A Canadian busker has captured the joyful moment a little girl began to dance spontaneously to his virtuoso rendition of "La Grange" by ZZ Top.

Robin Spanell was performing outside Waterfront Station in Vancouver in 2017 when the girl who was waiting for a bus began to throw some shapes.

Her care-free moves don't go unnoticed by Spanell who glances over at her several times during the performance.

"I don't see this very often, but when it happens it's always 99% kids that are doing it," said Spanell.

"Before they become jaded (age 8), they still have that spontaneous spark, that reaction to music that we all used to have," he added.

"Emotion is no.1 priority and they express it without shame," Spanell said.

"The parents of this little girl have seen the video and contacted me. They were thrilled and told me their daughter is still dancing up a storm," he concluded.

I don't see this very often, but when it happens it's always 99% kids that are doing it. Before they become jaded (age 8), they still have that spontaneous spark, that reaction to music that we all used to have. Emotion is no.1 priority and they express it without shame. If I could hire kids for my shows, legally, I would do it. Imagine being surrounded by these mini tornadoes during every song. It's the ONE thing that gets people to pay attention. "Awww, isn't that cute!" the adults say, smiling at each other. "Remember when we weren't zombies?" The parents of this little girl have seen the video and contacted me. They were thrilled and told me their daughter is still dancing up a storm.

While this video paints a lovely picture of what can happen on the street when I play, I want to clarify a few things:

1) Street playing is not all fun and games and dancing kids. I've been doing this for 7 years. I regularly face not only verbal abuse, but physical assault as I work a few blocks from the downtown eastside, Vancouver, Canada. I'm surrounded by addicts, drunks, and people who should be in mental homes.
2) I'm unemployed. All live music including busking is banned since 2020. I lost all work last year and received ZERO compensation. I had a very bad year in 2020 and only recently came out of a depression. This video is from 2017.
3) I make ZERO from youtube no matter how many views I get. I don't run ads. And more importantly, even if I did, most of my videos are instantly copyrighted and auto monetized by record labels because they are COVERS. If you see an ad, it's the record label collecting. If you enjoyed this performance, please think about supporting me on patreon/paypal tip/bandcamp. They are my only sources of income.
4) I'm a musician that writes my own music for 20 years. Check out my bandcamp page to see what I can really do with a guitar.
5) I get asked this 100 times a day so here's the answer: I play on the street and not in a band because all the clubs closed years ago. I used to lead many bands from 2006 to 2018. That's all gone. Live music is dead, as well as banned. It's also a lot more hassle, and less money, to run a band than play by myself.