Haunted Ragtime Halloween @ The Chocolate Church

Friday, November 1 (the day after Halloween!)

A New Orleans-style Spookified Chocolate Church this Halloween

Halloween is right around the corner and The Chocolate Church Arts Center has invented a totally original, multimedia, immersive celebration on Friday, November 1, Haunted Ragtime Halloween. I have always loved the artistic oeuvre of the Danse Macabre–” the dance of the dead,” which ranges from paintings to pageants that celebrates the universality of our mortality. In addition, I’m a bit obsessed with New Orleans–a city that feels like it is tuning into spirited frequencies on a daily and nocturnal basis. Haunted Ragtime Halloween is a concert party that calls in this spirit, that’s fun and appropriate for kids while also being geared towards adults being able to dance and enjoy. There will be dance, live music, visual arts, and theater–not to mention artists will be taking over the CCAC, letting the community enjoy the beautiful spookiness of our unique building on Halloween.

The schedule of the evening includes a panoply of activities. The first, starting at 5 PM, in the CCAC Community Art Studio–is to create your own spooky photo booths. People will use old-school overhead projectors to compose their own spooky projections within little immersive theatrical setups. Perfect for solo or group photos to share as a souvenir. There will be costumes, design elements, and shadow projects for anyone who wants to dream up their own Halloween worlds and capture it in a photo.

Then at 6:30 PM, there will be Swing Dance lessons led by professional instructors from Lindy Maine, one of the state’s most renowned swing dance organizations. Then at 7:30 PM, Portland’s Ragtime Destroyers will take the stage of the CCAC main space to perform swing dance music from the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. It was when I met Jeremy Fink, the band leader for the Destoryers that this whole event came to light. “We're excited to bring the spooky side of New Orleans to the midcoast,” said Fink. “No matter if you are trying swing dancing for the first time, a friend from the local swing scene, or just a fan of early jazz - this Halloweekend event promises to be a really fun time!” Audiences will be invited to dance their cares away in full costume inside a spookified Chocolate Church sanctuary. The image of our community of all ages swing dancing as skeletons, ghoulish characters, and superheros makes me happy.

Following the Ragtime Destroyers, at 8:30, there will be a “late night” Annex performance by the renowned Halloween musician/ performer, Dr Gasp. Dr Gasp is a larger-than-life character performed by New England folk musician Dan Blakeslee. With his unique bag of all original songs of Halloween oozing with vampires and ghastly creeps, Blakeslee's songs are a throwback to old-time cult horror themes, giving nods to the Monster Mash, Alfred Hitchcock, and the cavernous voice of Paul Frees. While not for the littles, this show is appropriate for the young and old alike. There will also be delicious hot food provided by a surprise food truck with delectables and libations.

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