Although I arrived in Brasil committed to the idea of a Dance Marathon I wasn’t exactly sure how this would materialise. As a starter I set myself a system: dance daily! easy peasy! but then shyness and laziness kicked in. My comfort zone began clawing me back – to cosy cosy comfort.

So instead I decided to hold the idea in my hand and allow my new circumstances to mingle with and mould it. Main ingredient: an English Lindy hopper + a healthy dollop of –out-of-comfort-zone experiences–,….let them establish in a Brasilian petri dish for a few months = A dance marathon love child began to grow.

There was a spark, yes – an inspired growth spurt: my boyfriend Raoul’s birthday. As April 5th approached and because Brasilian snail mail had let us down once already, I decided to create a digital message. Three traveller friends, Soyeon, Monika and Daniel got me thinking about doing something on the Selaron Steps in Lapa, Rio. 

And that’s how the Dance Marathon began officially. With this message of LOVE! from a girl to a boy with an ocean between them.

Raoul Self and Rosemary Grieve 🙂

Soyeon took LOTS of photos of me as I sprinted around one early morning. Only days before had she and I been talking about the charm of Charlie Chaplin. With her help I threw the images together on Movie Maker inspired by this early cinema style. A very crude animation in this case!

We had the most wonderful time shooting this and a slap up breakfast in Santa Teresa to celebrate afterwards.

An ever gorgeous I.T. boffin Soyeon