GAF Muster Update

[Lars]

Idioten is the kind of foot-stomping schottis that was commonly played in social halls like Finn Hall and Swede-Finn Hall in Telluride in the late 1800s. Imagine a bunch of Scandinavian miners in heavy leather boots dancing on a wooden floor. Imagine a Pee Pee dancer hopping around to a lively schottis.

Don't have much hope of finding any Handel tunes for nyckelharpa, although there is a "Bethoven" polska.

Lars

[Major Matt Lewis]

Lars,

You and I are on the same page, Idioten is definately the way to go.

[Lars]

Major Lewis,

How many Pee Pee dancers will there be?

Lars

[Major Matt Lewis]

At least 2.  US Scout and Lou Graham.  Now the bookies thing that Lou is the strong favorite, but Scout has been talking about drinking gratuitous amounts of water...Although, I will let anybody who wants to do the jig join in....

Remember folks, Dignity is always the first casualty....

[Lars]

Major Lewis,

Your post brings up a question. What are the criteria on which the dance will be judged? Will it be crowd approval or  .........?

I would agree with the bookies. I know that Lou is an excellent dancer. Sounds like US Scout is looking for some quick fix to supplement dancing ability.

Lars

[Major Matt Lewis]

I am not sure, but we will know the winner when we see them dance....

[Grizzle Bear]

I think we need to divide up the pee-pee dance contestants in classes:

"Pointers" vs. "Setters"  ---   We do this in all the other shooting classes.

Beer Drinkers vs. Soft Drinks  ---  This would be like black powder vs. smokeless, it defines your power level.

I am trying to think of an anology to Shootist vs. Duelist, but I may have covered that already in the "Pointers vs. Setters".



Grizzle Bear

[Major Matt Lewis]

Grizz,

I don't know, I think that I am approaching this like Hylander.  There can only be One....Or like Lord of the Rings....One to rule them all

[Ol Gabe]

I think we need to divide up the pee-pee dance contestants in classes:"Pointers" vs. "Setters"...'Beer Drinkers vs. Soft Drinks'...

G.B.,
Are you really, really, really sure you want to open the Flood Gates to any other 'concepts'? You KNOW I'll be able to match anything you can dish out! HAH!
Best regards and good chuckling!
'Ol Gabe

[Delmonico]

Is Idioten  simmilar to The Chicken Dance?

[Lars]

Delmonico,

Idioten is the common Swedish player's name of a very simple, at least centuries old, very traditional schottis tune. It is also known as Vaghnhusschottis (carraige house schottis) -- carraige houses were common places for weekend dances at company towns and estates in the 1700s and 1800s in Sweden.

The name Idioten is because the tune is idiotically simple -- it is also highly repetitive, but not totally, such that it is known to made "idiots" of the players that get "lost" in the tune. It is one of the tunes that nyckelharpa players learn very early.

This and most other Swedish schottis are played rather fast, sometimes as fast as the Norwegian varient, known as Reinlander, etc. Being a lively tune in 2/4 time and with a very pronounced beat it should be a good tune for dancing the Pee Pee dance to.

Never heard of Chicken Dance -- your turn to explain.

Lars

[Delmonico]

It is a Polka often played at wedding dances when everyone gets drunk enough to flap their arms like wings.  I thought they might be related because my comment always is "What idiot requested that one?"  

Me self in my younger days I always perfered a Flying Dutchman, but I'm do old to lock arms with two wimmin any more and twirl them clear off the floor.   Some gal my ex used to work with let go one time, I don't know if they ever got her peeled off the wall of the Flying V Ballroom.

<I've hung around with Czech all my life, am an honorary one. >

[Lars]

Delmonico,

I have seen that dance, at Russian parties where it is called "Dance of the Hens" (Танца курочок). It was a late night dance request there too. I am half Russian. The Flying Dutchman sort of dance sometimes too -- don't recall its name.

Polkas, as well as a flat-footed, laid-back scandinavian version, called polkette, are common in Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish folk dances from the 1700s and 1800s. I have not yet learned to play any on nyckelharpa (see www.nyckelharpa.org -- Stina is current president elect of American Nyckelharpa Assoc. -- so I have excellent teacher).

Still working on "Tack för Maten"" (Thanks for food!) to play Friday night. Too bad Stina cannot be there to sing it in Swedish .. (you really don't want to hear me attemt singing!!).

Lars

[Delmonico]

I may have said too much, I may have to put up with the wrath of the "Chicken Dancers"

I watched a show several years ago on the history of polka, on NETV our local PBS station.  It was interesting because they said the polka had almost died out in it's Native lands till the Iron Curtain fell.

I take that to mean anyone who does not like Polka is a communist.

[Lars]

Cannot speak in any detail about the history of the polka and even less about the accuracy of that USA TV program. However, as someone that has deep cultural roots in three countries, Sweden, Russia and USA, I can say with total confidence that it is not uncommon for totally absurd, inaccurate, or worse stuff to appear in the newspapers and TV of each country regarding situations, developments, history, positions taken, etc. in the others. Thanks to Internet I can now read those newspapers each day, just as easily as if I lived in all three countries all the time. To me it is amusing to see the differences.

Lars

[Ornery Orr]

I do a mighty mean rendition of the chicken dance Del.   On one occasion I even did the chicken dance while wearing a gorilla suit!!!  Now that was funny!

[Delmonico]

Now my nights are going to be haunted by nightmares.

[Dr. Bob]

Howdy OO & Del,

Nightmares!  I'm afraid to close my eyes and go to sleep.

I reallly, really, really HATE the chicken dance!

[Grizzle Bear]

Delmonico wrote:

"It is a Polka often played at wedding dances when everyone gets drunk enough to flap their arms like wings.  I thought they might be related because my comment always is "What idiot requested that one?""


I think I have done that one, and I'm not even Scandihoovian!

Grizzle Bear

[Silver Creek Slim]

Perhaps I'll need to invent a Pee Pee Highland Fling especially for the occasion ... 



(On second thought, maybe that is wishful thinking - a Highland Fling is "a dance of joy performed at the end of a victorious battle" ....)

Are y'all pokin' fun at my ancestors? 

Slim(whats great grandmother was a MacDonald)