“Remoted” – Day 396 (Friday)

The Jezebellies, April 16, 2011.

Today was a fun Flashback Friday with the Facebook Memories. On this date in 2011, I was living in Clarksville, Tennessee, and it was the Saturday of the Rivers and Spires Festival downtown. That morning, my dance sisters and I, as The Jezebellies, performed on the wet asphalt in front of a stage on Strawberry Alley. 

In the earlier years of Rivers and Spires, we performed on the elevated stage, but then the festival stopped allowing the dance groups on the stage and we were all relegated to the pavement in front of the stage. Depending upon the time of day we were scheduled to dance, it was either in blazing afternoon sun on scalding pavement, or morning chill on the chilly, wet street.

In 2011, we were scheduled to perform in the morning. It had rained the night before, and was a 46 brisk degrees as we shivered in our costumes under a cloudy, gray sky and waited for the festival sound crew, which arrived late. Finally, things were ready and we shed our coats, did our performance, and scurried to warmer shelter. In my case, it was back home to prepare for part two of the day.

Suited up for the
roller derby demo.

Several hours after dancing, I had traded the harem pants and gold badlah set for tights, team jersey, pads, helmet, and roller skates with outdoor wheels to present a roller derby demonstration with my teammates on the Red River Sirens. A mini track had been marked out for us in the parking lot at First Baptist Church. The player positions (jammer, pivot, blockers) were explained, and we showed various drills and fundamentals of the game to the audience of festival attendees.  

That evening, the Sirens assembled again at the Festival to cheer on our teammate with a fantastic voice who was singing in the Clarksville’s Got Talent segment of the Festival. What. A. Day. What. A. Night.

In terms of hectic, busy, amazing, fantastically fun days, April 16, 2011 still stands out. Most of 2010 and 2011 were marked with amazing dates with belly dance performances and roller derby events ranging from chili cook-offs to car washes to bouts, and some days, events for both groups. Such good times. When I’m old and decrepit and living in a rest home, I’ll be thinking of “the good old days,” and especially 2010 and 2011 with The Jezebellies and Sirens.