It wasn’t unusual — well, at least in California, it wasn’t unusual in the late 1960s to see a young girl with her face and arms raised toward the sun dancing gracefully by herself. She followed the rhythm of a band or a beat she heard internally. But that era has come and gone, except on Sunday as I was going up to the Observatory in Griffith Park. There, just standing on a turn-out, drinking a Starbucks latte, was a woman in a long skirt. I thought she was just enjoying the view toward downtown L.A. and the Observatory. I took a few photos of the Observatory and as I was getting back into my car, this woman set down her latte and began a dance. Maybe she wasn’t a 1960s holdover. Maybe she was just a dancer–and there are thousands in L.A. Without a doubt young women have been celebrating the sunlight with dance for thousands of years and perhaps she was simply continuing the tradition.
The Observatory at Griffith Park is open to the public and because of the light pollution in Los Angeles it is more a space/planet/science discovery center than a serious, deep space observatory. The views pf the Los Angeles Basin from there are terrific and you can learn some things, too.
To go to the Observatory, follow the signs into Griffith Park from Los Feliz Blvd.
Originally published September 10, 2012
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