- We had a davenport similar in style to the one on the left ..... except our's was a hideous red and grey Naugahyde. Do you remember Naugahyde? Think 1950's pleather! Anyway, my parents kept their record collection under there, and I would spend hours in the living room playing old 78's (Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy singing "I am calling you..hoo..hoo.hooo, hoo..hoo.hooo") and a quite eclectic collection of 45's (Elvis "Just tell her Jim said Hello", Skeeter Davis "The End of the World"; Jimmy Dean "PT 109").
Then there was my favorite 45: Frank Ifield's "She Taught Me How to Yodel". I was positively enraptured by what his voice could do! I would practice for hours and hours on end; but despite all my trying, I simply couldn't get the hang of yodelling. The only thing I was successful at was giving my Mom a headache and earning myself a swat with the dishtowel. Shattered dreams!
I did, however, grow up with a love of every kind of musical genre. I liked it all -- pop, rock, country, disco, funk, you name it. I even took a few modern and jazz dance classes.
In the 1980's, I found Bluegrass; and while falling in love with the music, that wasn't what enraptured me. It was the clogging that was happening on the sidelines. I would sit agog watching the dancers -- their upper bodies ram-rod straight while their feet and legs clomped around the stage. OMG! I had to learn to do that!
I did eventually find someone teaching classes. I signed up, and every Tuesday evening, I would surreptiously take the bus to Dartmouth and join the group. Sadly, that only lasted 2 classes before the instructor closed things down because of a family move out of the province. Shattered dreams!
Next came marriage and babies ... and divorce and working full time ... and aging .... and a lot of dreams put on the shelf.
Alas, alack, allo!
To think of what I might have been!
Well, let's take a trip back to the mid 80's and see what I might have been!
In the immortal words of Marlon Brando:
"I could have been a contender!"
16 comments:
Are you still breathing? Then you still ARE a contender, girl. When I was a young mom my neighbor and I took our tots to a parade featuring the Dancing Grannies. She leaned over and said "when we get that age, let's NOT do that." I nodded but even then I thought - it kinda looked like more fun than we were having on the sidelines. Don't sit there on your Naugahyde (if you clean that stuff with Pledge people slide right off of it) go dancing!
To think, you might have been clogging in Lord of the Dance today if only you had a few more lessons.
Loved this post! If I could clog I would too. I love music and dancing and singing, except I can't do much of any of them. Although I remember how to twist to Chubby Checkers TWIST and I can jitterbug with the bsst of them. I don't see a big call for jitterbuggers anymore. My daughters would cringe and my grand kids would fall on the floor dancing. I don't care. I do it all in my head and nobody laughts.
Thanks for the dreams. Barb
There is not a speck of doubt in my mind that you would and still are a contender!!!
You and this video crack me up!
Every now and again, I do my version of 'Lord of the Dance' with the grandkiddos.
I didn't say it was pretty but a girl's gotta have fun!!!
God bless ya and have a magnificent kinda day sweetie!!!
I'm out of breath just watching all those moves. What a terrific dancer. What stamina. GREAT video. A CONTENDER I think, not. A STAR, definitely. LOVED this. PS) My favorite 78 was Rosemary Clooney singing This Old House. I used to lipsync it for hours over and over again.
All I can say is: WOW! You are awesome! It is too bad you didn't keep up with clogging lessons but what is there to stop you from any kind of dance classes now? (other than there aren't any in your area!) I do remember naugahide couches. Do you remember when people covered their fabric couches with fitted plastic covers? Uh huh. Our neighbours did and you weren't even allowed in the living room to sit on them. I hope you're dancing up a storm today! Pamela
Way to go !!! I love all kinds of dance... Keep your faith and go with your dreams..
Never give up on those dreams...although the ones you had may have not turned out the way you wished you really have some good memories to keep in each and every one of them. Life never turns out quite how we expect, yet I wake up everyday just excited about what might come with it. Hope your Wednesday is a wonderful one!
Looks like a fun dance...keep enjoying it...
Hey, I like yodeling too. Is it too late for you to learn yodeling and clogging? I bet you could do it now :)
I hear ya, Friend. I have no sense of rhythm, but I've always wanted to know how to tap dance. There's just something about shiney,black patent leather shoes that make noise. They call to me!
Yes, here's to what might have been!
was that you dancing. I love cloggers. My dad even took clogging...he and my mom would go to Arizona and spend the winter at a retirement facility there, and he enrolled in a clogging class. He was the only guy of many gals.
He loved it...and they loved him.
I know sometimes it seems like our dreams are shattered....maybe it just means we need to set for ourselves NEW dreams.
Maybe those dreams weren't meant to be after all.
I don't know.
But I heard a saying "if you have a pulse, you have a purpose". so like others have said in their comments YOU ARE a contender.
so look out world, here she comes.
All those things you didn't do left room for the things that made you the great person you are today. No regrets - just different opportunities. You seem like a very well put together, with it lady.
That's hilarious. I think you ought to start taking classes again. You're never to old for clogging!
I didn't think there was anyone else out there who loved bluegrass and clogging! I also love Irish dance--very similar. I looked for someplace to take lessons, but the only place was over an hour away, so I didn't follow through. Maybe I should look into it again--it's never too late!
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