random thoughts – Day 1,125 – (Sunday) – festival dancing

Earth Day 2022.

In Massachusetts for several years (excluding the pandemic) my northern dance sisters and I have performed as Troupe Salaamati in the Townsend Earth Day Festival. This year's event is scheduled for next weekend. 

My April festival dancing days go back many years to my time in Tennessee performing with The Jezebellies dance troupe, my southern dance sisters. One of our annual performances was in the Rivers and Spires Festival in mid-April. A few weeks later, we would perform in the International Festival at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, where we usually followed the hula dancers and the announcer always introduced us incorrectly as “The Jelly Bellies.” We also danced at Riverfest in September. Good times.

I was a staff writer with Our City, the weekly news and entertainment paper once based in Clarksville, when I heard colleagues talking about the “Rivers and Spires Festival.” With their middle Tennessee accents, it sounded to me like “Rivers Inspires,” and I was confused about both the name and why it was being held downtown instead of along the river. I eventually understood that the downtown festival was named for the two rivers which flowed through the city (Cumberland River and Red River) and the many church spires downtown.

The Jezebellies, April 16, 2011.

April festivals can be tricky. For a couple years at Rivers and Spires we danced on the raised stages  which offered shade and improved the view for the audience. Then the organizers decided that only musicians were allowed on the stage and other performers were placed on the street in front of the stages. They told us this one year when we arrived without dancing shoes,  prepared to dance barefoot on a stage. We scalded our feet on the asphalt that hot, sunny afternoon. 

On April 16, 2011, we were scheduled to dance at Rivers and Spires in the morning. It had rained most of the night before, it was chilly and raw, and the sound guy was late arriving. We waited on the wet street at 10:00 in the morning, shivering in our dance costumes and jackets in the mid-40s temperature. At least we were wearing sandals.

Last year, the Townsend Earth Day event took place on a sunny and breezy day. There was squinting as the sun shone in our eyes, and my hair kept blowing into my mouth, but it wasn't so bad. This year, we’re watching the weather forecast for next weekend with our fingers crossed for luck. We have costume contingency plans for both cold and warm weather, but wet is beyond our sphere of control. 

The forecast currently shows rain for Saturday, and depending on if, when, and how much, the event could be pushed to Sunday. If we all hope for dry weather on April 22 until 3:00 pm, maybe it will happen as scheduled.