NYC St. Pat's Parade- Be green, be seen.
Twelfth Night Masquerade Ball - A Chicago event shrouded in mystery...
Earth Celebrations, Winter Pageant - Costuming for a Cause
SantaCon - Drunken and demented Santas invade NYC
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On March 17th, New York City costumes itself in green. And yes… Irish Eyes do smile, but in NYC, the Irish are always accompanied by the whole cast of melting pot characters.
The
annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade is the highlight of the day with thousands
of participants and spectators taking part in this signature Manhattan event.
The costuming ranges from the traditional uniforms of the marching bands, dancers,
drummers and bag-pipers to the outlandish efforts of the spectators who then
continue their reveling into the night.
The parade has historically been controversial and once marred (some say enhanced…)
by the "spirited" debauchery that seems to surround this particular holiday.
Mayor Giuliani has helped sanitize this event and no such behavior is now evident.
The current debate is with several Gay Irish-American groups, who are being
excluded from formal participation in the event by the parade organizers who
are siding with the forces of intolerance who, unfortunately, still have a loud
voice in certain circles.
The Parade kicks off just north of the New York Public Library at 42nd Street
and moves north up 5th Avenue past Saint Patrick's Cathedral to its conclusion
at 88th Street. The parade has many marching bands and a large number of well-established
groups proudly flaunting their Gaelic roots. The bag-pipers, drummers and other
musicians inspire the crowds with time-tested tunes and danceable ditties while
various military, police and fire fighting troops march in tight formation.
And yes, it wouldn't be New York if there weren't politicians and others loudly
voicing their opinions.
Infiltrating the "Vallone for Mayor" gang, this reporter managed to walk the
entire parade route and experience the whole spectacle first-hand. While the
parade participants do offer an impressive show, the most interesting photo
opportunities were of the inspired folks on the sidelines. These folks are the
unsung heroes of the parade offering many "smiling eyes", cheers and the creative
use of green in its many forms. Costume Network applauds the costumers, face-painters
and puppet-masters who proudly display their roots and creativity!
Saint Patrick's Day 2002 will be on a Sunday (parade on Saturday) and Costume Network is planning to organize a group of costumers to march together and spread cheer in our own creative way. If you are interested in joining, please email Events@ CostumeNetwork.com.
Shrouded in mystery and established in history, the annual Twelfth Night Masqued Ball brings out many of Chicago's most creative costumers.
Launched
in 1905 by high society bachelor Billy Gamble who wished to break the doldrums
brought on by the bitter Chicago winters, Twelfth Night is an invitation-only
event meant for a select group of inspired souls. The secret locations roam
amongst the upscale downtown hotels where many book rooms for preparation and
late night fun. The event has been rated as one of the "Top 10 U.S. Parties"
by Harper's Bazaar and is, by far, the most interesting Chicago society ball.
Costumes or black tie are required.
Twelfth Night is a celebrated occasion that requires extensive planning by
the party faithful. The party is organized by a "Committee of Twelve" and chaired
by the "Grand Vizier" all of whom protect their identities behind ornate masks.
Party regulars organize into separate groups to plan and rehearse themed skits
that are the highlight of the event. The motto is "Let Good Taste Prevail to
No Avail: and the rule is "No Equestrians or Mounted Pedestrians".
With the Committee of Twelve and the Grand Vizier standing in judgment (a la
"Eyes Wide Shut"), the party kicks off with a costumers' procession before the
judges' dais and is quickly followed by the featured theatrical presentations
put on by the competing groups. While the themes have changed over the years,
there is usually a hint of baroque and a healthy dose of bawdiness. Towards
the end of the evening, the judges announces the winners of the often farcical
awards and all continue to party into the early morning hours.
This year's theme was "2001, a Space Oddity" which spawned a variety of delightfully irreverent concepts. Specific costumes included "Firestone - Total Recall", "Mir Mortals", "Captain Kirk - Flatline.com", "H.A.L. Gore - Artificial Intelligence", "Darth Nader - Global Whining" and "My Favorite Martini". Group themes included "Survivor 2112", "The Planet of the Babes", "Austin Powers and the Fembots" and the "Miss Galaxy Pageant".
The
most impressive homemade costumes where "The Diva" from the Bruce Willis film
"The 5th Element", "Buzz Lightyear" and "ET - The Extraterrestrial". The Diva
won "Best Individual Costume", Buzz was inspired and ET impressed with the costume
characters' likeness and lighted 'healing' finger and eyes.
A good time was had by all…
More photos in the gallery's Special Events section.
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The beautiful, the inspired, those yearning to dance. Earth Celebrations' sixth annual "Odyssey of the Earth" Winter Pageant - Costuming for a good cause. Costume Network applauds these annual lunar new year events that bring attention to a very important issue…
While the economy grows and neighborhoods gentrify, New York City is becoming a safer and cleaner place. Formerly desolate neighborhoods now bustle with activity, bars and all night delis. The housing market is booming and new construction is everywhere. While this all sounds very nice… the question becomes:
Is New York City losing its soul?
With
Lady Liberty standing watch, this city was built on diversity and its many ingredients
create a distinct culture that, despite attempts, no city has come close to
duplicating. One of the primary ingredients is the artist community whose lives
revolve around things other than the almighty and often condescending dollar.
Most of these enlightened folks live for inspiration, expression and for the
love of family, friends and community.
As the spiritual amongst us know, much creativity springs from a connection to the earth and the deeper things in the environment around us. As New York booms and every square foot triples in cost, the casualties are often the many low-income artists and the neighborhood gardens they cultivate with their inspiration, love and sweat.
These
community "green spaces" date back to NY's dirty past when there were many vacant
lots that were often the sites for garbage dumping and other sordid behavior.
Some of these lots have since been converted by good folk who wished to better
their communities by creating places where neighbors can socialize and express
themselves. There are currently 800 such gardens throughout NYC but many of
them are being threatened by government auctions and development plans. Despite
there being over 14,000 city-owned, vacant lots, the powers-that-be are striving
to violate the love that these communities have put into these gardens.
Earth
Celebrations is a Manhattan based, not-for-profit organization that is fighting
this disturbing trend by bringing attention to these issues through art and
joyful events. This years' winter pageant kicked off at the group's Manhattan
Headquarters in the East Village "Alphabet City" area. Here, dozens of costumers,
musicians, fire artists and lantern bearers began their musical march. The march
moved through the streets, around Tompkins Square Park and ultimately descended
on the La Plaza Cultural Garden at 9th Street and Avenue C.
La Plaza is a beautiful garden complete with a performance art stage. In the shadows of the willow trees, the "Odyssey of the Earth" performance was a rousing success with act after act of truly amazing music, dancing, juggling and inspirational speeches.
While these words and photos can describe the event, the feeling is one that must be experienced. A connection with the earth and these community resources must not be lost.
New York City needs its soul…
For more on Earth Celebrations and the La Plaza Cultural Garden, visit their respective websites at www.EarthCelebrations.com and www.LaPlazaCultural.org or call (212) 777-7969.
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The Event: SantaCon 2000
The Place: New York City
The Time: The Weekend Before Christmas
The Purpose: Who cares! Ho-Ho-Ho !!!
As advertised… "SantaCon is a not-for-profit, non-political, non-religious, demented Santa Clause Convention done for no reason"… except to gather like-minded merrymakers for yet another delightful costuming occasion. After all, what could be more fun than disguising yourself as one of over 100 Santas (boys, girls, elves and the occasional reindeer) and rampaging around New York City in a two-day event meant to inspire Christmas cheer and good humor? This year's event featured two totally different days of bar hopping, parties, subway rides, shock appeal, dirty xxx-mas carols, dancing, jiggling bellies and the haunting chant: Ho-Ho-Ho!!!
Day one began Friday Night, December 15th at an East Village bar where the Santas gathered to "lubricate" and prepare for the two-day binge. Santa Teams were organized for an impromptu scavenger hunt that launched these red-garbed groups into the streets and onto to the neighborhood shop owners who were urged to satisfy their strange needs. These gangs gradually made their way toward the Astor Street "Cube" where they gathered, en masse, for naughty caroling and several rounds of Santa Spankings. From there, the growing Santa army descended into the subway for a quick trip to the all night Santa Dance party. Despite the short trip, the loud presence of this band of rambunctious Santas was enough to fully delight and/or horrify the other passengers who laughed and cringed in equal proportion. This reporter will not soon forget the sound of two packed subway cars echoing with the Ho-Ho-Ho! chant and the corresponding stomps.
The day-one party happened at a location kept secret to ward off the gapers and plain-clothed civilians. The two-level party featured a casual lounge area along with a full dance floor that was quickly populated by a motley assortment of giggling and jiggling Santas and Santa-esses. As the night heated up and the occasional Santa-Suit hit the floor, it became apparent that this was not a group of overweight, aging white males. Au Contraire, many of these Santas had the "presence" to warm many a hearth during cold winter nights.
Despite a cold rain, day-two was 16 hours of Santa fun. The Santa Gang started at the Natural History Museum at 2pm and then went up to Central Park's Belvedere Castle. Because of the rain and the many black umbrellas, our gang initially appeared to be a Santa Funeral Procession but that was surely not the mood. The gang then made its way to Rockefeller Center greeting shoppers and caroling. Needing to dry off and, of course, drink, - the Santa Horde was soon off to Siberia Bar where they participated in several rounds of Santa karaoke. The next stop was Washington Square Park for more caroling with "the Boombox Project" who made an ambient orchestra with 50 boomboxes. The Santa Gang were then off to Katz's Deli for dinner and a fashion show of Santa style.
After re-fueling, the Santas went back into the subway with more Ho-Ho-Ho's! and towards the grand finale party in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The Santas arrived at the Williamsburg Mini Mall to find the Hungry March Band preparing to march the Santas down to the party at "Rubulad". The gang danced and drank till 6am with even more Santas arriving after 4. There was Santa Dancing, Santa Stripping, Santa Spanking and even Santa Smooching in the Screen-test booth. A great time was had by all.
To participate in next year's NY SantaCon or other such events elsewhere, please stay tuned…
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