Celebrating through the Arts
- solstice4
- Aug 5
- 2 min read
Today I found this quote From Pearl Primus in my search on ChatGPT for quotes about the importance of collective joy, the need for community celebrations, especially in our world today.
"Bringing together art and people is a celebration. It makes people feel alive." – Pearl Primus
Santa Barbara Solstice Celebration’s mission statement of “bringing the community together through the arts” seems to be quite kin to that statement. What Solstice brings to the world is collective joy, collaborative creativity, and much more. It is amazing how Solstice has the power to rekindle the creative spark each year in so many, whether artist, spectator, festival goer, housewife, student, worker -- whatever station in life.
It is interesting how ChatGPT may, unlike simple Google searches, bring up a few interesting related ideas, and give one new thoughts to ponder, as well as organizing thoughts into all sorts of permutations like position papers, grants, social media posts.
I am reminded of Barbara Ehrenreich, who notes in her book “Dancing in the Streets” documenting the history of collective joy -- that there is the other side of the coin, whose dark side she explored in her book about institutionalized killing in “Blood Rites.”
“Dancing has been a way to address personal ills like melancholoy and shame, and social ills as extreme as those faced by American Slaves.” said Richard Sennett, commenting on Ehrenreich’s book. Dancing, singing, celebration, and all of the creative and performing arts are so important,. not only as personal growth, but as a reflection of the health of a society
So here we are, in this “Wild “World” (Solstice 2025 theme), with wars on multiple fronts, social and economic problems. What music and dance and celebration bring to a community is vibrance, connection, trust, fun, and an escape from the daily foibles and incessant bombardment of bad news.
So, here’s a little escape for today. I do hope you enjoy watching Pearl Primus who brought her genius to the world.
Pearl Primus Performance of Fanga Dance
Pearl Primus Modern Dance Performance “Strange Fruit”
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