Saturday, April 30, 2016

The final day of the A-Z Challenge 2016


Posted Saturday April 29




I've arranged these 13 dance themed words in chronological order to make life easier!
Zuche  n. a tree stump
Zitella n. a young girl, maiden
Zufolo n. a small flute
Zingaro  v. gypsy
Ziganka n. a Russian country dance
Zappy adj. lively
Zinke n. an old wind instrument similar to a cornet
Zugtrompete n. a trombone
Zamacueca n. a Chilean dance where people weave in and out of each other
Zapateado n South American dance with rhythmic tapping of feet.
Zambra n. a Spanish dance
Zoppetto n. Italian limping hop dance
Zydeco n. Creole dance music.

On a sun-drenched hilltop, a young girl sits upon a zuche.  A butterfly dances in the air, and the zitella starts to dance with it. From somewhere unseen, the sweet sound of a zufolo fills with the air.  In no time, they are joined by skipping rabbits, nodding badgers and leaping toads.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Russia a zingaro devushka wanders into the centre of a town square and starts to perform the ziganka, her gaudy skirt billowing as she spins round and round. Standing close by, her father  plays a zappy tune on his zinke. Suddenly the square fills with dancing men, women, boys and girls.

As the clock strikes twelve the folk of a Chilean township appear on the main street, and to the sound of an echoing zugtrompete, take part in a zamacueca weaving in and out and clapping their hands in time with the jolly music. Across the Latin world, pavements vibrate with the stamping feet of joyful zapatiedo merry-makers.

In the midday sunshine, an endless stream of folk makes its way to  a Mediterranean beach where they dance together the zambra, and hop the zoppetto. Thousands of miles away, the good folk of Louisiana leap around to the zydeco.

Soon all the world is dancing. To the east, south, the north and farthest west. In war-torn countries, they lay down their arms. Sworn enemies dance together. Suddenly the world is a happy place. Suddenly we as one race. We dance together.



My theme for the A-Z Challenge 2017  will be The Village. I'll be telling you about the characters, its pub and shop, the events and whatever else happens in my fictitious rural community. 


Finally, I have recorded a short message for you.






You can check out my past A-Z posts by clicking  on a highlighted letter!
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
.

47 comments:

  1. Hooray you made it! Way to go. It was fun learning new words.

    ~Ninja Minion Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
    Story Dam
    Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

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    1. I did and so did you! I wonder how many of those words we will remember by May?!

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  2. Dang, I don't have the best speakers so I could barely here your message. I'll have to remember to play it on hubby's computer! Congrats on making it through the challenge! I did enjoy learning new obscure words this year!

    And to even have your theme for next year picked! That is awesome!!!!

    betty

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    1. Hi betty. I ha wrong setting on my recording which is why I was whispering! Hopefully it's sorted now. Thanks so much for your loyal support.

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  3. with so many Zees you might have broken some record, but it was a nice journey and some of your stories were amazing, congrats

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    1. Thank you so much. Your comments have been so generous and I've really appreciated them. Thanks also for your entertaining tales. See you around no doubt.

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  4. Hi Keith - good to hear your voice .. any chance of meeting up somewhere along Pevensey Bay? My email's on my blog ... but so well done with all your stories - and it was good to hear your voice - clever addition.

    What a wonderful way to end the A-Z ... to zambra, zoppeto, zilly-zally our way to peace in the world ... excellent idea ... congratulations .. cheers Hilary

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    1. Thanks for your loyal support and encouraging comments Hilary. Be great to meet up, but I'm having difficulty with the link to your email! I'll keep trying though.

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  5. Great use of the letter, Keith. Well done on successfully completing the A-Z, and extreme kudos for finishing with a theme reveal for 2017!

    Keith Channing A-Zing from http://keithkreates.com

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    1. Thanks Keith, we have had fun haven't we? See you around hopefully.

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  6. Zany, zolly zounds of feet ztomping in the zands and ztreets... ZANY!!
    Thanks for a month of fun! I'll bee keeping a skewed eye on the antics of Keith and Rosey!
    I have an idea for next year's challenge but I'm not going to be as bold as you and publicise it!! ;-)
    AJ at Ouch My Back Hurts

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    1. Oh, go on! No? Please yourself. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me this month - and Rosey of course! See you around.

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  7. Now that's what I call going out with a bang! Excellent stuff, Keith - I've enjoyed your posts and echo much of what you said in your voice message.

    Susan A Eames from
    Travel, Fiction and Photos

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    1. Thank you so much for your daily visits and comments Susan. Your blog has been absolutely fascinating and made me look forward more than ever to my up and coming trip to South Africa

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  8. How lovely to hear your voice! That's clever, no-one has done that before! Congratulations on reaching Z, I too hope for continued interlinkings! ~Liz http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com

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  9. Visiting from A to Z. I love your post! Very fun!

    Reading Life

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  10. This has been great fun and thanks for mentioning zydeco--a special favorite of mine. Thanks for playing. I enjoyed it so much.

    @Kathleen01930
    Meet My Imaginary Friends
    #AtoZchallenge

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    1. I have to admit than until a couple of days ago I didn't know zydeco existed! It was fun, I can't wait for next April!

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  11. Such a great story on diversity. Congratulations on surviving the AtoZchallenge ;-)

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    1. Thanks so much Ronel. It's been a pleasure sharing blogs with you.

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  12. And 'twas a famous victory! I loved the way you handled the challenge and this last post was just such a great note of positivity to end on! Congrats on making it all the way through to Z! Zuper!

    Also a very warm thank you for your support on my posts!

    Nilanjana.

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    1. Nilanjana, thank you so much for your support during the challenge and your many kind comments. I must say how much I enjoyed your pieces too.

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  13. Is this by any chance a secret dedication to David Bowie ;-). Lovely story. I'd rather they'd dance than shoot but that will stay a dream I suspect. Thanks for a wonderful "A to Z Challenge". I enjoyed your posts a lot!

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    1. I wish I could say it was Bee.! It is now! Thanks so much for following during April.

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  14. now wouldn't that just be wonderful- zippity do dah!

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    1. We can only dream Kathe. ...all together now....zip-a-dee-a, my oh my, what a wonderful day!

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  15. I know from experience that dancing brings many different people together. What a lovely way to end the challenge. Well done!

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    1. Thank you Miriam. I thought I'd end on a positive note. Thank you so much for your visits here during the challenge. I appreciate them so much.

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  16. Wow! So many Z words and I don't know one of them! Music and dancing, it brings people together and is a wonderful thing. Congratulations on a grand finale. Now it's time to relax and celebrate.

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    1. It certainly does. I hope you enjoyed the challenge as much as I did

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  17. These posts have been so fun! Congrats on finishing the challenge!

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  18. Great post! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I look forward to reading about and seeing photos of your travels to Namibia as well.
    Christina

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    1. Thanks Christina. I am looking forward to taking them!

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  19. I'm so tickled today for a decent online connection. Great installments! And I adored your message. You rock, my friend. And I must say that I think the only word I knew was "Zydeco". :)

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    1. Welcome back to the Wi-Fi world. You say the nicest things!Thanks so much for your loyal support, and your entertaining A-Z posts.

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  20. Wow, you went all out with the Z words today. Great way to end the challenge--with everyone dancing. Just like a Bollywood movie. Cool.

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    1. Before I got to Z I wondered if I would find any words at all let alone 13! I had the final scene of Slumdog Millionaire in mind by the way! Thank you for your visits during April. I hope we keep in touch.

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  21. Not only did I love the way you wrapped up the A-Z with such a wonderful and positive piece about everyone joining together in the dance of life, but your delightful recording at the end! It was so fun to hear your voice and I found myself wishing that everyone would do this! I will definitely be staying around to read more, I've totally enjoyed your stories this month, Keith!

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    1. Josie, what can I say? Thank you so much for your generous words. I thought it fitting to end on a positive note. I so enjoyed my daily visits to your place and I'll be carrying on.

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  22. Congrats on completeing the challenge

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    1. Thanks so much DeeDee. It was hard work and took me away from my favourite prompts for a month, but with my web traffic increasing 5-fold it really was worth it!

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  23. Those Z words certainly danced before my eyes. :-)

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    1. They had me jigging in my seat as I was writing it!

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