A love letter to Melbourne
By Lenetia Stretton
To our gorgeous Melbourne: we miss you. There is nothing more to say, and at the same time, so much more to say.
It has almost been 4 years since we loaded the dog in to the car, farewelled the oppressive summer humidity and travelled the 2,200km south to the promised land, Melbourne. For us, a chance to start fresh, be closer to the long missed pieces of our families, change our lives and grow together. We had a rough plan, one of us enrolled in school, the other already on the hunt for a job after graduating Uni, and an already agreed decision to immerse ourselves fully in the Melbourne Latin Dance scene. Step One: enrolling at a popular studio full of inspirational dancers. Step Two: the extensive list of social dance dates that would cover most nights of the week if we let it.
Fast forward these last 4 years and here we are. Everything Melbourne promised us (and delivered in the time since) is practically gone. That course I studied? The industry has crashed and I am unemployed for the first time in my life. Our family? We haven’t been able to see them since May. The Melbourne Latin Dance scene? Hello Zoom classes and friends. Forget social dancing, we aren’t even sure when that will be a possibility again.
BUT. I believe in you Melbourne. We have pivoted and swivelled through this year like we are all professional salsa dancers. I see glimpses of optimism and hope everyday – in the window Teddy Bear hunts, the rainbows that adorn footpaths, doorways and window panes, the Spoonvilles that are cropping up in our neighbourhoods like a new species of weed. In the laughs we share across Zoom, the surprise deliveries of flowers, puzzle books and novels to mates who are doing it tough. The neighbours sharing a beer across their fences on a Friday afternoon.
We have had to watch while the rest of Australia moves on without us – Instagram and Facebook showing us videos of people in our dance community now social dancing again, in class at a studio, some of them actually touching other humans and not having to wear masks! Imagine! We are still waiting for our time to come, but in the meantime we are doing what needs to be done. We are doing it for love. Love for our people, our community, the city its self. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, so when we finally reach “Covid Normal” (whatever that means), it’s on us to not take Melbourne for granted. Don’t stop exploring the river bends, backstreets, laneways and tiny pockets of neighbourhoods we have been excluded from in our 5km radius. Inhale deeply every time you step outside, grateful that we (potentially) now do so without a mask. Keep checking in with friends and neighbours. Reassess the value of dining out, opportunities to dance, the ability to hug your family.
To our gorgeous Melbourne: we miss you. But we’ll be back. Dancing, Eating, Exploring, Sharing, Appreciating, Indulging.