Homage to Scorpios Week, 2011

A recent addition to annual events of the Israeli dance community in the Philadelphia region is what is called the 'Homage To Scorpios' week which apparently takes place sometime in late November. We thought that we had zeroed in on the perpetrator of this last year and since he has been hobbled by some injury in the last few weeks (and not dancing), it was thought that this week of ice creme and fixings had been suspended for this year. The script below proves otherwise! Of course, it could always be that a cabal of scorpios have banded together to provide treats for the Israeli dance sessions. Whatever, this year has provided two such events that we were informed about. In a response to this information, we sent our crack photographers to record the events as you will see below. Meanwhile, one of our editors went on the internet in search of poems about scorpios and their sign (and perhaps their personalities if you believe such things) and so the following script is broken into 3 sections: the event at Germantown on Nov 20th, 2011, the event at Beth Sholom on Nov 28th, and a selection of poetry per the internet about Scorpios.

This web site. although you may not believe it, has attempted to track events pertaining to Israeli (and some International) dance sessions in the Philadelphia area. In recent weeks it was noted that one individual, Marc (or is it Mark) was missing. It was rumored that he had had some type of surgery and his recovery was not going as well as was expected. A phonomena that this site has found is that Israeli dancers are very into the here and now, if you will, and memory of those not presently dancing who have done so in the past is very fleeting. The only reason to track this person's disappearence was given our remembrance of a prior script on this web site pertaining to the late November time period of last year.
So, it was with surprise when we heard that, yes, this dancer would make a reappearance at Germantown apparently laden with gifts, in this case ice creme cartons and toppings. So, we sent our intrepid photographer to Germantown on the morning of November 20th, 2011 and he arrived relatively early for this session which starts at 10AM on Sunday mornings. He was able to take these pictures to the ]d of supplies being brought in surreptiously. The first shot is the most important: one bag seems to be filled with nuts and the second bag seems to contain the ice creme cartons. It seemed as if he was right on the trail of this big event.

As our photographer relates, every time he turned around and entered some corridor to see who was doing this, he would come back to see more of the preparations as they progressed. It was his impression that several people were involved in this. One of them had to be Tamar, who is the administrator of the Sunday dance session, who appeared to have spilled some chocolate ice creme on her apparel. Grant, the session leader, told our representative that the process of setting up this table was so fast that he wasn't really sure who was responsible. Anyway, as you can see to the ]d, the food is being readied for the dancers. We can note that it seems as if only the best is provided as the parties use cartons of Breyer's ice creme, a favorite of Philadelphians.

For the few interested in this, we should note that our research indicates Philadelphia to be a gourmet's paradice during the later part of the 1800's. In fact, even food products not associated with the city, such as creme cheese, were given a Philadelphia moniker to make the product more appealing and you now know the basis of the Philadelphia creme cheese brand. The culmination of this was the establishment of the reading terminal market in 1892 which provided Philadelphia with a market of the best of produce from Lancaster county. Into this steps William A Breyer, who hand churns ice creme at his home which he sells to neighbors. Fame spreads and Breyer starts to establish local ice creme shops and eventually his own Philadelphia based ice creme processing facility. Even though the company has been sold several times through the years, the last time being to Unilever (a British, Dutch conglomerate), the quality of the ice creme has remained the same to meet the most finicky of Philadelphian tastes. In addition, a natural ice creme such as this, using milk, creme, sugar and non meat based flavoring meets the stardards of being kosher if made in sanitary facilities. This is a constraint for facilities such as the Germantown Jewish Centre that adhere to Kosher standards. This is easily met by this (and other ice creme) brands. Of course, in addition to the ice creme, toppings are also laid out which include berries (blueberry and strawberry for this event) and various nuts. Whipped creme, a kosher Chocolate topping and cherries are also provided. At this pont, however, what's missing are the dancers and we continue our story below.

Once the table was set up, Grant called a halt to the dancing and everyone dug into the fixings. As would be usual in any setting, several groups formed to talk about other things than Israeli dance. We see pictures of this in this montage. We should note the first picture to the ]d is of Ellen who has been mentioned in our history section. Ellen has been Israeli dancing for a long time. Ellen's birthday occurs a week or so before these parties appear and we had thought at one time that she was responsible for these events. She has told us previously that she is not the perpetrator but that doesn't keep her from enjoying these events as you can see.

You may be aware from your own experience that Children love ice creme and this morning would prove no exception. In these pictures, you see Juniper and Oliver, two of the younger participants in the Sunday morning session enjoying the break from dancing with at least one plate each of ice creme and toppings. Younger participants have an advantage over the older participants in these things; they are not counting calories generally and it is this group which goes up for seconds, perhaps thirds. And they do it without bemoaning the fact that they are violating some diet. But, for everyone, Israeli dancing is an active form of movement, some might call it a form of aerobics, so in the end everyone works it off during the rest of the session. In fact, it has been said that the temporary sugar highs these treats leave participants is reflected in the intensity of the dancers once dancing is restarted.

None of these events occurs in a vacuum at Germantown. The congregations and the Israeli dancers are very giving of their time and themselves. While our party is going on, the dancers are reminded of the can donation that has been instituted for the last few weeks. This is under the purview of Rochelle and Adam, one of the couples that frequent Israeli dance sessions (and you have seen them in our coverage of the 2011 Arden Fair). Even several weeks after the initial request for donations, cans of food are showing up at the Sunday morning session as you can see by this montage. What you cannot see is another participant's contribution that is in the truck of his car - a case of stewed tomatoes - that was contributed at the end of this session.

Several weeks prior to these shots, we had arranged the photography of several women at this session for a script pertaining to these ladies in their capacity as the most photogenic dancers of this session (and of the other sessions they attend through the week). These pictures remind us that we must begin work on that script as we center on the aptly named Grace and Ellen who you have seen in a previous picture. Both of these women are accomplished in more than dance, being both teachers, one at Community College Of Philadelphia, the other in the school district of Philadelphia. And that reminds us to note that this class is more than just dance. There are doctors, teachers, IT specialists who wake up early every Sunday morning from a hard week of work to attend this session and they certainly deserve these treats both for their attendance this day and their contributions to life in the Philadelphia region.

In the previous Homage To Scorpio script, we have a picture of Grace and a very dour Mark together sharing some ice creme. Our photographer, this day, suggested a similar pose for this party. Apparently someone was not as dour as usual to the point that it looks like the rockettes have some competition. Mark (or is it Marc) has been absent from sessions for the previous few weeks as indicated above and our representative asked about his health. His answer, and we quote, "we've been better, but we are on the mend and expect to be sky walking shortly." As far as we know sky walking is not an Israeli dance step but our interviewee is known for his jumps and movements into the circle, so we're assuming that's what he's talking about and we will expect to see this again shortly. While he would not confirm that these parties are his idea, we think otherwise and we should commend him for this as they are nice gestures to reward a set of nice people.

As you can see from this picture, it's not long before it's back to dancing. The circle forms up, the music plays and the circle dancing resumes. Everyone seemed pleased with the party. Perhaps for some it provided a break to discuss other aspects of life with other dancers. Perhaps for others, it satisfied a sweet tooth. Perhaps others are thinking of what they will cater when their big day comes around. Our photographer seemed to be pleased with his shots as Nov 20th this year was sunnier than normal providing plenty of natural light as you can see. While it's not for us to be the last word in this, it seemed like the first Homage to Scorpio event of the season went very well.

Well. it was with some surprise that we were informed that the next Homage To Scorpio event of 2011 would appear at the Nov 28th session at Beth Sholom. Nov 28th: isn't that Sagittarious? Well, whatever, our deputy photographer arrived as the preparations were under way. We should note that, as we understand it, these session leaders are informed about the proposed plans so at least they are not surprised. Perhaps some of the dancers have been tipped off although its hard to say. Many of the preparations were done by Jamar, one of Beth Sholom's maintenance men, who was very generous of his time. This party had some differences from the one indicated above: the fruit was blueberries and raspberries, 2 more types of nuts were offered and Jamar got the oven working so that hot waffles were also available.

Well, when we got there preparations were already underway. Apparently the frozen items had been prepositioned into the freezer and the other items were spread around the kitchen. As with many events, there were unique elements to this. An attempt was to serve the ice cream with hot waffles so that an old favorite, waffles and ice cream, could be reminisced about. Probably not as popular as in the past, there is something somewhat romantic about this combination and so, we suspect, the kosher Superfresh waffles, which you see sitting on the counter, were added for this occasion to evoke some sentimentality.

And here's Jamar. Jamar is the son of John who held a maintenance position at Beth Sholom for a long time. These types of facilities are very dependent on such help and Jamar, in addition to others around the Philadlephia area, have provided great and needed assistance to Israeli dance events over the years. Jamar is a body builder and did not indulge in these treats although invited several times to do so but he was instrumental in getting the ovens to work and you can see the waffles baking in one of the pictures to the ]d.

While not planned, Jamar had noticed that some food was avaialble from an affair held over the weekend at the facility and he made this available prior to the "homage to Scorpios' provisions being wheeled in. So, it was decided to take a part of the table where this food and refreshment was situated and start to set up the ice creme and fixings. These shots show this. The prospective samplers of this food were held at bay by Don as he was teaching Abba Shimon and they were admonished that they would not be allowed access to this table until they had done this dance peoperly.

At some point the group must have performed to Don's specifications as they were eventually allowed to attack this spread. You can see very active hands in one of these pictures. In another, some attendees are caught enjoying the food. The last shot catches the remnants of the provisions at the end of the evening. Three varieties of Breyer's ice creme was provided for: Cherry Vanilla, double Chocolate and Rocky Road. This web site has been told one of the secrets to a successful ice cream party which we now pass along to you, the reader, if you are ever in this situation: if women are invited, get a lot of chocolate flavored ice creme varieties, the more chocolate, the better. For the record, we were told that the Chocolate carton was devoured first.

Some additional pictures were taken while the session was near the end. The first of these show Ami and Ellen. Ami is part of our personalities section and has become quite a devotee of Israeli dance. Ellen had the pleasure of experiencing this and the prior 'Homage to Scorpios' event at Germantown this year. In the middle, we finally got a shot of Rochelle and Adam and this is the couple that have been collecting cans for the needy. Our final shot shows the last dance of the evening. This class runs to about 10:15 and starting about 9:30 the dancers begin leaving. From around 40 or so at the height of the evening, 10 or so dancers remain at this time.

As mentioned, we went on the internet to find some poems about Scorpios. Surprisingly, it appears that legend has this sign being very dynamic, imposing and projecting. Really? They have to be kidding! Do you think that the supposed creator of these events shows such attributes? We hardly think so but here's some of the poems for you to decide.

From www.your-poetry.com

Mysterious Zodiacal Scorpio-
With the intense and truth-exposing sting,
Housed in times past with Planet Mars, - but Lo!
Then chose to dwell in Pluto’s gloomy wing.

Desirous much to leave the god of war,
And to be to the glum realm transferred,
Preferring healing herbs and ointment jar
And surgeon’s scalpel to the Martian sword.

The Scorpio is of Water Element,
Her task,- to work in fonts and wells profound,
Drive cleansing water gushing forth to lend
Its potent healing power from the ground.

The most intensive sign of the roundel,-
Scorp boldly entered the most somber zone,
Deep underground in Pluto-Hades hell
To meet King Hades and Queen Persephone.

Determined, forceful and intuitive,
Exciting and magnetic Scorpio is,
With passions flaming high she will achieve
Success in most exacting ministries.

Dare not impugn her honor, hurt her pride,
She'll keep you in her eyes alike a sleuth,
And follow you and suddenly decide
To pluck your feathers and then fry the goose.

Outside composure is deceptive, she
Displays a placid calm exterior,
But seething inside with intensity--
Harnessed aggression - man should not ignore.

In classical design vestigial -
The Cadduceus, doctors' stern baton,
The emblem so familiar to us all-
Physicians’ signal rod - the Scorpion.

This poem is from Steve Kinsman who has a web site dedicated to his poetry


Ode to Scrorpio

You take me to the river
To dive down ever deeper
Striving to uncover
What lies beneath and under.

There are those who fairly cower
From the intensity of your power
Yet you mean no harm to anyone
You just want to get it all done
Or undone.

Your eyes lock mine and penetrate
You see everything that's fake
Tear it down and regenerate
You can't wait. You can't wait.

Forget about the latest fashion
Be consumed by a passion
To reach the core and essence
Of each and every presence
You encounter.

You can't abide the small talk
You hear it and take a walk
If we can't connect profoundly
Let's disconnect resoundingly.

Out of the depths of the dark
You rise as a lark
When life is most fragile
You transform to the eagle.

This is a poem that has been reprinted and given out at these events. Attributed to Ronberge, you can link to this poem by clicking here but we reproduce it below.

For Our Annual Homage to Scorpios: A Birthday Poem

My Dear Scorpio, When at your best you are:
Determined and forceful, Intuitive and emotional, Passionate and powerful, Exciting and magnetic

And On the dark side:
Jealous and resentful, Compulsive and obstinate, Secretive and obsessive

Said to be The Most Intense, Profound and Powerful Character of all the Zodiac Signs! ! !
That is feared and that fascinates,
A character so passionate,
Made of deep emotions,
Harnessed aggression,
Overwhelming convictions,
Incredible resolution,
Immense forcefulness,
A charisma of magnetic intensity
And this strangely hypnotic personality,
All this under a tranquil but watchful composure.
A mask that shows us a placid exterior,
Even when appearing self-controlled and calm
There is a seething of emotional energy
Ready to erupt at any moment like the volcano…
With a horoscope that reads like that who wouldn’t have your ego! ! !

And yet you can be so deeply sensitive,
So easily moved by emotions
Or your inner demons,
That makes you so easy to hurt,
So quick to detect insult or injury,
Too quick maybe?
You are prone to ferocious anger and you can be vindictive and vengeful, cruel to the ones you dislike
You can’t seem to let go, you exaggerate, you over-dramatize.
Maybe that’s why you are so secretive,
Because you can’t fully express what you feel.

You are however undoubtedly pleasant to be with
Courteous and affable
In conversation thoughtful
Even with those penetrating eyes…
Your tenacity and willpower are ‘colossal’,
But dare we just say that you can be plain intractable?
For one who likes to seek the truth and the meaningful,
The hidden cause and being involved
Can we persuade the persuader?
Get out of your shadow
What is offered here is anything but shallow

No need to abuse of your legend
We know you’re only human.
We know… it’s just your ‘nature’.
And we think you truly a treasure
Best wishes on your birthday!