Dancing in the Streets

There is nothing like Takoma Park’s annual street festival for bringing out the “ghosts,” as one friend put it. Every year, I see old friends at this gathering of community folks and regular visitors, wannabe-Takoma-Parkers and other fun-loving characters. Characters, in many cases, being the operative word. There was the guy in mime-like face paint, for instance, who approached me in all his chalk-white glory to comment on my t-shirt (not very mime-like, but I loved the accent). Turns out he’s from Amazonia (the t-shirt he admired refers to the Yanomami tribe, though in this case it was an ultimate Frisbee team from Venezuela). Mime man’s story: he is artist David Camera, and will be showing his work – masks – at the Takoma Park Community Center gallery. The reception is this Friday, 6-9, and I hope to make it.

Countless stories like these are up for grabs at the festival. Another example: here was Jay Summerour, who clued me in to the history of local blues last year, when I wrote about him for Bethesda Magazine. I missed his show this year (under the Gazebo, gotta catch it next time around!!), but I know from hearing him in the past, Jay can wail on the harmonica, is an amazing whistler (yes!) and carries the tradition of the blues forward from people like his grandfather Eddie “Smack” Martin (so hard to resist writing a name like that). Did you know there was a Du Drop Inn in Rockville, and a music hall in Johnson’s Park in Emory Grove? Jay remembers playing ball there while the parents danced inside. He’s also an inspiration to me because he not only nails the blues – he proves it’s just regular folks who make the best music. His day job is driving a Montgomery County School bus.

Some stories are brief: I saw a grey-haired hippy dancing in the street, who jolted my mind back 25 years ago and a crazy Valentine’s Day party at his house – I have a vague memory of a lot of wild red and pink costumes and a zip line through the trees.

And about that dancing: you gotta love a place where strangers dance with one another in the streets, and a man in a wheelchair pumping his arms in the air fits right in with couples swinging and swirling like pros. There was a pair of dance instructors I recognized from our local dance palace, Glen Echo Park, where I last saw them showing us zydeco moves; there were older couples who looked as though they’d been dancing together for decades; there were dancers still finding their rhythm and dancers sitting on the sidelines just rocking to the beat. Thanks to the Nighthawks and Tom Principato for the fabulous music, to David Eisner for organizing the music portion of the event, Roz Grigsby of Main Street Takoma for directing the festival, and to various familiar faces for being there so I could get out there and cut a rug among friends.

Look in the Takoma Park Newsletter for photos, November issue, out the last week of October.