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Post by pieter on Jun 9, 2019 15:27:46 GMT -7
One of my dreams to accomplish in this life is to be present with coat and tails at a dance with champagne flutes and my beautiful wife in full gown dancing to Strauss waltzes. Alas it will have to take place in another time and another life.
How can a person not like the Beautiful Blue Danube. These dancers are portraying elegance and beauty in their dance.
The debutantes of the 62nd Hungaria Gala Ball performing a Viennese Waltz to The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss, February 24, 2018.
The waltz is a great dance to dance John, I danced the English Waltz as a teenager (16 years old in 1986) on my dance lessons. We had the Foxtrot, English Waltz, the Cha Cha Cha, the Rumba, the Jive and the Salsa. I hated the latter, because my Motor skill was as wooden as Pinocchio. I skipped rules and tried my own things often making deals with the teenage girls that were my dance partners. These dance lessons were my first real great going out events, so the dancing was the first tool of flirting and trying to get attention from girls, next to the childhood and early teenage high school fooling around (0-15 time). After these dance lessons I went to discotheques, bars in the rural and provincial Zeeland, and later to larger clubs and dancings in Amsterdam, The Hague and Arnhem. There in these larger cities the electronic music entered my life. In Zeeland the music was still soul, disco, rock 'n roll, Blues, rock music and Folk music. I realize that I grew up in a different time than you, Karl, Kaima and probably Jeanne, Jaga and Ludwik too. Eric is younger than me.
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Post by pieter on Jun 9, 2019 15:33:46 GMT -7
The english waltz is a spin off of the Vienna Waltz. It is a slower version which is danced in a wave like form.
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Post by pieter on Jun 9, 2019 15:34:54 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Jun 9, 2019 15:37:56 GMT -7
Folks,
Did you had dance lessons in the USA, Germany and Poland?
My dance lessons started in 1986 and continued to 1987. That was the year of the American movie "Dirty Dancing".
I was more a kind of disco, Hip Hop, Free Style and electronic music dancer. And in the freedom of my own style I had more succes on the dance floor. But I am my old dance school and dance instructors thankful for ever for giving me the basic training and some confidence on the dance floor.
I am curious about the stories of others. Did you folks have these dance lessons, or did you and your partners learned dancing yourselves? Did you had a dance school in your environment? Did you like dancing? And which dances did you loved the most? And which music styles for dancing?
Cheers, Pieter
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Post by pieter on Jun 9, 2019 15:56:58 GMT -7
I loved video clips and sitcoms like this back then as a teenager who lived discotheques and bars. Unlike the USA we had no age restriction for alcohol back then above 16. The dance culture on tv, in the cinema (Hollywood movies) and in pop music video clips had a great influence on us kids of course.
I forgot this movie from 1983, which was on of the dance movies. Very eighties of course.
I said it before and say it again. I was a great fan of Fame. Dance, music, culture, the energy and images of New York city and young people with a dream. That dream and sitcom influenced European youngsters like me, who saw the whole series on tv.
This was another time than your time John. You were a Vietnam soldier in the sixties/seventies. This music and dance culture is from the eighties, a new generation of teenagers and people in their early twenties. My parents though also liked Fame.
Cheers, Pieter
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Post by karl on Jun 9, 2019 18:33:54 GMT -7
J.J. and Pieter
J.J. I admire your wish of the best in such formal cloths as tails and tie with the best drink in hand and your lovely wife at your side. I do admire for the reason this would have been in past very far above me and at present have little reason to do so. My currant uniform of the day is a wool tweed dress jacket, brown shoes, knit brown tie {for work} and what ever trousers appropriate for the day with a brown or black dress hat. More or less as envisioned as a professor.
Pieter, I was smiling with you on your dancing experiences, yes, with the Tango also my self suffered greatly also. In Danmark in as well Germany {Cuxhaven} we did not have dance classes. There were weekend public dances at some of the bars, but then we as teens were of course excluded from them, but not so with a public dance hall. Alcoholic drinks were not allowed in side, but those that wished so, could drink out side.
We teens were delighted with the public dances and this is where I learnt to dance from some of the ladies willing to risk being stepped on. But two of the ladies my age thought it was important to teach me to dance and so with this,was a good tool of socialization to meet other ladies by.
Salsa in later life was taught to me by some Cuban friends whilst living in Hamburg. They were strict but I did learn well by them. There is differences though between latin style dancing form Cuban, Mexican, but found it the same with ladies in Central America with exception from Argentine/Uruguay and Brazil, we once exchanged with my experience with the two Brazilian young ladies {my age at that time} Eastra and Abreu in Uruguay {this the reason uncle August was so angry with me then} Teen age boys are not terribly smart...
Karl
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Post by pieter on Jun 10, 2019 4:14:43 GMT -7
Karl, How different were the early years of the Cold War and the later years of the Cold War. You probably speak of the late forties and early fifties. You did not have the youth cultures and pop subcultures you had in the seventies and eighties. People were still stuggling to make both ends meet. Those were the rebuilding years in continental Western-Europe. You didn't had discotheques, dancings, nightclubs, trendy bars, café's and pubs back then like in my time. Rock 'n Roll, Rock music, Beat Music, hard rock, Punk, New Wave, New Romantics, the magnificent American soul music, disco music, electro, synth pop, and pop music in general didn't exist back then. But thank god Karl you had your public dance hall and the two of the ladies of your age who thought it was important to teach you how to dance. I forgot to mention that I had tango at my dance lessons too. Tango is one of my favorites, but it was not an easy dance for me. Salsa was to difficult for me, and I didn't had Cuban teachers, but some local native Dutch teachers from the dance school in Vlissingen, Walcheren, Zeeland (Netherlands). With Salsa you have to use your whole body, and you have to be loose, flexible, comfortable in your skin/body, and have some sort of Southern-American swing, some sort of movement to make that dance happening. Some people can dance the Salsa, others don't. Later in Amsterdam and Arnhem I went to Latin American and Southern American clubs and there I saw the Cubans, Brazillians, Colombians, Argentinians and Chilleans dance the Merengue, the Salsa and the Tango the way it should. It is in their culture, in their social life, it is part of their life and so they are very good at it. Cuban Tango Dance teachersIn Amsterdam there were and are a lot of Latino people, Cubans, Surinamese people, Dutch Antillians, Native Americans from Southern America, Criollos's (Latin Americans who are of full or near full Spanish descent), Mestizos, Mulattos and Zambo's next to Black Southern-Americans and Native European Southern-Americans (the Southern-Americans of Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Austrian, Irish, English, Scottish, Greek and other European descent. These are Spanish or Portuguese language speakers -Ofcourse the Southern- and Central-African and Mexican versions of Spanish and Portuguese, like Mexican, Colombian, Chillean, Argentinian, Uruguayan, and the Brazillian Portuguese which is quite different from the Portuguese spoken in Portugal -comparable to the French which is spoken in France and the French which is spoken in Quebec in Canada -different accent, different dialect, sometimes different words. Some people say that Southern-American Spanish had some influence on the Brazillian language. I can't judge about that, because I am not a latin languages speaker. My french is to limited for that.). The two Brazilian young ladies {my age at that time} Eastra and Abreu in Uruguay where these the black girls you earlier mentioned in a private conversation with me Karl? I ask this, because I know that in some reasons race relations, and the relationship between different ethnic, social and political groups are complicated, difficult and sometimes dangerous. For instance Suriname is a very multi-ethnic, but not multi-cultural or monocultural country. You have the black slaves who escaped their masters and stayed proud Black Africans, the Maroons ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroon_(people) ), who lived and live in their own settlements and villages in the deep forests of Suriname, you have the city Creoles, ethnic groups which originated during the colonial-era from racial mixing between Europeans and non-European peoples, known as creolisation. Afro-Surinamese people are the inhabitants of Suriname of Sub-Saharan African ancestry. They are descended from slaves brought to work on sugar plantations. You have the Hindu Indian Surinamese, nationals of Suriname with ancestry from South Asia. They are mostly descendants of the indentured workers brought by the Dutch and the British during the 19th-century. Some of them are Hindu, others are Muslim (if they came from Muslim families from India, or the present day Pakistan or Bangladesh). Next to the the Maroons, Creoles, Hindu and Muslim Surinamese with roots in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, you have the Surinamese people with Indonesian Javanese ancestry, with Chinese ancestry, with Native American ancestry (the Surinamese native American tribes), the Surinamese with Lebanese, Native Dutch, Irish, Sephardic jewish (Portuguese jews from the Netherlands), German, British and Mixed heritage. From black Surinamese people I heard that the Surinamese society is still very colonial and divided today. Maroons stick with the Maroons, Creoles with the Creoles, Hindu's with the Hindu's, the Javanese with the Javanese, the Chinese with the Chinese and etc. The native Indians have their own villages and tribal territory, the Sephardic jews have their own community and synagogue, the Ashkenazi jews a separate synagogue, the Roman Catholics their large church in the capital Paramaribo, the Dutch Reformed their own Calvinist church, the Reformed churches also their own Calvinist churches, the Muslims their mosques, and the Hindu's their temples. The Indian Muslims and the Javanese Surinamese muslims are separate groups with separate mosques. The Lebanese are often Maronite Middle eastern Christians, with also their own church and community. Despite the mixing, most people like to stay in their own religious, ethnic and political communities. The Hindu's had their own Hindu party ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Reform_Party_(Suriname) ), Javanese party (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pertjajah_Luhur ), the Maroons have their own political representation and the Creoles had their political party too. The Orthodox Ashkenazi Neveh Shalom Synagogue in tje Keizerstraat 82, Paramaribo, SurinameThe mosque of the Surinamese Islamic Society stands next to the Synagoge Neve Shalom, Paramaribo, SurinameA closer look at the mosque next to the synagogue. In Suriname the Muslims and jews are good neighbours, they are there longer than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and live in the same country for more than 100 years as neighbours.Arya Dewaker (Hindi: वही आर्य देवकर) is a Hindu association that built probably one of the biggest mandirs (Hindu temples) of Suriname. The temple attracts many visitors, both Hindus and non-Hindus, coming from Suriname and from all over the world. It is located in the city centre fields in Paramaribo.In the gardens of the Arya Dewaker Hindu temple in Paramaribo, SurinameCathedral of Saint Peter and Paul in Paramaribo.The completely wooden interior of the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul in ParamariboThe Dutch Reformed Church in ParamariboThe interior of the Dutch Reformed Church in ParamariboA Javanese Mosque in Nieuw-Amsterdam (New Amsterdam). Nieuw Amsterdam is the capital of the Commewijne District in Suriname. It is a small coastal town situated at the confluence of the Suriname River and Commewijne River, just across from Paramaribo, the country's capital. Its population at the 2012 census was 5,650, with around 1,200 people living in the main town, most of whom are of Javanese and East Indian origin. It is the location of the historical Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam, today an open-air museum.Bahai building in Paramaribo, SurinameBahai garden in Paramaribo, SurinameReformed (Gereformeerde) church in Paramaribo, SurinameSurinamese guys told me in the Netherlands how racist Suriname can be, without the presence of white Dutch colonials. Hindu's look down on Creoles, Creoles look down on Maroons (called Bush negro's, Bosnegers in Dutch), Maroons live peaceful side by side with Native Indians, but they are different than the native Indians with their African, Ghanese like, culture. The white Surinamese and the Chinese Surinamese often don't mix with the Hindu, Muslim and Creole Surinamese. Hindu's, Muslims and 'ethnic' christians stick to their own. Ofcourse many Maroons, Creoles and others are christians too, but they will have their own churches. Despite everything people live side by side, and you have no civil war in Suriname and also no war with neighbours. But there were ethnic tensions with Brazillian guestworkers in Eastern-Suriname. Southern-America is different than Europe and the USA Karl and in the same time different than Africa, where the Black African people are the majority. In Southern America you have always the combination of the Spanish and Portuguese colonial past (and next to that the Dutch, British and French colonial elements, and German and Scandinavian settlement), the Native Indian (Indigenous Amerindian) tribes, and the fact that the Criollos's, Mestizos, Mulattos and Zambo's made the ethnic mix of Southern-America different than hundreds of years ago and thousands of years ago, before the Conquistadors entered the America's and changed everything. The Native Indians (Indigenous Amerindians) often became a minority on 'their own territory'. This must have been the reason your uncle August was so angry with you back then. In the racial, ethnic and political and economical hierarchic society of Southern-America you shouldn't cross ethnic, race, religious and social class barriers. Correct me if I am wrong. Cheers, Pieter
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Post by pieter on Jun 10, 2019 8:23:56 GMT -7
For John
It is amazing what this great American singer could do with female singers in these duets. Great voice, great man, great singer. You see that these women love to work with him.
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Post by pieter on Jun 10, 2019 8:28:30 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Jun 10, 2019 8:35:11 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Jun 10, 2019 8:39:02 GMT -7
Karl posted this video some time ago. John loved/liked it and therefor I post it here for John.
Hope that John will post some of his own favourite video's, songs, tracks or musical memories.
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Post by pieter on Jun 10, 2019 8:51:09 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Jun 10, 2019 9:12:25 GMT -7
You must know this “United States Marine Corps Hymn” John.
The Marinierskapel der Koninklijke Marine (Dutch Royal Navy band of the Netherlands Marine Corps) plays the “United States Marine Corps Hymn”. This band exists since 1945. A lot of Dutch Marines were trained in the USA in the final stages of the Second World War, during the First Years of the Cold War and after that. My uncle from Amsterdam was an officer of the Dutch Marines, and before he went to the Indonesian War of Independence (17 August 1945 – 27 December 1949) he was trained in the USA.
Starting in 1943, the United States Marine Corps trained and equipped a new brigade, the Mariniersbrigade, of the Korps Mariniers at Camp Lejeune and Camp Davis in North Carolina in preparation for amphibious landings against the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese surrendered before such landings were needed, but the Mariniersbrigade, fully trained and equipped, left North Carolina in six transports in 1945 and fought against the Indonesians in their National Revolution for independence. It was part of the A Division, which was itself commanded by a Korps Mariniers officer. It was disbanded in 1949.
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Post by pieter on Jun 10, 2019 9:35:58 GMT -7
Dutch military officer of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Raymond Westerling (31 August 1919 – 26 November 1987).More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_WesterlingFuneral of the old-captain of the the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL), Raymond Westerling on the Nieuwe Ooster cemetery in Amsterdam, 1987, with former Moluccan, Sundanese and Native Dutch soldiers of his Depot Special Forces (DST) commando unit and his pro-Dutch militia Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil (APRA).
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Post by kaima on Jun 10, 2019 11:23:49 GMT -7
Funeral of the old-captain of the the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL), Raymond Westerling on the Nieuwe Ooster cemetery in Amsterdam, 1987, with former Moluccan, Sundanese and Native Dutch soldiers of his Depot Special Forces (DST) commando unit and his pro-Dutch militia Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil (APRA). This should serve as a reminder to the USA that we have an obligation to the intrepid interpreters and their families who served us so well in Iraq. We should have open borders and free flights to bring them here to the USA upon their request. There are too many in danger of assassination as traitors by fellow Iraqis today. Like the rule in a China Shop, if you break it, you own it. We should own up to our follow-on obligations, as teh Dutch did with their Moluccan compatriots! Kai
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