Thread: What would you do for a 100th birthday??

I am booked to dance at a man's 100th birthday party! I am told some of the old old timers at the party are of Lebanese descent, but pretty much the rest of the crowd are just general western folks.

Here is my question, I would like to interact with the birthday boy in some way, but I can't get him up to dance (I asked). Any suggestions?

I want to put a smile on his face but I don't want to break him..w.:

Cool, 100! I've done 70th & 80th so far, it would be amazing to do 100th!

Let's see, you can...
- drape your veil around his neck
- pose for lots of pictures with him
- Let him pick who you should get up to dance
- dance them over by him one by one
- form a conga line with the guests and dance around him

Once I brought a toy plastic sword (from the dollar store) for the birthday boy to keep. I tied a helium balloon to it. It was very small & amazingly easy to balance (if you slid it over so the handle part rested on the side of your head). I balanced it on his head & posed for photos with him, then it wound up being passed around for all the kids to try. Made a nice keepsake to leave with him.

It was so fun I'm thinking of stocking up and making it a regular feature. Your birthday boy wouldn't have to get out of his chair to balance it!

Haven't posted in a long while, but I've been happily lurking.

I would try to find out a bit more about the birthday gentleman; is he of Lebanese descent as well? That would help you to choose your music.

Also, I would contact the organizers and delicately inquire as to his senses; is he nearsighted or far? How is his hearing? That would determine your dancing distance and music volume; even though you're also dancing for the guests, it makes sense to dance within his range of vision so that he won't just see a colourful blur out yonder.

Maybe he could hold a "sister cane" as you perform a cane dance? As a finale, how about shimmying over with a cupcake with one lit candle for him to blow out? (If he doesn't do it on the first try, you could blow it out and no one would notice as the guests are watching him.)

Wow, 100 years, what an amazing celebration that will be. Have fun!

Khalida

Originally Posted by Asra*

I am booked to dance at a man's 100th birthday party! I am told some of the old old timers at the party are of Lebanese descent, but pretty much the rest of the crowd are just general western folks.

Here is my question, I would like to interact with the birthday boy in some way, but I can't get him up to dance (I asked). Any suggestions?

I want to put a smile on his face but I don't want to break him..w.:

Yes I think I wouldn't do anything too "shocking or sudden"
But bless him and what an honour for you.
Over here all he'd probably get is the telegram from Her Maj!!!

It really is an honour, yes!

The birthday boy was born in Lebanon but grew up here. I understand it's the same story for most of the older folks at this party.

I don't know how much of their Lebanese culture they've retained growing up here - but I'm doing Alf Leyla just the same - In the hopes that someone in the crowd will go "OMG - haven't heard that since I was a kid!!" Then some pop and a drum solo.

I'm doing a veil intro and I LOVE the veil drape idea - thanks Lauren!! I asked about getting people up to dance and the grandson who hired me didn't sound too enthuiastic about it, maybe he was picturing me trying to drag a bunch of super-elderly folks up to the dance floor, with resulting injuries!

The sword idea is super cute, too. And hopefully he will be sitting near the dance floor so I CAN get close to him!

I love the cupcake idea, too! I don't think it would work for this party, but I'm storing all this stuff away in my mental "for birthday parties" file.

I agree what some of the posters already mentioned. Don't play music that is too loud (or maybe since he is 100 he is probably hard of hearing,well , in that case, loud music would be good)! I would perform a more conservative set and wear a more conservative, "traditional" belly dance outfit. Since he is Lebanese, perhaps you want to dance to Lebanese music or at least, depending on how long your set is, incorporate one Lebanese piece. If you know debka maybe you can bring people up in a sort of line dance (although you probably won't be able to bring the birthday person up!

I was thinking of a debka actually, but if the Lebanese folks who know what that is are to old to get up and everyone else had no idea what a debke is, I'm not sure that would work...

I just did an 80th birthday for a woman of syrian descent. It was really hard to get anyone up to dance so I mostly harrassed the kids. I also did a mix of classical music and fun pop that had traditional instruments. I had one member of the party who couldn't hear the music when she tried to get up and do a debke, but we were also outside and the acoustics were bad.
I didn't get much participation other than clapping and a few takers for the debke, but everyone was just happy to have the entertainment.
I don't know if that's much help.

Thanks, Je Ateek - I'm happy to hear anyone's stories and advice, so thanks for chiming in.

I'm going to skip the debke in this case, I have a feeling it wouldn't go over well