May Day...

Happy belated May Day everyone!! 

What a beautiful Sunday afternoon!  My roommate and I enjoyed a stroll to church this morning and then to the annual May Day Parade in South Minneapolis.  

Every year the In the Heart of the Beast theatre puts on the May Day Parade unlike any you've ever seen.  They use flour, water, newspaper, lots of paint and imagination to tell stories that explore the struggles and celebrations of human existence.  The parade attracts more than 35,000 people every year, namely the more artsy, eclectic ones.  Very cool to see so many people on the streets of Minneapolis enjoying the outdoors today.

This year's theme was Uproar! 

Scene 1: Growl

People struggle to remain standing leashed under heavy burdens of poverty, war, debt & loneliness. They trudge forward groaning and growling racked by disease, grief, and rage, these tigers lash out at eachother and could rip us to shreds as well. 

Scene 2: Breathe

The Whale and Tai Chi Tigers move with conscious breath. People breathe and come breath and dance.  Beyond the grasses, and Elephant trumpets, awakening us to our collective together.  Arks carry seedlings to grow into plants, the lungs of the earth.  Grasses catch the power.  Elephant bones burst with new and fertile life.  Flowers!

Scene 3: Return

Return to wisdom and our ancestors.  Owls recognize and access the treasures of ancestral wisdom, Life and death dance together, embrace each other with joy.  Skeletons shine with fire and light and guide through the darkness.  Ofrendas offer space for remembering. Tiger skeletons grieve.  The four seasons surround a skeleton pregnant with life.

Scene 4: Roar

Rooster chariots call us to roar!  Roar with exuberance in the raw beauty of the world!  Tigers fly contain the roar of the unfolding universe.  When people protect the tiny snail, they protect the Super Roaring Tigers arrive with good deeds to protect this world of infinite wonder!  Snails universe.  The clouds merge and become a tiger.  The tiger sun roars with exuberant energy. 

Following the themed part of the parade, there were a few additions....