Lake Michigan

Happened to be at St Joseph beach during the eve of July 4th and saw some of the tourists getting ready to witness the fireworks.

The Amtrak runs very close to the beach and I did not know that there was a station at St Joseph.

Love lighthouses and some of the stories behind them.

At this location there were two lighthouses close to each other and the second one is equally good.

Sometimes the angle of the light makes a lot of difference. I like the silhouette better even though the man fishing from the boat is the same in both the pictures above and below.

I showed the above picture to the guy in the boat and he laughed saying "but there is no fish in the picture"
Talking of fish, we did see one guy actually catch a big one. Looks like a Drum.

These lighthouses have been here for more than a century. The Michigan Lake is so vast that at times you feel that you are looking out into the ocean. Most of the time the waters are calm and you may see a lone paddler moving about

While we were there we did not miss a chance to get some cups of Caramel from Kilwins.

A small video clip captured at Kilwins got converted to an insta reel.
I love that 1964 song by Chuck Berry attached to the Instagram.
About an hour's drive up north from this place is a Dutch village where you get to see and learn about Dutch culture.

Among other things that we saw was a shoe (Klompen) making factory and a Dutch dance display.

The Dutch dance display was entertaining as well as informative. The Gouden Engel (organ) that played in the background was made in Belgium and later transported to the Netherlands. The fact that it weighed more than 2000 pounds makes it one of the heaviest street organs in the Netherlands.

All those who danced were students from the nearby university. There were some funny moments while they danced, like one of the boy's shoes went flying and was later retrieved from the canal.

Maybe he didn't wear enough socks (they wore anything between 5 to10 pairs of socks)

Later they invited the audience to join the dance which was an opportunity to learn a few steps.

While watching the video I had my doubts. Did he deliberately fling the shoe?

Artsphere and Dance

World dance day was on 29^th April and what better way to celebrate it than to attend a dance show where all forms of dance were performed. (well almost all)

The show was organised by Artsphere at the Symbiosis  auditorium (Viman nagar)

It was a visual treat, not to mention the music that accompanied it. 

I had seen some of the artists perform earlier like the performers from the Naad Nrityalaya  and had written a blog on them earlier. 

The various form of dance were Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Salsa, Contemporary and belly dance accompanied by drum solo.  

  

The Capoeira may look like Dandia but it is actually a Brazilian martial art which was developed during the European colonial era by the slaves, allowing them to express themselves and rebel against suppression through acrobatics, fluid body movements, music and good energy. (The sickle is replaced by the sticks) 

Out of all the items above, what I liked best was the participation of the children with special needs. They had no stage fright and was just rearing to go.  The children along with the teachers presented a jungle and rainbow show followed by a small Djembe performance.  The first video is based entirely on their performance. 

After a long time I got to see a peti (harmonium) on stage  

Some of the advantages of filming near the stage is that you get to capture the sound of the ghungroo and the stomp of the feet. Or for that matter capturing the finer points like these three young ladies standing on their heels, which may be missed out by the audience. 

The second video is a glimpse of all the dance performances. Even though I had longer footage, I had to deliberately shorten it to reduce the overall length (still it runs into two parts) (Here is the second part of the second video)

The selective audience who were very appreciative about the performance. 

 

The team who made it all happen 

The Union Square

The union square is a nice place to sit back and relax. If you are lucky you can catch up with some art exhibition or maybe there will be a live show. We were lucky to witness both.

Originally this was a park surrounded by churches and houses. Now it is the commercial retail center of the city. It serves as a stage for gatherings of all types, including dance, art exhibitions, musical performances, theater and speech.

A good place for window shopping (as the prices in the area is bit high I must say)

The big building facing the square is the Macey’s where there is ample opportunity for shopping and eating. This building looks more appealing in the night with the lights on.

We had been to the Cheesecake factory at Macey's which was on the 8^th Floor (Terrace level) It gave a good view of the square.

There was this live music show in the evening. People waited while things were being set up for the event.

Some read books while others thought it was the right time for a quick snap shot.

Some people waited patiently (and their dogs were equally patient)

Some thought that this was the time to show off their attire. This young man with a fancy hat and coat had a matching parasol.

The professional photographers had enough time to assemble the right lens and be ready

For meditation, any place was a good place, while the blue flowers played the right music for the right mood

There was this lady who had a bunch of hula hoop. Looked like she was in charge of distributing the hoops.

 Hula Hoop was the craze in the early sixties. There were some records created, like Aaron Hibbs of Ohio managed hooping for 75 hours non stop in 2009.

Earlier the hoops were made of willow or rattan, but now it comes in plastic or HDP (high density polypropylene)

This small boy here in green was full of energy and did the hooping with ease.

Once the music started the mood changed

Some just tapped their feet to the music while others (young and old) took to the dance floor.

I noticed about six cameras like these, placed at different locations, capturing the event. Probably the combined result would be mixed to make a good video.

Well, I had only one camera and tried my best to capture the event from different angles. Those who like to watch live performances like these may find this video interesting. More emphasis was given to the drummer and his performance. It is a pleasure to watch some one play on an actual drum set, than on an electronic drum.

 The last shot in the video was taken from the Cheesecake factory at Macey’s.