D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton wants you know she’s hep and cool.
The city’s non-voting member of Congress, “an avid proponent of healthy lifestyles, a dance enthusiast, and lover of popular and other dance forms,” announced in a press release she is introducing a resolution in Congress to celebrate National Dance Day on the National Mall on July 30.
Yes, there will be flash mobs, but don’t worry folks — these guys have permits. Norton said in her release she was glad police showed restraint Saturday and didn’t arrest people dancing at the Jefferson Memorial, but understood the frustration of some tourists who were temporarily cleared from the memorial.
“When people go as far as flash mob dancing without a permit on the Mall, we should see such a response from the public as a wake-up call to make the Mall more ‘with it,’” Norton said. “The spontaneous Mall flash mobs we have seen are a virtual call for more participatory activities and events on the Mall.”
Meanwhile, Norton’s bill, the National Mall Revitalization and Designation Act, proposes enhancing visitor enjoyment and cultural experiences on the Mall.
“We have made the Mall a pass-through to museums rather than a venue where jazz and string quartets, for example, can play during lunch and where permitting tables and chairs can encourage people to enjoy this magnificent green space,” Norton said.
We wonder what the National Park Service, which has said the Mall’s grass has become too rundown from overuse, would say?
