This year for the Bermuda Day Parade, the Department of Culture commissioned Cirqle to create their float entry, and so the People of Earth were born!
Representing all of the world coming together as one to protect our planet and our future.
It's projects and support like this that help us recover from pandemic losses, create jobs, make valuable connections and launch new forms of vibrant entertainment.
Special thanks to the Department of Culture, especially the "Culture Queens": Carly Lodge and Kim Dismont-Robinson for giving us this incredible opportunity.
The Plan:
We wanted to create some thing that:
- fit the theme.
- had an important message.
- would be utilized long past the parade.
- was interactive, bright and fun.
- was unexpected and bold.
- would inspire other creators.
- that was made using upcycled materials where possible.
- involved youth during development.
The theme was "Togetherness" and we started thinking about the ways humans need to work together. Living cohesively with our environment is paramount for our survival. So, we decided to make beings that represent each of us doing our part, coming together to protect our earth.
One People. One Planet. The People of Earth.
The sheer size represents this is bigger than any one of us.
The bits of land that make up the body represents us coming together as a singular being.
The bright green represents brighter days.
The bubbles we blew along the way represent rising to the challenge, spreading joy and protecting our water.
The puppeteers from all different backgrounds represents unification and celebrates the diversity Bermudian of culture and ethnicity.
The Making:
A total of 9 adults built the puppets with the help from some of the youth at the St. Georges Community Center who watched the project unfold start to finish.
We've never built anything like these and we had only 2 weeks to produce them. A month would have been difficult to complete them in, so we had to be cautious in our decisions, ensuring that we'd make as few mistakes as possible. But of course, like any good project, there were mistakes to learn from still.
First thing that had to happen was the research, design, planning and pitch.
They didn't approve our first one because.... it was ridiculous, but that's another story about how being oblivious just happens sometimes.
Once approved, it was off to try to find the best things to use for building.
Gorham's is our best friend and Medical house came a close second for gathering everything we needed.
The force of the wind proves significant when wearing the puppets, it was worse on the first version, so we abruptly edited.
Check out the gallery below to see photos of our step by step process.
With so many steps and so little time, it was hard to catch a piece of every part of the making. Maybe we'll have enough after we fix things up post parade.
The Parade:
The day was finally here! After working until 12 the night before, we rose and rushed to pick up the puppets for 7:30am. Judging was at 8 but luckily we were being judged last.
After judging, it was a waiting game all day. We were the final spot before the all the Gombeys. But this gave us the time for some much needed rest ahead of the Parade.
The judges came back to inform us we had not only placed 1st in our category but 1st overall with the "Most Original Float", as well as the "Best Government Department float. While feeling incredibly honored, we were still nervous as we hadn't taken a single step of the long journey ahead!
The time had come and we strapped everyone into their puppets and got up to the start line. Because it figures: Immediate chaos erupted.
The bubble machine nearly drowned the Gombeys and spectators waiting. (Sorry!)
There was a wind tunnel and pieces were breaking off under the pressure.
The larger harnesses were falling off (because we could only get 1 size small in the rush). We thought for sure we were goners. How could we survive the entire parade if this is second number 1!?
But luckily, they let us move out of the wind tunnel and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. Panic attacks were mostly averted and now we could shimmy our way through wowing the audience!
The reactions were amazing, many had never seen anything like it, the kids were in awe, our friends were starstruck and proud. It felt amazing.
Click to enlarge:
You can check out the complete live broadcast of the parade here!
Special thanks to Kristin White, Gavin Smith, and Trina Power Girl and the Minister Dr. Ernest Peets, JP for all the wonderful things you relayed to spectators about us and this project as we passed.
Conclusions:
- Kids love bubbles. They will steal them if they have the chance. lol
- A lack of sleep will absolutely hinder your ability to make logical decisions. Luckily, we have the chance to go back and correct all the mistakes made before we offer this as regular booking option. Check out the show reel soon.
- We probably should have been involved with Bermuda Day before. Hopefully, we'll be able to pull it together for next year!
Comentários