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Cut Loose at the Solstice Parade
By Sean Patrick Donovan
Jun 20, 2002 -- Those friendly folks at the Fremont Arts Council are at it again: Witness the 14th Annual Fremont Solstice Parade!
Janelle Keane in the Samba zone at the 1999 Fremont Solstice Parade. Raul Campoverde photo. |
The word dance derives from the Late Latin "deante" which, roughly translated, means "Shake what your mama gave you." While Proper Latins were up before dawn thinking up new words and constructing fancy Latin derivations, the Late Latins would often awake around midday, then dance and play music until the wee hours. The Propers, of course, considered such behavior vulgar, and looked upon their wayward relatives with scorn.
Thus, the descendants of the creative and fun-loving Late Latins moved west, where they founded Fremont and created the Fremont Arts Council. Nowadays, they're happily dedicated "to building community through art" through the production of fabulous events such as the Fremont Solstice Parade.
While there is much more to the Solstice Parade than music and dance, we focus here on just those aspects, as perpetrated by four of the many participating floats.
Magda dancing Samba at the 1997 Solstice Parade. |
Musician Carl Strandberg, a self-admitted "Gringo Seattleite," was astonished to be mistaken once for a Brazilian as he danced among the Carnival crowd in Rio de Janeiro. Betrayed by his less than fluent response to a question put to him in Portuguese, Carl nonetheless had enough Samba-like movement to make a passable impression. Pretty good for a guy who's original intent was to just "not look like a Vegas showgirl."
Carl uses words like "ephemeral," and""light, airy, floaty quality" to describe good Samba dancers. He credits Janelle Keane, a local Samba dance and movement teacher, for the authenticity of his dance, and says she is largely responsible for the presence of Samba--under the guise of the VamoLa! float--in the Solstice Parade.
For Janelle, "The music is the big thing." While Salsa's rhythms, she explains, tend to get one excited, and New Age music tends to calm, "Samba gets you excited and calms you at the same time." Indeed.
Experience it yourself at the Solstice Parade, which Janelle describes as "a real celebration of the creative community. The parade gives people a chance to be so much in the activity that they forget their self-criticism, drop their inhibitions, and dance and sing and clap." This acceptance of one's self, regardless of body type or dance experience, is integral to Janelle's philosophy of dance and teaching.
"VamoLa! is all about involving community," says Carl. The group welcomes amateurs and practices year-round for the Summer Solstice celebration, which is generally their biggest event of the year.
When you see Janelle dancing on the VamoLa! float this year, wave and then drop your inhibitions!
1999 parade revelers. Seattle Press stock photo. |
One thing is sure for TanKerGle float organizer Cynthia Serfaty: "If there's music, then you move." Practiced in Afro-Brazilian, African, and World dance, Cynthia describes her group's style as inspired by traditional Liberian forms. "It's earth-based and rooted in nature, and we'll be expressing that in movement."
Consisting of a group of dancers assembled specifically for the Solstice Parade, Cynthia states this collaboration aims to "enchant people, to build community, and to have fun." She promises a spectacle highlighted by a handful of masked dancers "wearing traditional Liberian masks never before seen on the street."
The masks are the handiwork of Won Ldy Paye, native Liberian and founder of Village Drum & Masquerade, the group providing the rhythms for the dancers. Consultant to the Seattle Art Museum's recent exhibit "Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke A Back," he is billed as "The Liberian Storyteller" on his website, where I found the quote, "In our villages, music, dance, and storytelling are all
integral parts of our daily lives."
Cynthia concludes, "Solstice is the perfect celebration time. Let the spirit move."
A band cruising the Fremont Fair crowd last year. Seattle Press stock photo. |
Depending on who's doing the telling, the "Zydeco Bayou Bar & Dance Hall" float will either be evocative of a Southwest Louisiana roadhouse or look like "a fishing shack with a band." No matter, this marks the zydeco community's debut in the Solstice Parade, and they aim to enjoy every minute of it.
Sponsored by the "New Dance the Zydeco Krewe," a dance troupe conceived of and created by Lilli Ann Carey-Nettles and husband Deane to promote zydeco, the float will feature a live band, Captain Leroy & the Zydeco Locals, along with dancers from the zydeco community as well as those in the""Krewe," who will periodically emerge for special demonstrations. Graced with a giant alligator prow, this raucous float should be hard to miss.
Dancing in the parade is a dream come true for artist Dana Sullivan, who describes zydeco dancers as "fun and wild," and the community as being "full of people willing to give so generously of their time, energy, and effort."
"Zydeco is a really simple dance," says Dana. "The music gets in your soul and makes you want to move." And whereas, he explains, "In some dances you lead with your mind, in this dance you lead with your pelvis."
As to the ease of learning zydeco, float organizer Donna Daniel adds, "Anybody can do it!" Donna admits that when she moved to Fremont from South Carolina three years ago, she was a bit wide-eyed and somewhat innocent. "I was shocked when I went to my first Solstice Parade," she says. "I immediately called all my friends back home and told them there were naked people in the parade." However, she hasn't missed attending since, and raised more than a few eyebrows this year when she announced she was going to be in the parade. "But I'm keeping my clothes on. At least, that's what I'm telling my mom."
Peacock feathers adorn a costume. Raul Campoverde photo. |
Performing a newly choreographed dance piece designed to "evoke the sacred feminine, and to celebrate sensuality and creativity" is what Dawn Jansen and Blair Holt have in mind for their premiere Solstice Parade. Billed as the Jai Ma Yoga Dancers, Dawn and Blair will be combining traditional Hatha Yoga with African, Indian, and modern dance forms. They hope to perform their piece at least twice along the parade route although, Dawn admits, they're not quite sure what to expect.
"The potential of the human body is just amazing," says Dawn, and the two women hope to convey this wonder in their movement, in order to "inspire people to step outside their own structured patterns of thinking," and realize their own capacity for experiencing transformation in movement.
These women have extensive backgrounds in dance and yoga, so don't be discouraged when your friends burst into laughter watching you attempt to mimic their contortions. Take heart--while at first you may not be able to move with much fluid grace, know that the movement is its own reward.
Sean Donovan will be the Zydeco Float emcee, and will be found pushing, dancing alongside, or riding atop it at the Fremont Solstice Parade. Email comments to donovandesign@attbi.com.
Reader Comments
Discuss this article in the forums!
| IndoLover | Jun 15, 2003 | Bremerton, WA | transitional |
| Hello, this is a message regarding naked bike riding at the Freemont Solstice Parade. I had read a part of an article that the local Seattle police dep't is not going to arrest anyone who goes naked at the parade. My wustions are: - is this true; that I should have no worries about the police if naked there? - does this only apply to bicyclists, or can I simply be walking naked? please email me; and you can save me any possible truble I may get into! Sincerely, from IndoLover! | |||
| Anonymous | Oct 28, 2003 | ||
| Look, IndoLover, why go naked at all, you freak. Nudity is pointless, it doesnt make you any better. Go get a life. | |||
| Anonymous | Mar 17, 2004 | ||
| When is the 2004 parade? | |||
| Anonymous | Mar 19, 2004 | ||
| The parade is on the 20th | |||
| Amy Tarquinio | Jul 30, 2004 | Oakland, Ca | chiropractic student |
| How do I get in touch with Sean Donovan. Please forward my email address to him. Thank you, Amy | |||
