Last night, City Hall Plaza was transformed into a roller dance disco party in Tribute to the late Disco Queen Donna Summer sponsored by The City of Boston and Together.
I was all for this event. I mean come on? Who doesn’t get into the disco spirit? There was a (very small) roller rink, and I certainly was ready to skate, but by the time I got around to it the line was down the entire plaza! I suppose if it was larger, they wouldn’t have had enough roller skates for everyone :(. Plenty of people brought there own – some looked like their originals from the 70′s! – and circumvented the line weaving in and out of the dancing or by creating their own roller circles.
In addition to the roller rink, there was space to learn “The Hustle” mapped out by artisan Elisa H. Hamilton who is the creator of Dance Spot Boston, a grant funded project where she creates dance spaces in random spaces. It gives people the chance to ask themselves, “Do I want to dance?” The answer last night was an emphatic, “Yes!”
Polar Seltzer was giving out free samples to keep people hydrated, and DJ Kon was rockin’ the tables all night long. He did such a great job of keeping it purely disco with great timing of crescendos and pauses. You literally could not be in the space and not shake somethin’!
Another treat was some family members of Donna Summers (who was raised in Boston) came to support the event including her sister, Linda Gaines and her nephew aka rapper O’Mega Red. He performed “Angel” a song that he wrote with his late aunt at a time when she knew that she was ill. “She wanted me to know, everyone to know, that she would always be our angel watching over us.”
One of the best parts of this amazing night was seeing so many people from so many different backgrounds come together. Some people went all out in disco themed outfits. There were breakers like The Floor Lords who go to show off their dance styles. LegendaryDJ’s like Fab! Award Winner DJ Bruno and DJ MasterMillions. People were able to bring their kids; Old skool vs. New Skool. I even joined a conga line with State Representative Candidate Eric Esteves. Some may not have known the words to every song, but everyone felt the good vibes!
