Continuing with festivals, last Friday our gang attended the local Greek Festival at the Greek Church on Swann. We go every year and usually are never disappointed. This year however, they had the live music (great band) outside in the tent, instead of the main hall. It was cold, but we danced out there anyway, but it’s much better when the band is there with the food and action. However, we love to dance, the food is always good, and even tho I left a little earlier than usual (Mick went with me, has a sore knee, and was freezing), it was a good evening. I brought Greek buttons for everyone to wear (and keep).
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2 years in a row now I’ve been a guest of Bobbi’s at the Tampa Woman’s Club’s Pink Rose Tea, which is a marvelously old fashioned – and yet teas are coming back- put on expressly to raise money for cancer. Each year they pick a different form, last year Breast, this year, the Suncoast Leukemia and Lymphomia Society (for children). Tables are bought by a group or individual, and they are brilliantly decorated. Bobbi did our table with all gold dishes and decorations, causing many pictures to be taken by other attendees. They have entertainment as well as the tea food, consisting of tiny sandwiches and deserts – very traditional – much like the one I attended in Singapore at the Raffles Hotel. Cancer survivors are given a special gift, last year a candle, this year a small wreath decorated with pink roses. I made buttons with our names for a keepsake. The program had a very nice Tea Blessing: Lord, grant that our time together be steeped in serenity, sweetened by sharing, and surrounded by the war fragrnce of Your love. Amen. Nice huh? It’s a lovely couple of hours and a good cause. There was short notice for this performance, but those of us who managed to get to the show were certainly not disappointed. This incredible performance was held on October 27 at Lake Ashton, a gated community in Lake Wales, who has a room that includes a stage. The problem was that it was a very small stage, and there was no curtain, nor wings, and the chairs were flat on the floor, making it difficult to see their feet. So if a dancer was to go off to the wings, they went down the stairs and exited to the floor or into a dressing room. However this did not deter them from putting on a wonderful wonderful show. This is a group from Daghestan, Russia and they introduced the audience to the “customs of the Daghestan people, its courage and noble-mindness, proud and unique national character, presenting a wealth of choreographic compositions with an original national color and taste”. (quoted from the program). They did 15 traditional dances (with a little modern arranging), some men only, some women only, some combined, some festive, some somber, some romantic. Some beautiful, some fun. The dancers were exquisite, the girls stunning, the boys handsome, their technique faultless – I still don’t know how the girls look like their feet aren’t moving, the men on their toes and lots of gymnastics. The costumes were absolutely gorgeous – they just couldn’t have been any better. The dances were quite varied, never a boring moment, and there were two that were just amazing – really outstanding to me. One was an amazing sword dance – (well, of course I liked it, being a fencer) I know we’ve all seen many – but this was outstanding in spite of the small stage. The other was a drum number. Every man had a drum – 3 different sizes – and the dance was done only to the drums, no other music. I can’t describe how phenomenal it was. I bought the DVD to show at our annual danced camp, and sadly, they do a different sword dance than we saw, but the drum dance is there. Well worth the drive over. They have a website and you can also take a look at them on youtube. The next weekend we went to the Serbian Church and had a good time! There was a wonderful 3-piece Serbian band, who played dance music for us. There was Serbian food. There was a performance by the children and teenagers of the church, and lots of dancing afterwards. A good time was had by all – much different from the German number last weekend. A group of folk dancers decided to attend this year’s Oktoberfest, put on by the German-American Club in Pinellas Park. We have been to others, and the main problem has been to find seating in the large tent. So this year, we sent Dylan and Bonnie there to get us a table the minute the place opened for business. There were reserved tables, and not reserved tables, and they picked a non-reserved table – this was at 4:00 pm. We all arrived within minutes, a total of 9 of us and settled in to eat and dance. At 6:00 a man came to us, telling us it was a reserved table and to move. Of course there were not tables available, and Dylan and Bonnie explained this table had no reserved sign on it. This guy became very belligerent, almost forcing us to move. Some of us started arguing, Ursula even did it in German. I asked him to bring back the president of the organization. About 45 minutes later, he came back, told us the president had told him we had to move. I said “or else?” He said the police would escort us out. I suggested this sounded like a law suit in the making, and he left again. Back came the president, also asking us to move, but using a slightly nicer voice. He offered to help us move – pointed to a table that emptied, and by the time we looked over it was full again, he says, you snooze you lose. We decided to leave, he offers us free tickets to come back. We suggested that we would never be coming back, but asked for our money back for our food tickets, which he did. A pretty awful experience. I do think that’s the last time we’ll go there. My sis wondered why a nice Jewish girl like me would go in the first place. Hmmm. The Florida Orchestra is wonderful! Even though they have continual financial problems, and the musicians receive less and less salary as the years go by, they must be kept alive! The performances on Oct 14, 15 and 16, included Mozart’s Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio, Haydn’s Military Symphony and for the second half – the very popular Carmina Burana. This was the first time I ever saw this piece being played and it was wonderful. The orchestra, joined by the Master Chorale, the USF Chamber Singers and 3 soloists just couldn’t have been better. It’s a grand (as my grandma used to say) piece and excitement reigned in the hall! I love the Florida Orchestra! Ellie dancing
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