Two kinds of anger -- you'll like this.

So I'm going through boxes of notes, clippings, books with my 15 minute timer on -- I **will** sort or toss these things before the new year sneaks up on me...and I find this article, torn from a New Yorker of who knows how long ago, and my day changes from one of Sorting and Tossing into one of heading for YouTube and Stepping and Stomping. (Even watching some very kindly slow-motion instructions on break-dancing.)

Before I go on, let me define the two kinds of anger: One kinds says "I'm going to choke you!" and probably covers up hurt. You have to 'get it out,' (hopefully in private) but then you'll find yourself facing the wound that caused the anger, and you'll have to get that out, too.)

The other one says "Wake up, I'm here!" That second kind, that's good anger. Identity anger. Healthy. You won't find it on a super-contented, peaceful day, but on most other days, you should go looking for it. And here's a nice way to both search and express it.

It's in the "Critic's Notebook'column:

"Fire and Ice

The dance form known as stepping was invented by fraternities at black colleges around the nineteen-twenties. The students did these drills, presumably as a show of both power and togetherness, at initiation ceremonies. Eventually, stepping moved into the quad, where the houses started holding completitions, each trying to prove it was the coolest. Then the competitions went public. (See the 2007 movie "Stomp the Yard.") [You can see the movie trailer on YouTube, easy to find].

In its classic form, stepping looks like a cross between a military parade (tightly synchronized unison work) and African dance: syncopation, clapping, body patting, footwork like there's no tomorrow!

Step up Step Afrika! [More details follow - I shouldn't just copy the whole thing but I now see it announces a performance on August 16 at Lincoln Center and I'm pretty sure it's from this year's New Yorker, if you want to see the rest of the article.]"

Me, as always, I head over to YouTube and look for awhile until I find some honeys.

Here's the first one (and one of the best) for those days you're too pissed off to exercise. It will make you feel so much better (and you'll exercise, too.)

You won't be able to do these, not like Black Ice for sure, but sit in your computer chair and do a little of the clapping and slapping for starters. The footwork looks within reach with a little practice (again, good enough to straighten you out on a bad day -- not good enough to match these fireballs) and I say that as one whose memory is almost 100% spatially challenged.

When you get through with Black Ice,you'll see other stepping options on your screen. Do a little searching and find the ones that make you happy. Then, when you want to amuse your friends, video yourself stepping and stomping while you're watching the screen and send it to your friends (if you dare).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEoPXBPc7O0&feature=related