My daughters are dancers

Dear Bloggers,

For the last two months I’ve been spending my Monday afternoons at my daughter’s dance recital. For most dads, this is brutal – enduring hours of 8-year-olds in skirts, hundreds of twirls, jumps and gyrations. In my case I was particularly apprehensive because given today’s hip-hop society, I would have to endure hours of noise accented with either profane language or bleeps.

The recitals were a showcase in good music, with kids dancing to the music of Die Twa with the song Fûgels (Frisian song from two guys called those two who were actually there and sang this beautiful song.) My youngest daughter performed on K3 with Lollipopland, furthermore there was the song from the Rednex, called the spirit of the hawk I was impressed by the musical knowledge of these 10 year olds, Identity from the Robot Boys and the Drill was performed by the girls that are in their adolescent years and struggle with being in between girl and woman identity, 

my eldest daughter danced on Vanessa Mae’s Ragas Dance and the adults group danced (Im)perfection from Byon Kay and Ori Lavi and of course the surprise act that was performed by some of the first dancers who did an act from the Lion King. There were throwbacks to the top artist in the Netherlands Marco Borsato with Droom, durf ,doe en deel, the DJ kept the atmosphere right with playing Triggerfinger, Michel Teló and Ed Sheeran.

They even dipped into the obscure, when the gymnastics used the song Anthoon aus Tirol (obscure to 75 percent of the population, at least as it links to the drunk behavior in the ski resorts and the Tiroler soft porn from the 70’s). I heard a few hip-hop songs but I enjoyed almost every performance.

There were even a few artists that I had never heard of like Byon Kay and Ori Lavi and the Robot Boys and the Drill. And how Marco Borsato’s “Droom, durf, doe en deel” had eluded me all this time is embarrassing. I have some work to do.

Oh yeah. The dancing was pretty darn good. Am I officially a dance dad?

Last week my two girls performed in their annual dance recital. Aside from a dislike of some musical choices – coupled with the fear that one of my daughters would be dancing on them – I actually enjoyed the performances. There is usually very little hip-hop, and at times, a am awarded with discovery of some unknown music.

And oh yeah. The dancing’s good too.

This year was a tribute to the dance teacher Miss Marjanne who is with giving dance classes, the kids feel it like a little bit of losing her. (that still sounds weird, doesn’t it?). And it was a musical retrospective of her life – from “The Lion King” through her time with the dancers from then and now. 

It was all there, it really gave me some goosebumps when they all were culminating and the entire groups were participating in the now for whoever has seen it, the iconic “final” dance. As every dancer had written down the memories about the dance teacher their voices were recorded on the music and one by one they danced away from the stage. When I heard my eldest daughter speak and saw her dance, I could not hold my emotions back and cried a few tears. It was overwhelming and astonishing there was a real love glow.

A family friend brought her 8-year-old son to the recital. He came just to hear the music and was exited by almost every song as he knows of course my daughters, he was watching with an open mouth their performances. And that’s when I realized that music that continues to transcend generation. Granted, most of the music that the younger kids enjoyed was from K3 as they all grew up with it. That makes my job of exposing them to good music so much easier.

The dance groups perform at competitions throughout the year, so those performances were also included in the recital.

In a time where it would be too easy to resort to the latest hip-hop flavor or Ke$ha single, it’s refreshing to see creativity and melody taking center stage. And it warms my heart to think that some young people are being exposed to this at the local dance studio.

The Old Sailor,

Old Sailor and Poetry

Dear Bloggers,

This time I write about some poems that grabbed me by the throath. When you can read between the lines a lot of things might be pretty simple if you would use these words as a guideline. First of all there is the poem of Max Ehrmann called  Desiderata. This time most of the words have been already been written by people that had their great moments already in live. In that way I am just a simple blogger. Who is writing stories just for his own fun being misunderstood by his spouse as I am spending too much time behind the Laptop according to her.

Whatever the history of Desiderata, the Ehrmann's prose is inspirational, and offers a simple positive credo for life.

desiderata - by max ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann c.1920

Desiderata is Latin and means 'things that are yearned for', which in the context of the poem more closely means 'essential things'.

This poem Desiderata is a bit old school but I think it is stil brilliant, more from our time is the article Wear Sunscreen by Mary Schmich I think it is absolutely material for our new generations.

Maybe the song of Baz Luhrmann might be something if you are not much of a reader. Everybody is free to wear sunscreen

Wear Sunscreen by Mary Schmich

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

 

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

 

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

 

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

 

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

These two people are real word artists and I can only wish that my readers can do something with it or write a comment with a poem that might be even better.

The Old Sailor,