Harvard Square: A Sunday Uplift From The Grips Of A Pandemic

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Manna from heaven comes in many forms during these months of pandemic. A Sunday afternoon jaunt to Harvard Square ranks right up there with the miracle of the fishes and the loaves of bread. Since March, only places I have frequented are the market, Home Depot, CVS and my favorite restaurants to pick up takeout food at their doors. For those of you keeping count, that’s 9 months.

Lately, I have been beset by maddening intractable technical issues on my desktop. A trip to one the most iconic places in metro Boston is just the ticket. If my computer can’t reset, I can.

Harvard Square on a Sunday afternoon is a destination known around the world. Battle scars from the pandemic are obvious. Some of the stores that have anchored the square for generations have been shuttered. Some have moved to another part of the square when their rents were jacked up, others have reestablished themselves in other neighborhoods. Some sadly will never reopen. Despite the economic toll the square is still a drawing card of the first order.

There is enough meat left on the bones of the place to give old timers like me a sense of continuity on this circumscribed patch of Cambridge that has drawn locals and visitors to it for generations. 

The emergence of free and fabulous street entertainment in the past 15 years - jugglers, magicians, pantomimists, acrobats, goofy and dog and pony shows without the ponies and hallelujah – music - is a huge draw. 

You’re not tripping over them as you walk from store to store, the city regulates where they can entertain. The most coveted place for entertainers is the section smack in the middle of Brattle Square, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Streets

On warm summer nights, spectators by the hundreds make a beeline there to be thrilled by some of the most original street acts in any town you’ll ever visit.

Heading down Brattle Street from what used to be Nini’s Corner (forced to move after decades), we hear the strains of a righteously ramped up cover band. Whatever else was on the to do list is immediately scratched. Live music, talented musicians, outdoors in the fresh air, real dance music, totally fabulous, oh yes, we are heading there right now.

Most people are tapping their feet or swaying to the music or wiggling their butts. A few are free styling  the music by themselves. All wear masks.

I have absolutely got to dance right now. I have not partner danced since March. This feels like the oasis I have been dreaming about for months. 

“Baby, we’re going to dance,” says I.  

My shopping companion, the one who came up with this idea, is quite the rug cutter at her Arthur Murray Dance Studio and knows the steps to just about any dance known to man. She and her teacher compete in routines they’ve practiced with total sang-froid in front of tables of judges and loads of spectators. 

She is hesitant to dance outside her familiar territory of polished oak floors and nattily attired cohorts.

I flunk at memorizing a routine. I intuitively follow the beat and channel it into dance…with style, joy, and absolute confidence that I can make it work no matter my partner’s level of expertise.

We step out of the crowd.

After so long a time without live music and a place to dance, I feel like a lemming inexorably heading toward the cliff. A sense of the preordained in play, I’m positively certain that when I reach it, I’m going to defy gravity, soar, and take her with me.

Partner dancing fills a place in my heart and psyche that has not been fed since March. For the next 15 glorious minutes, my partner relaxes, erases her habit of dancing to a creative routine she has mastered and goes with my flow.

I am in an altered state and have no fear of being arrested for it. My troubles and cares have dissipated in 4/4 time. A vital part of my life has been a resurrected like Lazarus. No drugs, no alcohol. Just following the stylings of fabulous singer Lois Lane and The Daily Planets. Christmas has come early. 

I lead. She follows. It is as simple as that.

Heading down Brattle toward the action in Brattle Square.Everyone wears a mask..it's the law.

 

Teen band in front of new Harvard Coop; on the way down Brattle Street

 

Harvard Yard across the street; original Harvard Coop on corner of Brattle and Massachusetts Avenue. Everyone wears a mask.

Lois Lane and band cover the classics...first rate mood elevator...Lois Lane and The Daily Planets

SIDEBAR

"Lois Lane and the Daily Planets are a mainstay in the Boston area music scene. Specializing in R&B, funk, soul, jazz, rock and pop, Lois Lane and the Daily Planets are sure to satisfy even the most demanding audiences! Once the crowd is on its feet they do not sit down.

Lois Lane herself, is a phenomenal singer and a natural entertainer and is known for getting and keeping the crowd on their feet dancing and laughing. Gifted with outstanding people skills, Lois reaches out and touches the heart of everyone from nine to ninety! You are guaranteed to have a great time listening, dancing and celebrating to this great entertainer and band.

Backed by a powerful rhythm section in guitarist Peter Fedele, bassist Lee Lundy and drummer Cliff Goodman, the show is always energy-packed experience to remember!:

https://www.reverbnation.com/loislaneandthedailyplanets

Up and comers...snag a place between the two Harvard Coops and their own echo chamber

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/11/01/arts/introducing-pair-14-year-old-harvard-square-buskers-with-sound-beyond-their-years/

Photos and videos by Paul  A. Tamburello, Jr.



 

Comments

[Christopher Huggins]

Paul...I know how much "tech" has been tripping you up recently. And I also know how much you LOVE to dance. What a great idea to go into the square on that warm December day to be in your element and trip the light fantastic in the old stomping grounds. Here's to us all knowing what we need in the coming winter to get us through this uniquely confining time.

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large]

Christopher,
True on all counts. We need to know, now more than ever, what sustains us and get as much ot it as often as we can.

[Rose Ann Negele]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for sending your wonderful description of Harvard Square on Sunday, December 13, accompanied by photos and music video! As I watched the video, surprisingly, I choked up with emotion. I hadn't realized just how deeply I've been mourning the loss of live music and dance. (It was March or possibly even February when I myself last partner danced.)

I hope you are keeping healthy and continuing to find ways, however novel, of enjoying this holiday season. And may we meet on the dance floor again in the next few months!

Warm wishes,

Rose Anne

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr, aka pt at large]

Rose Ann,
I get it, I was overcome with emotion, close to tears of joy in the midst of being in the moment...mourning is just the right word to describe the realization.

[Susan Sullivan]

Nice Paul. We went last week. Fun

[Carolyn Liesy]

In LA, where the Camellias are blooming early this year, we are in serious lockdown. It would be so lovely to risk going out to mingle but here it would be dangerous. We seem to have become an epicenter, local hospital at 105% capacity. So your story about dancing in the Square is so nice. So glad for you!

[KBJpnes]

Love it

[Nona Bock]

Hey PT.

Good for you. I’m jealous. We’re in lockdown here!!!

Keep enjoying.
Much love,

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large]

From the photos, you see that masks are universally worn, it's the LAW and people abide.
This is the current stage of covid phase in MA
https://www.boston.gov/news/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-boston?back=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fclient%3Dsafari%26as_qdr%3Dall%26as_occt%3Dany%26safe%3Dactive%26as_q%3Dwhat+phase+of+locked+out+is+Massachusetts+in+Boston+Massachusetts+in%26channel%3Daplab%26source%3Da-app1%26hl%3Den

[Janet Wilson (in NC)]

Love it! So happy for you! Miss dancing...in living room, solo is not the same.💃 ♥️ Janet Wilson (in NC)

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large]

I get it, Janet, I dance solo all the time, swing, fox trot, rumba, waltz, cajun, zydeco…right around my kitchen table,
As a matter of fact, dancing zydeco and cajun in dance halls in SW Louisiana with tons of people inside taught me how to “dance on a manhole cover” when a dance floor was so sardine packed you had to edge your way onto the dance floor with your partner. The miracle was that no matter how packed the dance floor, a tiny space was enough as I’d smile myself inside the whirling mass with my partner. Everyone on the dance floor knew how to share that space. I think that dancing in such a packed floor was part of the fun.
Don’t we yearn for those days…dancing around my kitchen table is a piece of cake compared to that. If you ask me which I would prefer, you know the answer.
Big virtual safe hug!
Thanks for replying…from NC!

[Susan McCulloch]

Joy to you PT!

[Melanie Wagner]

I loved reading this, PT! I could just imagine the smile on your face behind the mask!

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large]

Oh yes, as though i had just entered the promised land...