Time to celebrate! Once again, I'd like to thank all of you for dropping in on Fridays to have a listen.
1 - I'm Happy Just to Dance With You - The Beatles
2 - Dancing in the Street - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
I'll be posting a Bowie set next week to honor the passing of a music giant.
3 - Just Dance - Lady Gaga
4 - Dance to the Music - Sly and the Family Stone
5 - You Should Be Dancing - The BeeGees
If you'd like to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.
In memory of my dad, who passed away almost five years ago, this week's Thursday Thirteen is a special present for him, as today marks his birthday.
A Piece of My Mind owes its existence to my dad, as I launched it the month before he died. I was struck by the urgency of 'it's now or never', and in a very real way this blog is my dad's legacy.
1 - Laughter
Dad laughed - a lot. These are some of the things that could really get him going:
He was a lifelong music enthusiast, with a special love for the blues, rhythm & blues, classic rock and cool jazz. Here's a set I posted for him awhile back:
At school concerts, my dad always roamed the sides of the auditorium taking pictures with his Nikon camera.
4 - Movies
He started life as a big fan of John Ford westerns and the stunts of Yakima Canutt. When I later became someone who would pay multiple times to see a movie at the theatre, he thought that was a little strange - until VCRs came out, and I caught him watching Road Warrior over again. A-ha!
5 - Dancing
Dad not only liked to dance at clubs and house parties, but he ended up teaching jive dancing lessons in his late 50's.
6 - Christmas
When my sister and I woke up bouncing with excitement in the dark of early Christmas morning, Dad always hopped out of bed ready for Christmas, even if he'd only gotten 2 hours of sleep getting the Santa toys ready the night before.
7 - Military History
He was a Canadian who lived a good part of his life in the States, and served in the US Army, 2nd and 3rd Armored Division. He had an insatiable thirst for all things military history.
He wore his army uniform on his wedding day in 1961, as he was posted to Europe the following week.
8 - Titanic History
He was always interested in the sinking of the Titanic, owning several books about it and visiting the graveyard here in Halifax where the victims are buried. In one of the odd ways life works out, my dad is now buried in that same resting place - Fairview Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in my step-mom's family plot.
9 - Scuba Diving
My dad owned a scuba gear shop and was a certified instructor in the 1970's.
10 - Hockey
He played hockey from boyhood, and was a lifelong Montreal Canadiens fan. This shot was taken at the Hockey Hall of Fame, during a Toronto visit with my sister and me, when we both lived there.
11 - Cars
He started his working life as a mechanic, and ended it as a car salesman. He had a special fondness for classic cars, but he pretty much loved everything to do with any kind - he loved watching car races, collecting reproduction cars, operating remote-controlled cars, and when he was in the army he taught fellow soldiers to drive the big 'deuce and a half' and five ton trucks.
12 - Beer
Beer was the go-to beverage for Norm. He also had a collection of beer steins, including the one I remember most - an engraved silver stein with a glass bottom that he brought home from Germany.
13 - Being a Dad
He loved this role in his life. And I love being his daughter.
Performed in community theatre out at this small performance space, as well as assistant stage managed and assistant directed productions including The Children's Hour.
5 - O'Keefe Centre / Hummingbird Centre (now Sony Centre) - Toronto, Ontario
Worked as front of house staff for eight years here, enjoying 24 seasons of both the National Ballet of Canada and the Canadian Opera Company, including personal favorites such as Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake and Giselle; and Tosca, Carmen and Bluebeard's Castle/Erwartung. And don't forget about the touring companies with stellar productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar.
On trips back to Toronto, I've sighed with bliss to watch the National Ballet of Canada's Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker in this glorious-acoustics space.
Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.
On this most special day - my favorite day of the year - I hope that your own Christmas is special and magical.
1 - Christmas medley: It's the Holiday Season/Baby it's Cold Outside(Elf)/Have Yourself a Merry Little/It's Christmas Time Again in NYC - The Rockettes
I'm enjoying a week off from work - which is doing double duty as a writing week, as I tackle revisions on my Welsh Dark Ages vampire story.
But I'm finding time to rest and renew, as well. And one of the ways I've done this is by taking an impromptu around-the-world tour, via You Tube, to watch this awesome display of male folk dancing.
1 - Sword Dance - Scotland
I love how this warrior dance says I'll be dancing on your grave.
2 - Playful Competition (Kiev Fellows) - Ukraine
Here is the classic male bonding scenario: rivals first, then see what each is made of, then respect and friendship.
3 - Flamenco - Spain
The passion! The arrogance! The self-containment! Chick Magnet City.
As in all male dances, the aim is to display strength moves, agility and speed. Here with flamenco, the dancer adds balance and timing, which in a bull-fighting culture, is highly-valued.
4 - Haka - New Zealand
This group posturing dance has been given an upgrade from traditional Maori culture to contemporary New Zealand rugby matches. Here the opposing team gathers on the field as the All Blacks team informs them of what they can expect during the game.
Apparently the performance of this dance - which has been done since 1884 - works.
The All Blacks are "the leading points scorers of all time. They have the highest win ratio, and more than half of the top 20 ranked rugby nations have never beaten New Zealand in over 100 years of international competition." - Wikipedia
5 - Gule Wamkulu (Great Dance) - Mozambique
These dancers hide their true identities from all but their village chiefs. It is their continued ceremonial role to drive away evil spirits from the village, today as yesterday. As in the animal kingdom, these dancers use increased body size through costumes and broad movements to intimidate their foes.
6 - Fire Dance - Polynesia
The addition of fire to the traditional pre-battle knife dance is relatively modern - since the late 1940's.
What began as a posturing war dance transformed into a display of man's mastery over the planet's destructive elements.
This group dance is celebratory and uses bold color in the costuming. The men showcase their physical endurance through repetitive jumping movement throughout a long and complex routine. Harmonious group dynamics replace the more common male competitive element.
8 - Dabke - The Arab World
Another celebratory dance, this is done with the dancers connected to one another arm-to-shoulder, with a dance leader in the center. The solidarity and sense of community is showcased by complicated movements that can only be done with the literal support of other dancers.
9 - Men's Northern Traditional - North American First Nations
This is actually a single dancer's war dance or tale of hunting prowess. The dancers here are competing. The inclusion of animal movements honors the animal brothers whose fur and feathers are included on the dancer's regalia.
10 - Danza de Las Tijeras (Scissors Dance) - Peru
These scissor dancers perform acrobatic stunts and tests of physical endurance, all while maintaining the cutting action of the scissors in one hand. Not included in this dance segment are the trials such as piercing the body and walking on fire. In the tradition of their Incan ancestors, these men of the Andes Mountains perform this dance as a sacred ritual where the limits of the physical world are pushed past the brink by the dancers.
11 - Kritikos - Greece
This male-centered dance incorporates the female symbolism of the circle, uniting the two genders. It was originally performed by the King of Crete upon his marriage to the Mother Goddess's representative, the Queen.
12 - Traditional Edo Period Sword Dance - Japan
This is a stylized representation of the battle movements of a samurai. It even includes the ever-practical wiping-the-blood-from-the-sword movements.
13 - Schuhplattler (Shoe Slapping) - Germany
This hilarious version of the traditional Bavarian slap dance takes the male competitive urge and ramps it up a notch.
Janet says WOW - thanks for this, Julia. What an array of dancing culture - loved it.
I beati says I could watch these all day I get so educated on this meme.
Adelle Laudan says Very kewl. I just finished researching several Native American dances. Great list. Happy T13!
1 - Last Saturday, after my acupuncture session in the morning, I grabbed a bite to eat and headed over to the Halifax Commons to attend my very first Pow Wow.
2 - This was part of the Membertou 400 celebrations, which honoured Chief Membertou's 1610 decision to become baptised into the Catholic faith.
Membertou could read the signs concerning the imminent migration of French settlers at the turn of the 17th century, and sought to create a diplomatic solution to an obvious culture-altering event. As a sign of good faith, he and many members of his family were baptised at Port Royal.
In fact, his embrace of the French culture smoothed the way for strong French and native relations. For a century and a half, the two peoples lived side by side in relative harmony.
Unfortunately, the arrival of the English in the mid-1700's threw this arrangement into disarray. The historic animosity between the English and French, combined with the English tendency to 'civilize' indigenous cultures, led to the mass deportation of French Acadians out of what is now the Atlantic provinces, and drove the First Nations people to retreat from contact with Europeans. What had begun as a welcoming gesture towards the church for the Mi'kmaq decayed as their previous French allies joined in the British efforts to eradicate native culture through the use of residential schools.
3 - Within the past several decades, the First Nations people have re-emerged as a vibrant cultural group.
As someone descended from the merging of the French and Mi'kmaq cultures, I've been longing to attend a pow wow for many years. When I found out that we were having one right here I could barely contain my joy.
Here the master of ceremonies opens the second day of the pow wow with a prayer in his own language. He invited all in attendance to join in, using whichever manner we were used to for praying.
4 - Then the assembled Mi'kmaq and their invited Relatives from out west and down south entered the circle, led by an Elder from Eskasoni, a native band from Cape Breton.
He was very old and walked very slowly, but he in fact danced as well as he was able, and needed no assistance in carrying the eagle standard.
5 - Following behind the Elder, there were First Nations members of the Armed Forces and The Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
6 - Included in the competitive parts of the festivities were the drum circles and singers. As these groups competed, they provided the music for the dancers, who filled the circle. I loved it when the MC introduced each group and then told them to "Make 'em dance."
7 - There were all ages involved in the pow wow. I really loved this little girl in the green dress. She was completely serious and really grooved to the music, listening carefully to the rhythms and dancing very solemnly to what she heard.
8 - The amount of young men involved really excited me. The arts always seem to draw far more female participation than male, but here the men were out in force.
I couldn't take my eyes off them as they danced.
The guy in the hunting pose in the center of the shot also sang and drummed in one of the circles directly in front of my seat in the bleachers.
9 - After the initial opening parade through the circle, the MC called the different groups of dancers out so they could do their thing. The women included Fancy Shawl and Jingle Dancers.
10 - I was totally impressed with the Golden Age dancers, especially this woman in the red. She had such a regal way of gesturing with her eagle feather.
11 - The men were awesome!
They included Men's Traditional and Fancy Feather Dancers.
12 - The young dancer in blue was also a double-duty performer, drumming and singing as well as dancing, just like the young guy in black with yellow regalia.
13 - And how could I be anything but awestruck at the level of dancing done by these young performers? The little one in turquois was just amazing. At one point, as they moved around the circle, she danced on her own as the group moved along in a bunch. She was so intense, she held the crowd's attention as easily as a seasoned adult performer. So, so impressive.
Thanks for coming along to the Pow Wow with me! Hope we can get to another one soon.
Akelamalu says I would so love to see that for myself but your pictures capture everything so well. I was watching Queen Elizabeth arriving in Nova Scotia on TV last night - the mounties looked so fabulous waiting in line to greet her. :)
Anthony North says This looks a brilliant and culturally important event.
Adelle Laudan says Thanks soooo much for sharing this with us. I've researched all of what you showed me over the past couple of years for my writing. Happy T13!
Champion of the Arts - I write historical and paranormal fiction, as well as poetry. I love to showcase creative works by artists of all stripes. Blogging from Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts
