Today though, I will be blogging about the above photo: the iconic dance scene in the beloved holiday special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas".
Maybe it's the joyousness in the faces, the way the Peanuts kids throw their whole selves in to the dances, but this portion of the show never fails to delight. We can all relate to being put in a position where you have to follow rules you'd rather not have to (of the pageant director, in this instance), and certainly we've all started tapping our feet, or spontaneously started jumping and jiving when we hear a jazzy tune that pulls at our senses. That's what happens with these little guys. The music starts, and they just drop what they're doing, ignore the powers that be, and dive right in, mash potatoeing and frugging until Charlie Brown stops them with the honk of his thrown-down director's megaphone (why it honks remains a mystery ...).
Recently, a flash mob in New York perfectly captured the joyous irreverence of this wonderful Mic-Century TV classic moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bB7obyuuY8&feature=youtu.be Kudos to these intrepid performers, who pulled it off masterfully. And extra special kudos to whoever is dressed as Snoopy, for giving me this year's Special Christmas Smile.
Many mysteries revolve around this groovy "Peanuts a'Go-Go": For instance, my hubby and I pride ourselves on having mastered all the specific moves, having almost become experts on them. Ben's favorite is Linus's, but what exactly IS he doing? Is he mashing potatoes? Is that THE "mashed potato"? Sally emulates the potato-mashing moves. Then there's the Twins, doing The Pony, who we never see again in any other Peanuts special to memory. Who are they? Why are they there? Where'd they go? It's almost scary, like they're the twins from "The Shining" a'la Schultz ("Come dance with us, Charlie ...").
And don't get me started about the kid with the spiky hair. Not only is he the most mysterious Peanut, but his particular moves don't seem to reference any other known dance, although the shoulder shrugs and knock knees are slightly reminiscent of the work of Bob Fosse. And that's pretty spectacular. Maybe he was there as a ringer, some professional Broadway dancing kid who wandered into the auditorium and just joined in for that particular afternoon? The mind boggles.
But there's more: Violet seems to be confused by her dance. We certainly are and have yet to identify it (but her iconoclastic moves make her my favorite). Shermie, while he isn't busy being a shepherd, gets to Zombie on down (good for him! Take that Lucy! Shermie breaks the shepherd mold!). Frieda's dance also defies description. It's almost like she's saying, "I have naturally-curly hair and that makes me happy and I gladly give all my happiness to you! Happy, happy, happy!".
Really though, what dance moves are done here don't matter. It's all about the joy. That joy made Ben and I decide to have our wedding party dance it at our wedding reception. Problem was, the DJ broke the CD as he was putting it into the player. Quick planning on my part (or as we life coaches call it, "dancing in the moment") had us all switch to "Gettin' Jiggy Wid It" at the last minute. Which was fine. But it didn't have that magic that Charles Schultz gave us back in 1966.
A blessed, joyous, fun-filled Christmas to one and all. And if the hubbub of the season gets the best of you, just click on the link below and dance away ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1LUXQWzCno
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