After a three year hiatus (no show) the AV Variety Show roared back to life last weekend at the Anderson Valley Grange Hall. I attended the Friday show which was up to par in every way and even more energetic than some shows in the past.
Captain Rainbow marshaled the troops admirably with assistance from Keevan, Charlene and Tice, his sturdy sidekicks. As always, the opening number was a blockbuster with jesters, jugglers, pirates, tumblers and a trumpeting “Elephant in the Room!” Before it was over we were bombarded from above with what seemed like hundreds of balloons that karoomed around the hall with mad joy as the audience caught and relaunched them. Real fun.
It was hard to make notes on all the acts in the dark; some of my notes were later indecipherable. But here’s what I could read later. Judo instructor Brenda Smith and her large group of capable students gave us a masterful demonstration of their highly disciplined art. Anastasia brought out a cat in a cage that was called Chattercat or Cheddarcat and showed us an uplifting video about Silver Linings, excellent. Somewhere along the line there were some Holy Goats (real live ones) and one of them got a crown but the details of this act are lost to me, sorry. Noor Dawood shepherded a troop of transitional kindergarten students through two adorable songs in two different languages. Mitchell Spring from Fish Rock Road shared a song. The Hernandez Family Mariachi Band brought the house down and showcased an amazing trumpeter. Young songbird Leila sang with a wonderful piano accompanist. There was a novelty number called “The Tower of Babble” consisting of speakers from many lands including Hiromi from Japan, Yvonne from Germany and Florianne from France, also Arabic and Spanish speakers. They took a simple poetic phrase and passed it along. Something was lost in translation, but everyone had a good time anyway.
The 50/50 raffle presided over by a lady in a big purple hat and about $500 was won by a very generous soul who immediately donated the money to the future of the upcoming AV Skate Park! Yay!
Back to the show with Nicole of Trillium Tribe doing an awesome belly dance including work with a scary looking sword balanced on her head. Nicole’s hand gestures are poetry in motion, so graceful. Later we saw two of her young students perform: Las Serenas, beautiful and very big crowd pleasers. Denver, Abeja and Seasha formed a trio singing and playing for the City and State Tribe: “Let’s Get Happy.” They killed us with their retro version of “Secret Agent Man” for which they all donned 60s style shades. Joshua Treespirit played an ethereal Vietnamese Mouth Organ and finally Sarah Larkin and John brought us all together for a sing-along with “AV Anderson Valley HO!” Our spirits lifted off and we all felt the wind beneath our wings as we sang together.
I’m sure Saturday night was just lively if not even more amazing. Thank you to all who do so much work to put the Variety Show together and make it happen. It is something of a miracle and a true treasure beloved by us all.
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