Procession groups welcome new faces

By Lisa Pemberton | The Olympian • Published April 26, 2007

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A new community art studio for this spring's Procession of the Species is slated to open this weekend at the old Capital City Press building at 115 State Ave. N.E. in downtown Olympia.

Organizers of the April 28 event signed a six-week lease on the 4,000-square-foot space earlier this week - ending a search for studio space that began last June when they learned they wouldn't be able to return to the old Madison School for another season.

The new spot is much smaller than old Madison, which was purchased about a year ago by New Bridge Community Church. But there's still enough room for the Procession's art and costume-making activities, which include papier-mache, batik work and luminaria, according to Nicole Mercier, president of the board of directors for Earthbound Productions, the nonprofit group that organizes the event.

"It's an ideal spot for a location," she said.

"We were worried that there wasn't going to be a spot."

Even though Procession of the Species is less than a month away, organizers say there's still plenty of time to create a costume, join a music or dance group, or otherwise get involved in South Sound's annual celebration of Earth Day and the Endangered Species Act.

"That's the great thing about Procession groups - it's never too late to join any of them," said Bernadette McCune-Sokoloski, director of Salsa del Caribe, a Cuban and Afro-Brazilian music and dance group. "You can join in at anytime."

Earlier this month, several music and dance groups began offering weekly workshops to prepare for Procession at a loft space on Cherry Street that's owned by Fish Brewing Co.

It's a venue that Juli Kelen, a dancer with the 80-member-plus Samba Olywa, described as "wonderful."

"I love the natural light," she said. "We're not buried in a basement or locked away somewhere."

The loft also features wood floors, which are easier to dance on than old Madison's carpet-over-concrete, Kelen said.

"You not only got your bones jarred, but your joints twisted," she said of the old space. "I liked that we had a central location. But for a dancer, that gymnasium was really bad."

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