As I mentioned in a previous post, I attended the 43rd annual In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre's Mayday parade in Minneapolis last Sunday, May 7. This year's Mayday theme was "Imagine, Heal, Resist."
As I've noted previously, the Mayday parade never fails to embody story and ritual at their best. And because the themes of the parade are always concerned in one way or another with journeying, growth, transformation, and the seeking and embodying of the best qualities of the human condition, I have no hesitation in calling it a religious ritual. It feeds my spirit – and the spirits of the hundreds who participate in it and the thousands who line the streets of Bloomington Ave. in south Minneapolis to witness it.
Following is the beautiful and profound welcoming statement from this year's Mayday celebration program.
Imagine, heal, resist . . . and love, love love!
At this time of great upheaval, we come together to Imagine a just and joyous future for all; Heal personal, cultural and historical wounds; and to stand as a circle in Resistance to false myths of separateness that perpetuate violence and inequality.
We look to inner, outer and ancestral light for guidance, brilliant rainbows of visions and energies.
Oh Beauteous Neighbors! Thank you for weaving our community together with such GREAT LIGHT!
As I've done in previous years, I spent time before the start of this year's Mayday parade walking around and taking photos in the staging area. That's where the images in this first of two Mayday 2017 posts were taken. Enjoy!
Note the good folks at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre:
Puppetry's power lies in the act of transformation – of bringing something inanimate to life. This act in itself speaks to our lives, which rise and fall and rise again. As we share this act of building and performing, we find that art brings people together. It creates and expands community.
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Photo of the Day – May 7, 2017
• "Radical Returnings" – Mayday 2016 (Part 1)
• "Radical Returnings" – Mayday 2016 (Part 2)
• "Our New Possibility": Photo of the Day – May 1, 2016
• "And Still We Rise!" – Mayday 2015 (Part I)
• "And Still We Rise!" – Mayday 2015 (Part II)
• Mystics of Wonder, Agents of Change (Mayday 2014 – Part 1)
• "The Spiritual Dialectic of WONDER?!" (Mayday 2014 – Part 2)
• See the World! (Mayday 2013)
• The End of the World as We Know It (2012)
• "Uproar!" on the Streets of South Minneapolis: Part 1 (2010)
• "Uproar!" on the Streets of South Minneapolis: Part 2 (2010)
• Getting Started: Mayday 2009 (Part 1)
• Celebrating Our Common Treasury: Mayday 2009 (Part 2)
• Mayday and a "New Bridge" (2008)
• The Time is Now! (2006)
Images: Michael J. Bayly.
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