Friday, December 20, 2019

Highland Dance is strong and elegant, and quite different from the country dances I most enjoy. I used to enjoy Highland when I still had a youthful spring in my step. Now that I can only lift myself one inch off the ground, I have established the rule that I will demonstrate Highland only to people sitting in wheelchairs. When we raise our arms in Highland, we are imitating the antlers of a great stag - from which it become obvious that this was a male hunters' style of dancing. In this painting, Janet McCrorie shows very well the youth as well as the strength of the dancers. Who are female. In my book I DANCE THEREFORE I AM, you will meet many great female dancers including some who teach Highland and Ladies' Step Dancing which a related genre. So much fun !

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Rumors of War (a non-racist statue in Richmond VA)

This new statue at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, mimics a civil war military statue of JEB Stuart, a friend of Robert E. Lee and leader of the slavers' cavalry during the American civil war. In place of General Stuart, we see a native American riding his prancing horse, his dancing horse: providing a challenge to the narrative of Richmond's white supremacist confederate statues, while honoring Sculpture as an Art, and honoring the original inhabitants of America, those peaceful tribal ecologists who were largely exterminated by the likes of President Andrew Jackson, a hero of the current occupant of the White House. Well done the VMFA.
I danced with Paris RSCDS at their 35th anniversary Ball. I had a good time, with some great dancing to music played by Parisians led by The Black Bear duet from Brisbane. What a great evening! Merci à nos amis de Paris. I met Antoine Rousseau for the first time, and he is a wonderful dancer! Even when I was young, I do not believe I danced as elegantly as Antoine. Antoine dancing the poussette with Emma was a dream come true! I must definitely return to Paris - where I used to dance in the 1970s with the parents of Patrick Chamoin, both of whom were rigorous RSCDS dance teachers..

STRETCHING is good for keeping you fit and healthy during 2023 !

  I WISH YOU PEACE and HAPPINESS during 2023. I stretch out several times each week to keep my body supple, and my back straight. Over Chr...