Dancing! Music! Carnival is Coming!

D.A.N.C.E.


I cannot remember the last time my husband and I went out for a night of dancing, so you can imagine our delight when we saw a flyer hanging up in the stairwell going up to the apartment. It said that the International Office at the University of Münster was hosting a Samba party with live Brazilian Music.

Both of my children are still hanging onto their coughs, which has really interfered with my sleep, so I felt a little like a zombie and I just wasn't sure I was up for a night of dancing. My man seemed to be looking forward to it, so I roused myself and put on a sweater, then another sweater and then my coat (the temperature has been below freezing for the last week or so). This particular university office is only a few minutes away by bike, so shortly after the little boys were in bed we were locking up our bikes in front of "Die Brücke" (The Bridge).

The poster says "Internationales Brückefest", Featuring live Brazilian Music, Latvian Folk Dancers, Samba show, and International music by DJ Dr. Samba

We even got hand stamps!

There were a few groups of dancers that came out to give demonstrations of traditional dancing. This group is from Latvia. The flash was not cooperating at that moment, but their clothes were dark, embroidered skirts (ankle length) for the women and slacks for the men, and white, long-sleeved  shirts. The women also had a long French Braid with ribbons. The boys wore dark vests. The dances and costumes were very conservative.

And Then...

The Brazilian girls came out!

The two dance groups made a very interesting contrast. The Brazilian's first set of dances was an example of Brazilian Hip Hop.  The costumes were rather skimpy compared to the Latvian group, and the dances were much more "physically expressive".

Next...

It was time for live music and dancing for the masses!

The band featured a singer that also played the drums and a guy that ran the keyboards and accompaniment. We had so much fun dancing the night away. We heard many songs that were familiar and some we had never heard before. One interesting moment was hearing the Macarena, Brazilian style.

But Wait, the Brazilian Girls were not finished yet!

The brazilian dancers had one more treat for us. Just in case some of you are unaware, the time of Carmival is nearly upon us, and we were treated to an extended demonstration of a Carnival dance. I can't show you what they look like from behind, but to give you a hint of what it looked like, one of the audience members very enthusiastically pointed out that "Sie braucht ein Waffeshein für das." (She needs a gun permit for that.) So much for Germans being nonplussed by nudity.

After this little show, the DJ cranked it up again. My feet got super sore after all the dancing on the tile floor, so we had to leave at about midnight (my boots are made for walkin', not dancin').