Re: DHA bans dance parties
NEW YEAR PARTIES ( OF YESTER-YEARS ) 50's, 60's & 70's:
*A very young Pakistan was under a heavy dose of 'Rock-n-Roll' and 'Jive', 'Ramba Samba' and 'Foxtrot' during early 50's and remained so till 60's and late 70's. New Year parties at the select hotels were as necessary as water intake. *Rawalpindi's 'Flashman', Lahore's 'Flettis' and Karachi's 'Metropole', 'Palace' (exactly where Sheraton stands now!), 'Beach Luxury', 'Excelsior', 'Taj', 'Palm Grove', Airport's 'Cabana' and 'Midway House', 'Sind Club', Karachi Gymkhana' and 'Karachi Club' and finally from mid-sixties...'Hotel Intercontinental'; were the main venues of the couples ( veterans of today ) for new year dinner-n-dance parties organized on high scale with live (overseas and local) bands / groups / shows in attendance. **
*At 'Excelsior' Princess Amina enthralled through her classic dances. Tickets per person inclusive of dinner and fun caps, whistles, blowers and party graffiti started at Rs.100 in 50's and rose to Rs.200 in 60's and Rs.500 in 70's till late. *
*Slow dancing was the 'in' thing yet some healthy ones preferred 'jiving' and 'rock-n-roll' on Elves, Paul Anka and Buddy Holly numbers ( my favorite .. then.. being *'Lipstick on your collar' by Connie Francis ). **
*The slow dance number which ruled the floors then was 'Je'teime'. There was no concept of BHANGRA or such hype then. It was all highly sophisticated and met the eyes of press as new year party photos were published on front pages of key newspapers next morning. *
*I have had the wonderful experiences and opportunities of attending new year parties at ALL the above-mentioned venues from 1966. The shortest I ever attended was at Flashman-Pindi which ended at 12:20 AM. The one at Flettis-Lahore superceded the former by 55 minutes...next year. The general trend after 12 midnight was that people use to visit each venue just for fun by virtue of which the chances of bumping into friends were always 100%. *
*NOW......Disc-jockeys or 2000 watts system blowing your head off...is considered a MUST with the numbers of Jawwad, Stereo Nation, Sukhbeer, SOMEsingh ( I can't remember his name at the moment? ) alongside the local version of my favorite song ( "OH CAROL" by Neil Sedaka ) which has been totally mangled by all counts. Crazy dancing with no appeal seems to loom large. *
Slow dancing ( not necessarily arms-in-arms ) is a far cry ( I remember that new year bash of 1968 when a couple at Intercontinental...now PC....enacted that CLASSY slow dance scene from the movie PICNIC where Kim Novak and William Holden performed that memorable slow body movement dance at the picnic night...alongside MADGE's (Kim Novak) sister ). New Year celebration in Pakistan,is a highly restricted affair....limited to a select number of guests...!
-Raju
besides equating prostitution with such dance parties is like comparing tarbooz with aalu. :halo:
