Pune Oktoberfest 2022

You can dance in any style as long as it blends with the beat and the music.

I am talking of the Oktoberfest held in Pune this year and the live band.

The one on the keyboard was versatile and at times I spied him with an accordian.

Many turned up in the German traditional outfit and were willing to pose for pictures.

There were photographers galore and the bigger the camera the more willing the people are ready to be clicked.

As for these beer spouts, I wonder if they are real pressure gauges.

First time I got to see a portable Beer dispenser. Away from the madding crowd quietly dispensing the Beer.

I liked the innovative T-shirt of a Beer stall by using the local language (Marathi) Loosely translated it means,"How about having a round of drinks today"

These transparent glasses are a good way of advertisement. Keep staring at the names till the beer is over.

Meanwhile there were frequent sorties to the beer bar for a refill.

Some even had long banners unfurled to catch the eyeballs

Saw this couple enjoying the music and they were light on their feet, so I dedicated a video totally on them (and sent them the video link) Don't miss the expression on that child's face at the bottom corner

In fact I captured many in action and made three small videos. Video 1 Video 2 Video 3 There is some more footage of the band and if time permits, I will upload them too. If you see most of the pictures above in fancy colours, it is because of the psychedelic lights that were used at the venue (and a nightmare for photographers) I mean just compare the two pictures below. It is the same singer Gisele in both the cases but see the difference the lighting makes.

Bare feet

Last evening I had the opportunity to spend some time watching Hawaiin dance by The Barefeet Hawaiian Inc. Time well spent I must say. Steve did a good job of anchoring the show using the right words at the right time.

It was fun to watch the swaying movements of the participating dancers with their smiling faces.

Among the Hula Dance implements they used, I liked the Puili for the rhythmic sound it made in sync with the beat of the song.

Other implements used were Uli uli, Poi Balls, and ii

The addition of Elvis Presley's song was a good touch as Elvis had a good connection with Hawaii including his movie Blue Hawaii. Some young girls came forward when Steve mentioned learning the basic steps.

The men were equally eager and some stepped forward (barefeet of course) to try out the steps.

I was a bit worried that some kid would spin the Poi Ball in the wrong direction and injure someone but care was taken and no one was injured.

I captured what I could (from where I was seated) and put it together to form a short video. The first two minutes of the video is Kaluva Pepe, the song featuring Hula from Hawaii, Otea from Tahiti, Haka from New Zealand and Sasa from Samoan.

As Steve mentioned, he was giving us a taste of Polynesian dance and music. Polynesian means many islands. I just looked it up on the internet and learned that the largest country in Polynesia is New Zealand. Here is a picture from Wikipedia.

As mentioned earlier, it was time well spent. I am sure all those who were present there, went home with positive vibes.

Fakalufilufi

"One year of participation in this Dance class is equal to increase in one year of your life length" 

This is one of the many comments that follows this wonderful video. 

Don't know how this came up in my YouTube feed but this Tahia Cambet Dance is simply wonderful. 

  

It is the way it is choreographed that makes it appealing. There is yelps and shouts in between and it is an expression of joy in the Polynesian culture. 

The dance is choreographed to the music Fakalufilufi. (a song originally by Gabilou) The effect is not the same when you hear the music separately. Adding those stomping steps makes it more pleasant. (and maybe the yelping and shouting) 

Watch the video and you can judge for yourself. 

Somebody has also commented about the camera crew and the wonderful work done in capturing it. 

After watching the video I realised it is captured by one person and she was weaving herself through the dancers so that everyone was covered.  Swell job indeed.   

Some of the other comments on YouTube :

I thought it was impossible to find so many beauties of all kinds and grace in one video and yet .....

These girls are having so much fun !!! Love the song - great beat to dance to.

So much fun. I love it and want to be a part of this joyful class.

This class looks amazing and the women seem so at home and empowered by one another.

Shaking with style and grace. Now that is worth looking at and participating in.

Very cool. I love how there is so many different types of girls participating in Tahitian dancing. I am starting to see just how big this community is. 

This is so joyful. How can you not feel uplifted and happy when you watch these beautiful girls dancing.

Something soothing about the music and the dance moves, feels like sunset and wine.

I am a man, can I dance like that? 

Hahahah, very nice. This is why we from the Pacifics and native Americans have killer abs, because we don't twerk, we shake it with Elegance.

Thank you for reminding me how beautiful a real woman is.

This is amazing. The cool thing about this is, everyone is having fun.

(I know its a bleak picture that we are facing globally, but i am looking for things that will make us think positive, so smile and enjoy the dance)

Footloose

Seeing these girls dance to the music of Footloose reminded me of watching the movie with the same name way back in the early eighties, featuring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer.  

Had been to the Septemberfest in the suburbs of Chicago (conducted by the Village of Schaumburg)

It featured arts & craft, Bingo, craft beer, wine tent, food and  entertainment on four stages.

It was on one of these stages that I saw this group performing. The music and the dance kept me so absorbed that I could not venture out to check the other stages. 

The costumes were appropriate and and it went well with the songs selected. 

I ended up capturing a bit of all the dances and strung it up to make it into a two minute video. 

At the end during the bow I gathered that the half an hour performance was done by the students of BISI Jr Dance Company from the BISI Chicago Dance Company located at Elk Grove Village.

Summer Dance Celebrations

It was fun watching the dance competition. Putting the best foot forward for The most versatile Dancer (hosted by "May I have this Dance" ) 

Was at the Millennium Park last weekend and witnessed the Summer Dance celebrations. The turnout was pretty good and it was infectious to see the crowd cheering up the participants. 

There were some Bollywood moves and an Afro fusion workshop. 

In another corner of the park the contemporary art form was in full swing. 

Captured some snippets of the action and compiled it into a 17 min video. 

The procession with the Mucca Pazza from the Millennium Park to the Pritzker stage was colourful and hilarious. Trumpets, Saxophones, Clarinets, Trombones, Tubas, Accordion, Violin and Drums are fine but an electric guitar and a Cello? But then that makes the band unique I suppose. 

I have made a separate video showing the Mucca Pazza in action. 

And life went on normally outside the park.