In mid-August my 23 year old nephew Drew returns to Rehoboth Beach for another visit. Drew is a walking encyclopedia of all things American Idol and, I have to confess, Steve and I have been fans of the show since its first season more than a decade ago. In our family, American Idol is one of those shows that crosses generational lines, and no matter our various ages or interests, it has kept many of us entertained and talking to one another for years.
Anyway, back to Drew: when we saw that AI contestant Kimberly Locke (3rd place, season 2) was going to be at the Blue Moon on August 15, we thought it the perfect time for his return visit.
American Idol and Kimberly Locke don’t really have anything to do with Sundance; Drew does. Drew and his brothers and sisters and cousins are all younger than Sundance. While none of them have ever actually been to Sundance (Drew assures me that’s going to change next year), Sundance has always been a part of their lives. It’s just something that their uncles and Aunt Mary Beth work on every year. Sundance t-shirts and memorabilia have worked their way into their lives for decades.
Thinking about Drew made me realize how deeply engrained Sundance is in our lives. Like holidays, Sundance has become a fixture on our calendar. It’s what we do on Labor Day weekend.
I know I’ve had a lot to say about Sundance in the pages of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth over the last 20+ years. So have others. Sundance is older than CAMP Rehoboth and Letters, and we’ve been talking about it for decades. The CAMP Rehoboth website contains archives that go back to 1997, though some of those earlier issues are not in very good shape. Still, I did some digging to find out what had been written about Sundance over the last 15 years. Here’s a little of what I found.
“For many of us, Labor Day Weekend in Rehoboth Beach has become synonymous with the Sundance benefit. The two-day event is “a personal as well as a public celebration,” according to Sundance organizer Murray Archibald. Sundance began as an anniversary party for Archibald and his partner, Steve Elkins. This year marks their twentieth year together as a couple. However, the event has also become a major fundraising event. In its first ten years, Sundance has raised over one half of a million dollars for various non-profit agencies, including the Whitman-Walker Clinic, the NAMES Project, CAMP Rehoboth, and the Sussex County AIDS Committee (SCAC).” –Glen Pruitt, Letters, August 28, 1998
“Those of you who have studied Native American culture know that the Sun Dance was a sacred ceremony. One did not dance the Sun Dance lightly. Perhaps you remember its graphic depiction in the movie A Man Called Horse. A Sun Dancer would carry the scars for the rest of his life. Our Sundance, of course, is not that of the Native Americans, but I cannot help but be enthralled by descriptions of that ancient ritual and how it seems to overlay and whisper meaning into our present day reality.
“In the book, Lakota Belief and Ritual, James Walker provides some wonderful insight into what the Sun Dance was like. ‘The Holy Men Tell of the Sun Dance...the Sun Dance is the greatest ceremony that the Oglalas do. It is a sacred ceremony in which all the people have a part. It must be done in a ceremonial camp [or CAMP]. One who wishes to dance the Sun Dance should make this known [buy tickets] some time before the time for doing this dance. All should have time to prepare [create outfits] for the Sun Dance.’ In another section, Walker reports on Sun Dance symbols. ‘A skirt of red worn by a man is an emblem of holiness. A blue skirt is an emblem of...the heavens, and indicates that the wearer is engaged in a sacred undertaking. Armlets and anklets are emblems of strength and of love and of cunning in the chase’ [but I won’t go there!].” –Murray Archibald, Letters, August 27, 1999
“On the first Sunday night of September, I’ll dance the Sundance, and when I do I will remember my friends who are gone and I will celebrate with my friends who still dance at my side and within the range of my vision. For some, perhaps Sundance is just another party, but for me, I know that as I catch the eye of many of the people there on the dance floor, I will see a real reflection of the life dance, a real reflection of the love and the friendship and the memories and the future and the celebration that will, indeed, make it a super-duper ultra iridescent rainbow revolutionary night. Watch for it, I promise that you’ll see it too. See you on the dance floor.” –Murray Archibald, Letters, August 25, 2000
“From early on, Sundance became “the rainbow party.” As I looked backward I remembered, The Super Duper Ultra Iridescent Rainbow Revolution (2000), Rainbow Renaissance (1999), Rainbow XI: Colors of Life (1998), Rainbow Revival: Jump, Shout, Hallelujah, Jubilation In The House (1997), Rainbow Rites: Invocation To Dance (1995), Hearts In The Sun, The Rainbow Party (1994), The Color Of Light (1992), and Rainbow In The Sun (1991). For years now, DJ Mark Thomas has searched out new and different versions of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow,’ and the lights have been designed using a full spectrum of color.” –Murray Archibald, Letters, August 24, 2001
“Back in 1988, none of us had any idea that we were creating an event that would still be around 17 years later. The idea was to turn an anniversary party for Steve [Elkins] and me into an AIDS fundraiser. It was to have been an outside pool party and dance and so the invitations called it “A Sun Dance,” because, obviously, we were going to dance in the sun. I say “were” because it rained. No, not just rained, it poured. Fortunately I had added a tiny note to the bottom of the invitation before it went to the printer. ‘In case of unkind weather,” it read, “please join us at The Strand, 137 Rehoboth Avenue for a Rain Dance.’ And thus it was (as legend goes) that with 22 hosts, and 200 guests, we danced the first Sundance in the rain, though safe and dry inside the three week old, newly opened (and now also legendary) bit of heaven called The Strand.” –Murray Archibald, Letters, August 27, 2004
“Sundance has for many of us, for many years, been a ceremonial, end-of-the-summer event, and this year’s Sundance theme Rainbow Rites 23–Tribal Revival is a reminder of the many friends and beach house “clans” we have here at the beach. Sundance is the biggest single fundraising event for the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center and I encourage everyone to come to either one or to both nights of the event….” –Steve Elkins, Letters (The Way I See It), August 2010
I have to say, I enjoyed my afternoon of digging through the archives. Even though after writing about Sundance for 25 years it’s quite possible we’ve said all we need to say, reliving each year’s event reminded me that each one is still an individual experience. I can’t wait to share Sundance with my nieces and nephews, and I look forward to experiencing it through Drew’s eyes—even if it’s not until 2013.
Tickets for Sundance 2012 are available on the CAMP Rehoboth website or by calling the CAMP Rehoboth office. Tickets are $80 for both nights, $45 per night. Saturday, September 1 is the Sundance Auction with auctioneer Lorne Crawford and an open bar and cocktail buffet; Sunday, September 2 is the dance, with DJ Mark Thomas and lights by Paul Turner.
I wrote this last quote in the August 22, 2008 issue of Letters:
“Sundance was born out of a very dark time for the gay community and its dance floor is still populated by the spirits of the many friends and companions who never lived to see the 21st century. When we dance we dance with them and for hope and for joy in a future that is yet to be.
“Then again, maybe we just dance because it’s fun.”
Whatever the reason, please join us as we celebrate Sundance 2012: Legend of the Silver Rainbow.
Murray Archibald, CAMP Co-founder and President of the Board of Directors of CAMP Rehoboth, is an artist in Rehoboth Beach.