SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—The costumes, music and movement are all coming together as Santa Barbara prepares for one of its most colorful traditions.
While the floats often steal the spotlight, the performers who dance alongside them spend weeks — and sometimes months — preparing for their moment in the Summer Solstice Parade.
Members of La Boheme have been hard at work rehearsing ahead of Saturday’s parade, practicing choreography and building the stamina needed to dance the entire mile-long route.
“We keep them pumped up, ” said La Boheme Director and professional dancer Teresa Kuskey Oshay.
“I tell all my dancers, when you see that crowd, just show them your smile and your love, and they show you the love right back,” she said.
Organizers say the dance groups are a major part of what makes the Summer Solstice Celebration unlike any other event in Santa Barbara.
“It’s like the street is electric,” said La Boheme dancer Carolyn Strong. “It literally is a wave of momentum and movement of 110 dancers. You feel a wonderful bond. It’s not the one, it’s the many. It’s the whole.”
The parade features a wide variety of performances, from African drumming and cultural folk dances to disco and samba.
Student volunteer and dancer Annalisa Zaccardelli said she will be embracing the spirit of the event in full costume.
“I’m going to be wearing a samba costume, so I got the feathers, the whole thing,” she said.
Performers spend weeks learning routines, designing costumes and preparing physically for the non-stop procession.
“We dance the whole way,” Kuskey Oshay said. “Yes, we have water breaks, but our music is still going. I even have kids dancing in front of us.”
Zaccardelli said one of the things she loves most about La Boheme is that anyone can participate.
“If you can walk, you can dance, so it’s for everybody,” she said.
The Summer Solstice Parade is one of Santa Barbara’s largest community events, drawing thousands of spectators each year. Crowds will line Santa Barbara Street to Alameda Park to watch performers showcase the results of months of preparation.
Festivities run Friday through Sunday, with the parade stepping off at noon Saturday.
‘If You Can Walk, You Can Dance’: Performers Get Ready for Summer Solstice Parade News Channel 3-12.
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