CHC Final Project

You know how in cartoons and shows, the announcer goes “tah-dah” to present something new or interesting or to indicate a punchline. It turns out that this phrase originally came from Jewish comedians. After finishing their performance, they would dance and end with a song praising God, using the word “todah” which means “thank you” in Hebrew. So the “tah-dah” we use today actually comes form the hebrew word “todah.”

Today we have a face off between Martha Graham and………you wouldn’t guess…..the birds of paradise–yes and I do mean those beautiful birds that are found in Brazilian forests. A while ago, I was working on the dance essay we had to do and I was watching some youtube videos of Martha Graham and her famous dance performances when I suddenly thought to myself, “this really does like familiar, looks like something I saw from bio.” And voila! Just watch these two videos and see for yourself if there is some resemblance.

First watch this one by Martha Graham (you can skip the intro): http://youtu.be/z2Q6UJN0ef0

Then watch this one: http://youtu.be/nS1tEnfkk6M

One of the classic examples of schadenfreude which comes from German, shaden for pain and freude for joy is Moe, Larry, and Curly from The Three Stooges. Every episode ends in mayhem with it’s signature eye-poking, head slapping humor. It reminds me of the time when I could only make my baby cousin laugh by putting a laundry basket over my head and tripping on the floor. Here is one of the really funny episodes:

This past Friday, we watched some very fiery Flamenco by Maria Pages. I remember thinking to myself, “this is so similar to Irish step dancing.” They both use feet-tapping to create some extraordinary rhythms. But Irish step dancing definitely has a much faster pace. If you’ve ever listened to an Irish fiddler or traditional Irish music, you’ll know what I mean.

Besides Irish step dance and Flamenco, turns out that there’s also American tap dancing. It seems like each culture has it’s own way of showing off dancing moves.