is co-editor and author of The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships That Make Government Work (CQ Press, 2011). He also wrote Statesmanship, Character and Leadership in America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and To Serve with Honor: Doing the Right Thing in Government (Loftlands Press 2015).