‘Who Dat?’ It’s Dancing Man 504!
by Mary Frost (
mfrost@brooklyneagle.net), published online 04-08-2010
The Big Easy Comes Unexpectedly to Brooklyn
By Mary FrostBrooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN BRIDGE -- Pedestrians and bikers on the Brooklyn Bridge were transported to the Big Easy this past Saturday morning, and it wasn’t just the sultry weather.
As pedestrians gawked, a hundred dancers sporting colorful parasols kicked, bounced and gyrated behind Mardi Gras parade dancer extraordinaire Dancing Man 504, accompanied by the New Orleans-style Jambalaya Brass Band.
Wire-thin and muscular, Dancing Man 504 performed his trademark heel to toe from Brooklyn to Manhattan and then back again. The dancing man’s followers – known as the “Second Line,” in New Orleans parlance -- waved their handkerchiefs and dipped their umbrellas in the traditional manner. A few hardened New York City bikers groused, but others knew a party when they saw one and joined the line.
That spontaneous joy is what it was all about, says James Demaria, producer and director of “’Treme Life,” a film celebrating the traditions and music of the Mardi Gras Indians and New Orleans musicians. Demaria brought Dancing Man 504 to Brooklyn to host the Second Line over the bridge for the final scene in the film.
“The saying in New Orleans is, ‘Step or be stepped on,’” Demaria told the Brooklyn Eagle. “Most of the foot traffic was tourists. They grabbed their cameras and took the photos of a lifetime. And from what I could see, most joined in on the dancing and chanting ‘Who dat?’ or ‘Brooklyn's out of control.’
“When we reached the halfway point, I stopped and closed my eyes for a brief second. It really felt like we were in New Orleans. The spirit was there.”
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