Dutch Dancing

high school dutch dancers of Holland Michigan during annual Tulip time festival

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• dutch
• dance
• wooden
• shoes
• tulip
• time
• Holland
• MI

[dandecook]

Very tough to get the guys to dance--at least in high school. Most of the "men" are taller women (or shorter, as my daughter was). Most of the costumes are very fastidiously judged to conform to a pattern of one of the regions of the Netherlands. I have no idea how authentic they really are.

We do have a real windmill, too, purchased and brought over piece by piece; and a windmill mechanic who was thoroughly trained in the Netherlands. The originial windmill is 500 yrs old

[indivum]

I'm Dutch,and watching this is so surreal, really,beyond comprehension. Why is it that you people won't become normal Americans like any other Dutch-American. Not to be harsh, but you people aren't Dutch(you can't derive/maintain a identity simply by practicing a particular religion alone, especially when the religion in case has become marginal over the years in the homeland),you're Americans who are convulsively trying to stay Dutch,but you've become a complete new species as time went by.

[indivum]

Aaaaaaargghhhh, I try to understand but I can't. Every now and then we have more or less the same traditional events in my home town, but with the difference that I can place it in a context, so it's not so eerie, but when I watch this, I don't know what's going on. Anyway check out my video of little Dutch girls and boys doing a little klompendans, you'll like it. Oh, and just in case, they are allowed to touch each other(in a proper fashion that is).

[dandecook]

Many towns in the US try to play up a unique aspect of their character, and ours is the Dutch heritage. About one half million visitors come every May for the festival, most of them older people, who enjoy the tulips and the activities. We plant millions of tulip bulbs every year, probably more than anywhere else in the world besides the Netherlands. I'm sure a lot of the enthusiasm in our town for this festival is commercial; but there are many people/families continuously here since 1870

[dandecook]

The dancing began about 60yrs ago as a PE class in school for exercise. Square dancing and line dancing would be similar, sort of Irish, but not really. We Americans take our ethnicity lightly (check out the Asian and other non-Dutch "dutch dancers"), but enjoy the diversity it gives us as a country. And actually, the town is about 40-50% Dutch, from immigrants of 1869, with very little marriage outside of the original families until the last 20 yrs or so.

[chocoboasylum]

I'm Dutch (like born and raised in the Nederlands, Dutch. Not Holland, MI Dutch) and this kind of 'traditional dancing' doesn't make me proud at all XD

Now, our Naval history... THAT's something to be proud off.

[Zekedogx3]

It's really just a Holland MI Tradition.

Just showing off the old costumes mostly.

The dance has nothing to do with the real Dutch haha (:

[delloso100]

The only things i see that are Dutch are the ``klompen`` (clogs).

The costumes are phoney as are the dances. If you want show real Dutch folklore do some homework to ensure authenticity,

[neoridha]

kicken ! lol

[Hollandhard]

I'm dutch and i'm from a town in the east of the netherlands, there are more people wo were klompen, many in little towns i also were klomps and this kind of dancing i see more than 1 time in the year I like it i don't think it's nice but i'm happy that there still is a few people who do this,

[supermicel]

I'm Dutch and I was born, raised and I still live in The Netherlands. But I've never seen people dancing like this in Holland. But DO have ''klompen'' (the wooden shoes). This kind of dance is pretty fun though! XD hahaha

[gifrank97]

Holland <3

Only Dutch people do understand me love for the Netherlands <3 <3

I like Amsterdam with his nice weedshops :D

and i do like the windmills (if there was any windmill)

i do like the cheese (i do more like junkfood, but I'm dutch and so I do eat cheese, that's what other people thinking about us)

second of the World Cup

to much gold medails for ice skating :)

We're the best!

[ploerii]

real dutch is green stuff

[MsGnette]

this is so adorably cute, i loved every bit of it!!!

great job to all the kids, this may or may not be part of dutch history but it is part of the cultural and part of where the dutch have come from!

if you dont like it, dont watch it!

im half dutch and these kids are holding up a tradition- besides this is just for fun its like a parade thing-

[ArcticHellfire]

This is really a great interpretation and certainly has a lot more action than the traditional klompendans and driekusman down here. Especially the high kicks with the clogs (higher Charlotte) add to it. Well done, keep it up!

[loungeexx]

@betina1231 you would a song have here have you a few

klompendans rowen heze

hoe lang nick en simon

de vogeltjesdans

[sasje19995]

what the?? i really don't understand our folk dance -_-''

why wooden shoes? why!

xDD

still it's funny! but why do lots of people think we only wear this kind of clothes,only eat cheese,live near windmills and have weed everywhere???

and 3:15 like that! :D