\u201cHas this group got time for a hula dance today?\u201d\u00a0 I addressed the tour guide, a jolly, elderly man, who, after years of leading his group past me, stopped.\u00a0 The group stopped too, in an arc around me as if awaiting a short lecture about a statue.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s everybody from?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAll over.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cBrazil,\u201d shouted a 30-ish woman.\u00a0 She shook her head “no” when I offered her a lei.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know how.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the Brazilian women say that, then they come up here and dance beautifully, and so will you.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As she danced, beautifully, the tour guide put a quarter in my case, but no one stepped forward to follow his example, except the Brazilian woman.\u00a0 After her dance, she gave me a quarter too.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A couple of English women with bicycles witnessed this scene.\u00a0 They had been sitting near me at the fountain when I set up.\u00a0 Tossing a dollar in my case, they pedaled off.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Three kids from North Carolina walked up from the benches with a dollar and change.\u00a0 They danced to the \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d then ran giggling back to their parents.\u00a0 The eldest, a girl of about 11, came back for a second dance, this time to \u201cLittle Grass Shack.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A bride and photo crew set up near me.\u00a0 In addition to the photographer, there was an assistant to carry the cameras and tripod, a lighting grip with screens and tripods of his own, and a dresser to arrange the train of the bridal gown, and to fluff the bride\u2019s hair.\u00a0 The absence of a groom led me to believe the bride was not a bride at all, but a model.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A 20-something man walked by with his friend.\u00a0 \u201cA ukulele and a bride.\u00a0 Only in New York,\u201d he said, laying a dollar in my case.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A petite woman in her late 30s watched me play.\u00a0 I invited her to dance to \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d\u00a0 She told me she was from Hawaii, and that she had danced to the hukilau with me about 5 years ago.\u00a0 As we moved through the second verse, her delicate hands formed the silver moon under which kanes and wahinis sang their love songs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A man ran up and took her hand, spun her around.\u00a0 She looked surprised, and uncomfortable.\u00a0 He let her go to put a dollar in my case.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know him?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she said, \u201cYuck.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s dance another one,\u201d he said.\u00a0 He was 50-ish, with a trimmed beard and a porkpie hat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAloha,\u201d the woman said to me, returning my lei and moving quickly away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The man, Alexander (\u201cMy secret service name is also Alexander\u201d), hung around for a while, listing for me the times and locations of the best free swing dancing in the city.\u00a0 He chased after women, grabbing their arms and trying to pull them over to me for a dance.\u00a0 Finally, I said, \u201cI do a solo act.\u00a0 I need you to move away.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m helping you.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been doing this a long time, believe me, you\u2019re not helping.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI bow to your experience,\u201d he said.\u00a0 He moved some distance away; I resumed my act.\u00a0 When I next looked in his direction, he was gone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A woman wanted a picture.\u00a0 I put a lei around her neck.\u00a0 She gave me a dollar.\u00a0 A thin elderly man, with a bemused smile on his face, watched me for a while, then he gave me a dollar.\u00a0 At last, with a few more minutes left in my set, a young couple from Baltimore, now living on 125th<\/sup> St., wanted a picture to send to her father, a ukulele buff.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With $8.51 in my pocket, I exited the park.\u00a0 There can\u2019t be very many busking days left this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"