Francis Xavier Gomez, 90, is dressed to the hilt. Black trousers, white full-sleeved shirt, cuff links, polished shoes…jacket and tie. He is at his grand daughter’s wedding dinner at The Killians in Fort Kochi.
A wallflower that evening, he is tapping his foot to Eagles’ ‘Love will keep us alive’, a request made by the bridal couple. As he watches the newly weds dance the Bridal Waltz he says, “I have two left feet.” But that is a joke. Francis has been quite the dancer in his hey-day and remembers the times when the Anglo-Indian community in Fort Kochi had regular dance parties and music filled their days.
Today, these may be few and far between but yet, on occasions, the community puts its best foot forward to keep their tradition of western music and dance alive. As the evening progresses the music increases in tempo and more couples join in. Ballroom dance bursts on to the floor in all its beauty.
Foxtrot, quick steps, cross steps – variations of the dance – find men and women swing and sway, twirl and twist in musical synchrony. A fabulous air of joy and happiness fills the space as boys, girls, mums, dads, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces, the entire extended family and friends, dressed and bejewelled keep in tune and match each other step with step. By then the mood is set.
Swiss Reel begins and couples line up facing each other holding raised hands in arch formation. The Line Dance has the women in threes, “two side steps to the left, two to the right,” and then comes on the cha cha cha and other lively dances. The party goes on till the wee hours of the morning. The music plays – ‘Show me the way to go home…’
“That’s how most of our parties were, lively and full of fun,” says Coral Godinho, a teacher at St Mary’s AIGH School, who taught the women Line Dance for this wedding. She learnt it during her last visit to Australia. Coral teaches traditional western dance and lists out the sequence that follows the Bridal Waltz. “The first dance is called the Bridal Waltz on weddings but on other occasions it is called the Snow Ball. The first couple begins the dance and others soon join in. The music then moves to a higher tempo like Rock N’ Roll and Jive.
“In the present day children are not in tune with the traditional way of dancing. They are in to rap music,” she says. Her husband Paul Gudinho believes ballroom dancing to be an art, something that requires “effort at learning,” and perhaps the reason why youngsters are not keen to master it.
“As a community we love to party. It has come down because most of us have moved, mainly to Australia.
In the 60s and 70s it was very different,” says Adrian (Jackie) D’Cruz. He speaks about a set piece of music that everybody would dance to. “There would be a programme drawn up on the sequence of the dances. It was much planned, and there was something called ballroom etiquette.”
Marlene Jackson, 70 and president of the All India Anglo Indian Association, Kochi Branch agrees. She says that earlier dances were conducted. There was a Master of Ceremonies who guided the evening. After the first set of music there was a ‘rest-a-while’, before the next set of music began; remember music was from records or a live band, she says.
Marlene adds to the list of dances - Daddy’s Little Girl, a dance, which the father and daughter performed after the Bridal Waltz. Jackie recalls some incidents when an MC had to throw out stags and men who misbehaved with a girl. “The MC was a tough guy and would monitor such things,” he says.
It was around the 70s that the dance culture in Fort Kochi began to change. “It was because the music changed,” says Jackie. He remembers looking forward to the first Saturday of every month when a dance was held.
Patrick and Coral list out the important dance events that happened right through the year until the eighties. The month of April had the April Shower, followed by May Queen, June Rose and the all-important Independence Day Dance. Come September was another occasion, now held as Onam Dance. October had the Hat and Scarf Night or Rodeo Night, which were theme parties.
The Pound Social was a casual party when friends got together impromptu, each bringing a snack or dish.
“Today we call it the BYO party or Bring Your Own party. December of course had the two main dances the Xmas and the New Year dance. The Valentine Dance in February was another big event,” says Coral.
“Most dances in the 60s were held at the Municipal Hall with its big wooden floor, which is the current Corporation office. The Laurel Club and the Mariner’s Hall too hosted dances but the YWCA near Parade Maidan has been a constant venue,” says Marlene.
Some of the bands that played those days were the Sundowners and the Rhythm Rockers. “Women wore gowns, minis, balloon skirts and dresses with buckrams – stiff and starched; everything was so classy. Women never wore pants to dances,” she adds. Today with popular head-banging music such traditional dances have been relegated to these events but 24-year-old DJ Jonathan says, “That’s not true. Play the right music and the floor will get the right dance. Billy Ray’s ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ will get the crowd doing the Line Dance. The Corrs ‘Haste to the Wedding’ will bring the Swiss Reel on.”
And so the dances continue binding a community together in a clasp of camaraderie. As Patrick says fondly about this tradition, “Many of us found our partners at the dances.”
