Tag Archives: dance

Music, Dance, Culture and Unusual Places In Portugal and Spain

28 May

While I covered most of our experiences in Portugal and Spain, there are some special places and experiences that just did not fit into my other blogs.  So here I am doing a potpourri of unique and joyful events and places.

Our boat, used to move salt or seaweed.

Did you know there is a Venice-like city in Portugal? I didn’t. But near the coast is the city of Aveiro. A large channel was dug in the early 1800s opening the town to the sea and canals were cut to bring the water further in and for transportation as the city became an important part of the salt and seaweed industries.  Although these two industries are no longer important, the canals have become a way for tourists to view the city.  We had a wonderful time on our boat ride through the canals viewing the scenes from the boat.  Later we had a chance to walk the streets that line the canal.

A sardine store.

In Portugal, sardines are an important food source and export industry.  Wherever you go you can see sardines for sale and/or you can eat them.  In Aveiro, the city with the canals, there was a lovely store just filled with different canned sardines for sale!  Since I love sardines, I loved seeing this store. I had joy from this little bit of heaven for me.  Later in our trip I purchased some to take home.  I didn’t take a photo of that sardine store, but later on I found another one!

In Spain there is a large area of mussel farms in the Rias Baixus estuary.  We had a lovely boat ride along the mussel farms and learned how the mussels grow and are harvested.  Those who enjoy mussels (NOT me) had a delicious lunch of mussels and shrimp.  I enjoyed watching the birds try to steal the food from the boat and from the others in my group trying to eat!  And YES, of course they served us wine on the boat!!

Before we went into the estuary, we looked at it from above at a wonderful little park on a peninsula bordering the estuary.  There we encountered the Tilting Rock and beyond it a wonderful lookout to view the area from above.

The town of Coimbra and the wonderful grounds of the university had more to offer us as we experienced Fado, the sad and emotional music of the students. Originally sung and performed with guitar by men dressed in black with capes and hats, now occasionally a woman also performs.  We went to a performance by three men that was so interesting.  Lots of longing and drama in the music.

After we left Coimbra we visited the seaside resort of Costa Nova. Wow, I fell in love with this resort. The beach is long and wonderful.  But the fun part are all the brightly colored and striped homes along the beach.  It was great fun to walk up and down the beach to admire them and have a cool drink, which we did. Many cities in Portugal and Spain had designs in the walkways which were made up of little squares of marble and granite. I liked this dophin.

We had other musical events as well.  Did you know that the people of Northern Spain are the origins of Celtic music. In fact, the people fled north to the islands that are now Great Britain and are the original Celtic immigrants.  We had the pleasure to see a show of their music, dance and singing.  YES, they use bag pipes!! But my favorite was the women playing songs using a sort of tamberine/drum and then using spoons for a song.  So much fun!

The first night in Santiago, we also got to see a troop of musicians performing across from the Church.  It was entertaining and joyous.  I think the pilgrims really enjoy their evenings after their long journey.  There is music throughout the town.

On another day we visited the World Heritage Site of Las Medulas, which shows you how you can destroy mountains with water.  The site of an ancient Roman gold mine, Las Medulas are the remains of mountains that were destroyed by the Romans who injected water into the mountains to mine for gold.  It is the most unusual landscape.  Honestly was totally unexpected and really worth seeing. 

Unfortunately last year there was a major fire near the area, actually right up to it. So all around us were blackened trees and shrubs and the grass was gone. But in a way it was more interesting because we were able to see the ancient Roman paths cut through the area.  And a beautiful new viewing site was built.

There were so many wonderful experiences and places to see and explore. Some times we felt we needed a vacation from our vacation. But in reality the memories these places and the poeple who we traveled with will stay with us. It was a most glorious and enjoyable experience.

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Learning to Dance at the Swift Sisters School of Dancing

25 Feb

In my mind, every little girl in North Bergen went to the Swift Sisters School of Dancing in Cliffside Park in the 1960s and 1970s and more.    Set in a two -story building on a quiet street, the school was my favorite spot for several years of my life.  To this day, when I am in New Jersey, and drive through Cliffside Park, I still recognize the building on Lawton Avenue, and a memory of those days returns.

To be honest, I was not one of the better dancers.  I only took lessons when I was 6, 7 and 8. But I adored the older girls who went up on their toes!  I loved my carrying case, a Ballet Box,  that had a picture of a young girl dancing in her pink tutu and dance shoes on the outside.  I learned both tap and ballet, taking two classes when I went.  So I needed that case to carry my extra shoes.  To be honest, it looked like the Barbie doll carrying case, but this one had compartments for shoes, instead of dolls.

I liked tap dance better than ballet.  I think I was better at that. But I honestly cannot remember.  What I do remember is that I liked the costumes we wore for tap much better than the ballet costumes.  I hated the stiff tulle that was under the ballerina skirts. But for tap, we had much more comfortable outfits.

 

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In fact, my favorite photo of me from those days was in my tap costume in 1962.   I was seven years old.   I remember my Dad doing an entire photo shoot of me in my costume.  He also took many photos of the show itself. I now have all these photos! I guess he waited a bit to have the film developed, because the show itself was in June.  I know because I still have the program!!!

It is amazing what I found when cleaning out my parent’s home!

What I remember most about dance classes were the Swift sisters themselves.  They were the queens of the building.   I remember that one of them had been a Radio City Rockette! (Anyway I believe that is true!)  This led to my fascination with the Rockettes.  It was around that time (1965) that my Grandma Esther took us to see the movie “That Darn Cat” at Radio City Hall, and to see the Rockettes.   I still watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and am in awe of the Rockettes’ performance.  I only wish I was tall enough and talented enough to join them.

My joy of dancing, led me to enroll my daughter in creative movement classes and ballet classes when she was 5 and 6.  Like me, she was not the best little ballerina. She lasted two years.  I think she might have suffered through it and not enjoyed it that much.  But she loved her little pink tutu leotard.  Designers are so much smarter now, designing outfits where the tutu is actually attached!  Not like in my days of learning to dance.

However, I believe, like me,  she still remembers her first through fifth positions in ballet.  I also am aware of the dance terms, such as barre, grande, plie, pas, petit, pirouette, promenade, and on pointe.  Thank you to my years at the Swift Sisters!

Even though neither of us were the best dancers, we both loved going to see the Nutcracker Ballet each year.  The dance school where my daughter spent two dance years, run by Kathy and Dennis Landsman, always put on a student production of the Nutcracker, and each year we went to see the ballet at the Johnson County Community College.

I must say, although I was not the best dancer in either ballet or tap dance, I received encouragement and lasting memories from my days learning to dance.  For me, the time I spent at the Swift Sisters school gave me a start to loving dance, music and movement.  A joy I have to this day.

 

 

 

 

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