Category Archives: The Dance Marathon

Dancing with Dario in Cordoba

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Vacaciones de Navidad
Lunes, 28 Deciembre

Dario taught a swing dance classes in Parque las Tejas/ Tiles park. Despite now living in Buenos Aires, he’s sowing small seeds and nurturing a swing dance community in his home city of Cordoba. Some of those in the class are hip hop and house dance enthusiasts as well as Dai Zapata, an experienced Cordobes tap dancer.

As it was Dario’s last night we had to commemorate the occasion with a dance under the white bridge with the Christmas tree of lights in the distance.

Although barely audible we’re dancing to ‘Wham’ by The Hot Sugar Band.

Dancing in the Hills of Chapada Diamantina

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I travelled to deepest darkest Capao with my Slavic hitch hiking compadre Monika.

Our host Sam sings to us one night and plays both the guitar and the accordion (not at the same time, that would be clever ….and strange).

We talk spiritual and philosophical matters, shamanism, animism and he tells about his experiences of taking the jungle plant Ayahuasca. The mind expanding properties of this natural trip allow you to understand the universe and all it’s mysteries.

Sam wrote Tamarindo, an ode to Ayahuasca and his visions. It’s a catchy number and I dance to it on tea breaks mid-trek. Rough terrain jiggery reminded me of John Cleese’ Ministry of Silly Walks; it was hard to maintain any balance!

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Clumsy comedy.

New ideas about Shamanism inspire me to waft around butterfly styleee with Pablo’s colourful kanga. It’s easy to forget when out in this wilderness that it was once populated by Indigeonous people. And that the forest may have been full of meaning for them, a reverence held – spirits, seasons, symbols.

Xicrin tribe Brazil

A Xikrin girl. This may be the ritual dress for the Hummingbird Ceremony.

Tamarindo A Bitter Fruit – Fulano de Tao

O suco de tamarindo  /The juice of tamarindo

Que eu tava com a colher bulindo  /That I was with touching with a spoon

Nunca me deu azedo  /Never felt so bitter to me

Nunca me deu prazer do seu amor  /Never felt the pleasure of your love

A flor que tava se abrindo  /The flower that was opening

Num cacto espinho surgindo  /A cactus spike emerging

Nunca feriu meu dedo  /Never wounded my finger

Nunca me fez arder do seu calor  /Never made me burn by your love

De fato eu subi montanhas  /In fact I climbed mountains

E montes eu descobri sobre voce  /And hills I discovered about you

Agora to sozinho aqui no meu canto  /Now i`m here alone in my corner

Com toda a certeza que nenhum encanto  /With sure that no charm

Vai desaparecer com tudo que eu vivi  /Will disappear with all that I lived

Mesmo sabendo que voce nao volta pra mim  /Even knowing that you will not return to me

Xicrin tribe2

Xikrin-Kayoo man.

Voguing in a hole Lencois river portrait

An East Anglian woman – Voguing in a hole.

Dancing on the streets of Sao Paulo – Version 2

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For the full story see my last post and Version 1 of my Sao Paulo jig to ‘Ask’ by The Smiths.

Morrissey expresses the experience of Shyness better than I can. It’s through Lindy hop that I jumped this social hurdle; bounding around a foreign cityscape is all part of exorcising my sweet yet sometimes debilitating demon.

The Smiths Collage

Left – extremely cool image from: notjustanothergraphicdesignblog.com & Right – the original 7″ single artwork (Raoul, is this right?!)

 

Dancing on the streets of Sao Paulo – Version 1

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(Sao Paulo locations: Viaduto Santa Ifigenia, Rua da Consolacao, Praca ‘Rosa’ Roosevelt)

During my short stay in Sao Paulo I buddied up with Adriana. She lives in uber-central Republica in a cool 1940s apartment that’s barely changed since that era. We both admire vintage flavour.

I was her Couchsurf guest and boy, what a wonderful host she was. She teaches film and script writing at the local universade. The university is in the Japanese community quarter, Liberade.

The Sao Paulo sunshine was shining on me as Adriana agreed to be my camera woman for 2 days. The pair of us sauntered around the city talking over our favourite locations – her as a local and me as a visitor with my first impressions.

Adriana and me hanging about the city.

Adriana and me hanging about the city.

At the end of Sabado, although completely pooped we dragged our sorry bodies out into the night and bopped until the early hours at The Clock Rockabilly Club. I had an ball!

The Sao Paulo cityscape although gritty and tough was a feast for the imagination and we took loads of footage!  So I’ve edited this wedge into 2 versions. Version 1 is above – version 2 is on it’s way!

The song – ‘Ask’, The Smiths, 1986

The Smiths are amazing – end of story. The melodies uplifting and the lyrics tell many a witty tale. This song is one of my favourites. The lyrics about Shyness resonated with me. As I pranced about, feeling awkward initially, receiving puzzled glances I felt that Morrissey was spurring me on!  🙂

Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You’d like to

Shyness is nice, and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You’d like to

So, if there’s something you’d like to try
If there’s something you’d like to try
Ask me – I won’t say ‘no’ – how could I?

Coyness is nice, and
Coyness can stop you
From saying all the things in
Life you’d like to

So, if there’s something you’d like to try
If there’s something you’d like to try
Ask me – I won’t say ‘no’ – how could I?

Spending warm Summer days indoors
Writing frightening verse
To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg

Ask me, ask me, ask me

Ask me, ask me, ask me

Because if it’s not Love
Then it’s the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb
That will bring us together

Nature is a language – can’t you read?
Nature is a language – can’t you read?

So… Ask me, ask me, ask me

Ask me, ask me, ask me

Because if it’s not Love
Then it’s the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb, the Bomb
That will bring us together

If it’s not Love
Then it’s the Bomb
Then it’s the Bomb
That will bring us together

So…Ask me, ask me, ask me

Ask me, ask me, ask me
Oh, la la la la laaaaaa la…!