Here Come the Ecosexuals!—In the Santa Cruz Pride Parade
In 2015 we co-created a contemporary performance piece in the form of a parade contingent that appeared in Santa Cruz Pride Parade. About 60 people volunteered to participate in the creation of the piece and to perform with us. (Queer Pride parades in Santa Cruz are quite small. Our contingent was the largest.) The morning kicked off with our very own ribbon cutting ceremony where we officially added the E (for ecosexual) to GLBTQII+E. The theme of our contingent was WATER as we were in a terrible drought. We also did a ritual water toast. Our sparkly blue Pollination Pod was our effigy and float, which was human powered by pushing it with oars. Many of Beth’s students participated and created props. Queer icon elder, Sandy Stone joined us as our “contingent guardian angel. We did ecosexual water loving chants and gave our precious water a really great shout out.
Below the gallery of images is our call for collaborators and some details of our production. Plus some credit where credit is due.
A CALL FOR COLLABORATORS!
We are seeking volunteer performers, marchers, banner carriers, flag bearers, safety monitors, make-up artists, a costume stylist, a hair stylist, makers, ecosex educators and production assistants.
PRE-PRODUCTION MEETINGS & A DRESS REHEARSAL and GROUP PHOTO
Where: At E.A.R.T.H. Lab Center, Studio 229, in the Digital Arts Research Center (DARC) Building,at UCSC, 2nd floor. Corner studio.
When: Tuesday, May 19, 5:00pm – 6:30pm: Pre-Production Gathering at UCSC’s E.A.R.T.H. Lab Center.
Tuesday, May 26, 5:00pm – 6:30pm: Pre-Production Gathering at UCSC’s E.A.R.T.H. Lab Center.
Tuesday, June 2, 2:00pm – 5:00pm: Pre-Production Gathering at UCSC’s E.A.R.T.H. Lab Center.
Thursday, June 4, 2:00pm – 5:00pm: Pre-Production Gathering at UCSC’s E.A.R.T.H. Lab Center.
Saturday, June 6, 11:00am – 2:00pm: Dress Rehearsal and group photo at UCSC’s E.A.R.T.H. Lab Center.
PARADE AND PICNIC
Where: Parade takes off at Pacific Ave & Church Street, downtown Santa Cruz. Picnic will take part in the parking lot at Cathcart Street and Cedar Street.
When: June 7th, 2015
9:00am CHECK IN–Vehicle and production team
10:00am CHECK IN– Walking participants and performers
10:20am Our contingent to be fully assembled
10:30 RIBBON CUTTING, WATER TOAST CEREMONY & SHORT PERFORMANCES
11:00 PARADE BEGINS
POLLINATION POD POST PARADE PICNIC & AN ECOSEX EDUCATION CLINIC
Free snacks and kombucha—We’ll set up at Cathcart Street and Cedar Street downtown Santa Cruz.
THE CONTINGENT FORMATION (SUBJECT TO CHANGE.)
- Two banner carriers lead with a 6’ “Here Come the Ecosexuals!” banner.
B. Two flag bearerscarry our ecosex pride flags. (Created by artist Cindy Baker)
C.Our core performance troupe of about 25 performers does a simple choreographed sound and movement piece.
(Requires a dress rehearsal Saturday, June 6, 11-2)
Music and performance by The Traveling Ills.
D. Our float is our glittery blue Pollination Pod water droplet camper – human powered by 6-8 people.
E. A group of 30+ ‘ecosexuals’ flank the rear walking in costume, carrying various signs and props. (Wear an ‘ecosexy costume’ of any kind. No rehearsal needed.)
F. Five volunteer safety monitors march along side the contingent. This is a great role for those who want to participate but don’t like performing. (The parade requires that we must have these in order to be in the parade. Requires a one-hour training session. See perks below.)
G. The “Rainbow on Wheels” by Jason Lavoy and Jamie Epstein
WHAT TO WEAR (Suggested)
- Core performance troupe, flag bearers, banner carriers:
We request you wear black (Ie: punk/goth/SM/Kink/tux/formal/ecosexy/slutty/ other) with blue and white costume bits with water references (snorkel, belly board, merman, wet suits, fish tail, waves, sea horse, swimmer, hot tubber…).
B. Chorus:
We suggest you dress ecosexy, formal, casual, sculptural, or as you wish. Think boy/girl scout, hiker, a tree, human-carrot, whale, furry, pony, sea whore-se, beach bunny, diver,…), but you are also free to dress how you want. Black costumes are a plus.
WHO:
Contingent Sponsor: UCSC’S E.A.R.T.H. LAB CENTER
Producers & lead artists: Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens
Production & Performers: Pale Breast and Kelsey Moody
Eco-Burlesque: Honey B. Dazzle
Contingent Guardian Angel: Sandy Stone
Others Artists: To be announced.
Production team:
Seth Andrews – Photography
Kayla Kemper – Photography/Production
Athena Angle – Mermaid/Dance/Performance
Iztla Dominguez – Posters/Printing
Nicola Moore – Dance
Maria Ramirez – Performance/Dance
Casssandra Cronin – Music/Performance
Jared Frazier – Music/Logistics/Building/Repair
Hannah Reiter – Production
Jamie “Wonderpig” Epstein – Sign up for table and rainbow
Costumes/Props: SARAH STOLAR
WE’RE MAKING A MOVIE!
The contingent performance will be filmed for our new documentary about water. (Water Makes Us Wet.)
Film Crew:Isabelle Carlier, Malinda O’Brien
Photography: Seth Andrews
WHAT YOU GET
It’s all a big juicy labor of love, so unfortunately these are all unpaid volunteer positions. However, there will be perks, great networking opportunities, lots of fun, film cameos, and you can do something nice for the Earth and for water. Funding we received is going into the filming, parade fees, costumes and props, press, etc. We can also offer a potluck party event for the people in the troupe and our monitors. You will also receive our huge gratitude. Thanks.
FOOD AND DRINK DONATIONS
Frontier Snacks, GT’s Kombucha, Dove Distributors, Sprogs, Pepples Organic Donuts, Rainbow Grocery, Amy’s Kitchen, OMG!, Lev’s Originial Kombucha, Trade Supplies.
GRANTORS
This project is supported with funds from the San Francisco Arts Commission, the UC Arts Research Institute, UC Santa Cruz E.A.R.T.H. Lab, UCIRA, UCSC Committee on Research, and the Rydell Foundation.