A passion for samba

By Molly Gilmore

Juli Kelen vividly remembers the first time she saw the dancers of Samba Olywa. It was in 1997, the first year the dancers appeared in the Procession of the Species.

" It was a really crummy night," she said. "It was drizzling. It was dark. I was catching a cold. I was standing there with a sore throat.

"All of a sudden, I heard this electrifying per cussion, and around the corner came these women."

She lights up again at the memory.

"In the cold and the dark and the rain, they were wearing minimal clothing. Their arms were glis tening in the rain.

"They were very focused, and the energy sur rounding them was a knockout. All I could think was: Must be like them, must be like them, must be like them."

Ten years later, Kelen is co-leader of the dancers and a core member of the group that perhaps more than any other defines the annual Procession of the Species in Olympia, which is happening at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Although Samba Olywa is a driving passion for Kelen, who also directs communication for the group and serves on the steering committee, s he also is involved in a whole host of other ac tivities - all centered around world music.

"She's a darn good musician," said David Mosely, who co-leads Samba Olywa's music. "She plays the guitar quite well. She's also jumped into the percussion group. She's a woman of many talents."

Kelen is an organizer for South Sound Kids Drum & Dance, a nonprofit that lends instruments and brings drummers and dancers into the schools to teach workshops.

"Someday, we're all going to be in the home for aged sambistas, and we'll need someone younger to do the drumming for us," she said.

Her love for samba also comes through on the radio.

For 11 years, she has co-hosted "Cover the Earth" on KAOS, the public radio station based at The Evergreen State College.

"I started at KAOS radio as a volunteer in 1983," said Kelen, who ended up working as the station's training and operations manager for 13 years. "I didn't know much about Brazilian music then. There was a show then that played Latin American music, and I listened religiously."

She's always been musically inclined. "My parents were not music people at all, but somehow they sensed that I was, so they gave me lots of opportunities to have musical instruments and to hear music."

But back in '97 - the first year Samba Olywa included dancers - Kelen wasn't dancing, although she'd been an avid jazz dancer when living in Seattle.

"It felt like a risk to me," she said. "I wasn't sure I could 'dance well enough.' I was hesitant about putting myself on display ... but the group was very welcoming. In short order, I felt like I fit in, I belonged, I didn't have to be self-conscious for anybody."

Now, she's key member of the all-volunteer organization, which is a fixture at Procession and a common sight at summer festivals.

"She's been a strong leader," said Lynn Hicks, who drums with the group and maintains the Web site. "In volunteer groups, sometimes things get a little shaky as far as carrying things through. She's always willing to step in and make sure things get done."

This time of year, year-round members double up on rehearsals to prepare for shows while working with the flood of dancers and drummers who join just for Procession.

"I'm dancing for three and a half hours on a Sunday pretty typically," Kelen said.

No fair-weather sambista (although most Samba Olywa gigs do take place in summer), Kelen drums as well as dances, and she studies in depth at a samba camp in Northern California.

"I'm a drummer, and not very many of our dancers or drummers swing both ways," she said, laughing.

"I've worked with some of the best Brazilian teachers in North America, and they all are great drummers. When they don't feel the drummers are supporting them in the way they want to be supported, they'll run over there and grab the sticks and yell at them and start drumming the way they want it to be done."

Drummers also should be able to dance, she said, but the music comes first. "There's no dancing without the drumming, whereas there can be drumming without dancing."

Kelen spends a huge chunk of time working collaboratively, but her latest project is a solo one.

She's playing guitar and singing Brazilian and Cuban songs, as she did at the Women's Way Concert last month.

"The performing as a singer is pretty new," she said. "I want to keep working on that.

"I don't feel I came into this with a lot of natural ability as a dancer," she added. "The music was easy for me, in a way. ... But if I am any kind of a good dancer, it's because I've really worked at it." Age: "I'm past the age where I really want my age published in the newspaper. Next time I see my age published in the newspaper, I'd just as soon have it be because I'm dead."

Roots: Grew up in New York City. Moved to Olympia in 1982.

Family: Son Jesse Partridge, 24, and daughter Clea Partridge, 21, both of Olympia. And both are musical. Jesse drummed with Samba Olywa one year and sometimes goes with his mom to world music shows. And, says Kelen, "Clea is epicenter of the indie music scene by virtue of knowing everybody."

Education: Bachelor's degree in Near Eastern language and literature from the University of Washington.

Career: "Where could I find time for a job?" Kelen joked. Actually, although she is unemployed and filling her time with music and dance, she is looking for work as an events planner or writer. "I describe myself as a connecticator," she said. "I pull people together."

About the series: Each month, look in The Olympian for an extended conversation with one of the people who make South Sound a unique place. procession of the species

What: The annual free event celebrates the Earth - and the elements of earth, air, fire and water - with music, dance and floats, but no signs or motorized vehicles.

When: 4:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Downtown Olympia. Participants gather at 3:30 p.m. at Legion and Cherry, and the parade route, which ends at Heritage Park, is on the Arts Walk maps available free at local businesses and the Olympia Center.

Tickets: Participants donate two cans of food to the Thurston County Food Bank. Spectators also are asked to donate and may give their food to the Olympia police officers who distribute sidewalk chalk before the parade.

More information: www.procession.org or 360-705-1087 samba olywa

It's too late to join the group for this year's Procession, as today is the dress rehearsal. But there are rehearsals all year long, and new members are accepted any time. For more about Samba Olywa or South Sound Kids Drum & Dance, a nonprofit that shares samba with the younger generation, go to www.sambaolywa.com or call 360-866-6129.