When the opening bars of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” rang through speakers at Trowbridge Square Park at 3 p.m. Sunday, Hill neighbors stopped what they were doing to dance together.
They gathered at “Celebrate the Hill,” a pop-up event organized by the International Arts and Ideas Festival to bring the annual event to the city’s neighborhoods.
The city saw rain earlier and later in the afternoon. But the sky was clear when neighbors took center stage.
The spontaneous dancing was the brainchild of Damien Paglia and Travis Carbonella, who wanted to connect people across the city through videography and dance.
Paglia is a member of New Haven Ecstatic Dance, which he described as a “freeing and almost spiritual” form of dance that connects members of New Haven by allowing them to relax through dance.
His partner in this invention, Carbonella, is a local videographer. The two of them have worked together multiple times on different projects to spread “freedom and happiness” through public dance events across the city.
Paglia and Carbonella took cameras into the heart of the square, recording people as they danced. They did the same at “Celebrate Fair Haven,” the A&I pop-up event on Saturday; and plan to do the same at Dixwell’s pop-up event next week. A music video compiling footage from each location will be created; Carbonella said he hopes the result will show the community spirit in New Haven neighborhoods.
That wasn’t the day’s only dance. At another point, WYBC DJ Diamond D invited the community to join him in dancing “the wobble.”
Mayor Toni Harp answered the call.
“Even the mayor is joining in, so no one has any excuse not to,” Diamond D told attendees.
Harp told the crowd the pop-ups across the city had demonstrated to her the vast amount of talent in New Haven.
“New Haven, you have it going on,” she said.
Mayor Harp and Diaz.
Sunday’s event included performances from youngster Laniyah Diaz, Community KWANZAA Association of New Haven, and up-and-coming R&B singer Manny James.
James (at right in photo), who lives in the Hill, said it was an honor to perform in his home streets after singing at the New Haven Food Truck Festival the day before. He will perform on the New Haven Green as part of the International Arts and Ideas Festival on June 27 at 4:15 p.m.