The Germantown Dance and Brunch of June 1st, 2014

Let's start this script about four thousand miles away from its ultimate destination. Anyone who has ever been to France knows that the French have a love affair with food and drink. It is almost impossible to get a bad meal within that country. During its period of colonial conquest, the French spread more than just language and philosophy. This affinity for food was also shared and French cuisine was integrated into the culinary habits of many other cultures. This included Mexico which was under French domination (a violation of the Monroe doctrine we might add) during our civil war between 1861 and 1865. In fact, the annual Cinco de Mayo celebrations are in honor of the reestablishment of Mexican independence at the end of the French colonization. This montage includes the fifth President of the United States, James Monroe, and his doctrine originating from Dec 2, 1823. We have also added a picture of Napoleon III of France who instigated the takeover of our southern neighbor when Mexico defaulted on debt payments to France and other countries.

Even the lowly egg gets its due in French cooking. There is a difference between the American style omelets (known as farmer's omelets) and the french omelette (we have even included the difference in spelling). A main difference is the fold and we've shown you a few omelettes as found on the internet. To the left is the French version, the right is more American cuisine. The French version is folded on both sides almost as if it is a crepe.

We now move our focus two thousand miles south of us as we discusss the dining experience at Mi Puebla on Germantown Avenue just north of Mt Pleasant street (7157 Germantown Avenue). This restaurant was introduced to the Sunday Germantown dancers by Tamar who lives nearby in the Mt Airy section of the city adjacent to the Chestnut Hill area. So this becomes a local bistro, if you will, to her. But this is not your typical Mexican restaurant in any way. Yes, you can get Tacos, burritos and Nachos, if you like. But, Mi Puebla specializes in the Mexican cuisine of Mexico City, with its French bias described above. And, yes, Mi Puebla's omelettes look like (and taste somewhat) like crepes. However, this montage accentuates the restaurant's takeout menu.

So, as we start to focus on the location of the brunch a few miles northeast of the Germantown Jewish Centre (as indicated in the map), we present the Sunday brunch menu as held by one of the participants. It might seem a little more Mexican than continental but, be assured, the omelettes follow the French variation with all types of stuffings including the most popular one that contains crabmeat. As would be expected, most of the attendees choose some type of omelette. Note:After all of this hype, readers should not have expected anything different.

Anyway, it is with this knowledge that Grant sends the accompanying Email a few days before the scheduled event of June 1st, 2014 announcing the added after session activity planned for that Sunday morning/afternoon. If need be, left click on the picture of the EMail - or any of these pictures - to see enlargements.

So, on June 1st, 2014, Germantown held its regular session in the morning, although in the Tenim canteen and not the Marcus auditorium as is usual. This dancing acted as a preliminary to the brunch at Mi Puebla. It was a small crowd as would be expected in late May/Early June. This montage provides some photos of the dancing throughout the session. The pictures in this and subsequent montages were taken by Sylvia and Marc (and we have been told that one or two were taken by Wendy). With Sylvia and Marc taking these pictures, their appearances are somewhat limited here and in the subsequent montages.

There were seven dancers who would make it to brunch at the restaurant later this day. One other Israeli dancer would join them. But, there was two and a half hours in the morning session of dancing to enjoy. We thought we would document several of the dancers (and brunch attendees) in this and the following montages.

First, we highlight Grant who is the Germantown session leader since 2003. Every one at the Germantown sessions is very pleased with how Grant has run the dancing and instruction over the years. Perhaps this is why the average attendance of these sessions has grown over the years and in early January of 2014 a session high of 35 dancers was reached. And, we should also note that Grant does not do this alone as Tamar has administrative management over the session. So, both should get credit for the growth of the session over the years.

This montage highlights Wendy and David, a married couple who enjoy Israel dance among many other interests. Wendy has been Israeli dancing since the '70s (with a break to be sure). This couple has been the subject of several scripts on this web site including the latest Machol Yam cruise in February, 2014. While David is a regular of this session, his wife regularly attends this and many other sessions of Israeli dance on a weekly basis

This is Yael who comes by her Israeli dancing naturally, as she is Israeli. But she has assimilated to American culture to the point that her daughter, born in the United States, is a folk singer living in Alaska. What could be more American than that? Yael and her husband do a lot of travelling and we have at least one photo on this web site of their trip to Peru.

Here we have Howard who may be the second oldest Israeli dance regular in the Philadelphia region. Howard is the owner of several of the albums featured in our record project which attempts to document older records pertaining to the origins of Israeli dance. We might also add that Howard at one time participated in English dancing various times a week around the Philadelphia area. However, today, in respect to his age, he "only" deals with Israeli and International.

And this is Marc who is a regular at many weekly Israeli dance functions. He, apparently, is the instigator of the Homage to Scorpio events that have occurred in recent years during the late November period and have been covered by this web site. Marc also participates in a form of Salsa, called Rueda, on certain evenings.

Not shown is Sylvia who apparently took many of these pictures.

This montage moves our focus to the restaurant after the Sunday morning class has ended. As indicated above, seven of the dancers have reconvened here for the brunch. They have been augmented by Jody who also is a regular at various Israeli dance classes in the area. This montage shows the group of eight minus the photographer, Marc. The first picture is of the earliest arrivals, Wendy and David. Then there are two pictures as the table awaits their orders, generally the omelettes we have been referencing. To be fair, Mi Puebla even when empty is not the speediest of meals. Each meal is cooked to order and that takes time. On this day, our table of dancers was not alone and this added patronage was felt. But eventually the food arrived and received many thumbs up (not unexpectedly).