Blue sky. Sunshine. Comfortably cool temps. A small park in West Hollywood along the edge of what used to be Rt 66. Anne Hathaway: a thirty-something looking not a day over 15. Jane Fonda: a seventy-something looking about Hathaway’s age. Marisa Tomei: looking, well,  just like Marisa Tomei. And dozens of women, as well as a few men here and there, decked out in various shades of red and pink engaged in dance routines that would fit well into almost any zumba room. For V-Day? Not exactly.

This was One Billion Rising, a planned flashmob (oxymoronic?) occurring today worldwide to raise the level of awareness of the violence  imposed daily on women and girls and to support a sustained movement to bring it to an end.

I was there because Mitzi and her client and friend, Bonnie, had signed up and had practiced their participation for a week and invited me to come along and bring the camera. I didn’t research the event and honestly wasn’t sure what would happen other than a bunch of women would be carrying signs and dancing in the street. And I suppose if you’re of a certain jadedness that would be one way to look at it.

But these women, young, old and everywhere in between, were on a mission.

And they loved it.

And it showed.

And it was impossible not to get caught up in the energy-charged net of enthusiasm they spread all over their assigned section of Santa Monica Boulevard. And that’s what I tried to capture.  I’ll let you be the judge. In addition to the photos included here – my favorites –  I’ve posted a few more in this gallery. For those of you who took my card and asked where they would be published – this is the place. Feel free to use the images but also please make sure you attribute them to Richard Harrison (moi).

And!!!!!! Be sure to catch the video produced by Voyage Vixens. There are several on the net but none even comes close to the Vixens’ production quality.

And incidentally, that lead pic was a deliberate tease to get you to click the link and learn about something a little more important than cleavage.

One last note: I’m coming to believe that no event is complete without a dog. Pina De Rosa feels the same and brought Wellington along to prove it. Put a couple of extra pluses on a day  inundated with them. But Wellington came out on top. You can learn all about him here.