COURIER LIFE, NOV. 6-12, 2020 33
OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
BY CRAIG HUBERT
For almost 20 years, one constant
in an ever-changing Fort Greene has
been Soul Summit, the free summertime
dance party where huge, welcoming
crowds gather to dance the day
away in Fort Greene Park.
This summer, because of concerns
over the spread of COVID-19, the party
was postponed. But thankfully, we
have a reminder: “Soul Summit: Doin’
It in the Park,” a new short fi lm by Tayo
Giwa and Cynthia Gordy Giwa, the husband
and wife team behind the digital
publication Black-Owned Brooklyn.
Tayo fi rst discovered the party
about a decade ago, after moving to
Fort Greene; Cynthia a few years
later when visiting friends in Brooklyn
while still living in Washington,
D.C. “I went over to the park to meet
up with some friends and I was just
amazed at this gathering that was occurring,”
Tayo said. “I had no understanding
of the history behind it when
I fi rst went but I could tell it wasn’t just
another party. There was something
special about it.”
“The freedom and the energy of
that space left an impression on me,”
Cynthia added.
Founded in 2002 by DJs Sadiq Bellamy,
Tabu and Jeff Mendoza, the event
was fi rst held at Cuyler Gore Park but
quickly outgrew the space. So they
moved the gathering to Fort Greene
Park where, initially, it was held every
Sunday during the summer.
House music, born out of the ashes
of disco, originated in Chicago’s
mostly black and queer dance spaces
before spreading to other
cities, where its stylistic
attributes splintered
into other genres. “As we
were doing this project, it
was important for us to
talk about Black origins
of house music because a
lot of that is being rewritten
and whitewashed,”
Cynthia said. In its creation,
Soul Summit was
an attempt to reclaim
some of what was lost about house music’s
origins while also bringing its inclusiveness
to a new audience.
“You don’t need to know the language
— you just feel the rhythm,”
Tayo said about house music’s appeal.
“There is something that is communicated
through the music, through
the dancing that is beyond words. It’s
cross cultural.”
The dance party’s popularity also
coincided with increased gentrifi cation
in the neighborhood. Due to noise
complaints and increased restrictions
around public events at parks, the
gathering decreased from every weekend
to happening only twice a summer.
While its presence was sorely
missed this year, the renewed attention
to public space brought on by the
pandemic means that, when it returns
next summer, people might be clamoring
for the opportunity, public health
permitting, to go dance in the park.
Its existence is more vital, a point
the fi lm makes directly. “Celebrate
what we have, but be prepared to fi ght
and protect what we have,” Cynthia
said.
Heart
& soul
Film chronicles
Fort Greene Park’s
iconic dance party
REACHING FOR THE SUMMIT: A new fi lm chronicles the annual Soul Summit
dance party at Fort Greene Park. Photos by Annette Bernhardt and Curt Saunders
via Black-Owned Brooklyn