Happy March Fool's Day!

[howeird]

I have two important birthdays to celebrate today. One is my "ex-wife" Marilyn, who is mumbletymumble years old today. Marilyn played my wife a few years ago in a Santa Clara Players production of Come Blow Your Horn and also was one of the cast of Play On! which I directed at the same theater. She's still a big theater booster and acts in their one-act play series, which perform at senior centers and community groups around the south bay.

It's also the US Peace Corps' 45th birthday today. I started as a volunteer during their 14th year. Read more here.

Comments

Re: Thailand Question

[howeird]

Dragon dances are Chinese, and to the best of my knowledge even the ones in VietNam are courtesy of the Chinese population there. Singapore is, of course, mostly Chinese. San Francisco's Chinatown is famous for their dragon and lion dances on Chinese New Year.

Thailand has a strong tradition of two kinds of dance. "Ramwong" is the national folkdance, and is a very simple walking dance which just involves moving the arms and fingers in a certain way while walking either in a parade or in a circle. Men and women usually pair up and dance side by side, but it can also be done group or solo. The second type is traditional classical dance, based on the stories of a Thai adaptation of the Indian tale Ramayana, which is performed in ornate costumes which feature metalic cloth, headdresses, and super-long false golden fingernails. The arm and finger movements of Ramayana dancing are cousins of those in the Ramwong.
I'll scan a photo or three in and post those for you.