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Vicki charged down the front to dance beside girls she did not know but who meet her eye and smile at her as they leap and bob and twirl about in their cheap and cheerful dresses, in the brief camaraderie of moving to music. They are happy! They are laughing! They are young and silly and here to have fun!

Does it mean:

  1. The girls were not in harmony with each other as they danced?

  2. The girls were not in harmony with music as they danced?

This passage is from The Children's Bach by Helen Garner

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According to the MacMillan online dictionary, "camaraderie" means "friendship and trust between people in a group". This is a pleasant, harmonious concept.

The phrase you have highlighted means that the girls have some kind of "friendship and trust" among them which is based on the shared pleasure of "moving to music", and the author notes that their camaraderie is brief (I guess because the music will end soon.)

I'm not sure why you feel that "dis-harmony" is implied here. Perhaps a confusion of "camaraderie" with some other word?

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  • Lots of thanks for your answers, because of the word "brief" I thought they were not in harmony, as a non-native I got confused. but you said mybe because the music will end soon. Or now I think mybe because their friendship were lasted just during that night when they were dancing am I right?
    – Viser Hashemi
    Jun 10, 2021 at 19:24
  • Yes, I think you are right that the camaraderie would be brief because it was only during that night of dancing.
    – Lorel C.
    Jun 10, 2021 at 21:00
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They meet her eye and smile. That means they were friendly, which is about what camaraderie means.

AHD camaraderie

Goodwill and lighthearted rapport between or among friends; comradeship.

"Moving to music" means their movements were synchronized with the music.

All in all, it means they were in harmony with each other and with the music.

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in the brief camaraderie of moving to music.

simply means

"The temporary (short time) feeling of friendliness towards people that she shared the experience of dancing with".

camaraderie; noun [ S or U ]; a feeling of friendliness towards people that you work or share an experience with:

dance: verb; to move the body and feet to music:

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  • Many thanks, So Vicki charged down to dance with them in the brief camaraderie of moving to music. and her friendship with them was brief. Am I right?
    – Viser Hashemi
    Jun 11, 2021 at 7:42
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    Exactly, no doubt you have done the same Dancing with strangers but you are all friendly and having a great time for that brief interlude but you will probably never see them again.
    – Brad
    Jun 11, 2021 at 7:50

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