Jazz Parade for Democracy: Overview, Highlights, and Interview Links
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Lady Liberty imploring the crowd to help her during Act 1 (Photo by Rebecca George Photography, used with permission) |
The steadily accelerating erosion of American freedoms under the Trump Administration in 2025 motivated two Indivisible Charlottesville members, Nancy DeWitt and Isabelle McMahon, to create a really ambitious piece of performance art, a "Jazz Parade for Democracy" staged on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall.
On November 1, 2025, over 100 performers (a 45-member brass band, 30 choral singers, and 30 costumed performers with props) staged a 90-minute outdoor extravaganza for an audience of roughly 750 people, many of whom became impromptu participants!
To see highlights, find out how we pulled it off, or hear what inspired us to take on this big project (far outside of anything most of us had ever tried before), follow the links below.
Video excerpts from the three Acts:
- Act 1, “Mourning” — Objective: raise awareness about the potential losses and setbacks we face under the current MAGA administration, highlighting the urgency of collective action.
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- Act 2, “Join the Movement” — Objective: Inspire confidence that both individual and group efforts can create meaningful change, encouraging others to join and support the movement.
- Act 3, “Celebrate in Unity” — Objective: Foster a sense of optimism and joy within our community, showcasing how resilience and unity can inspire hope and positivity for the future.
For an overview, read this The Grassroots Connector (an online newsletter with a circulation of over [13,000] progressive activists) article meant to inspire organizers and creative folks in other cities to stage this or similar performance art works where they live.
Indivisible Charlottesville organizer Dan Doernberg did a series of video interviews with some of the key people involved in the production. Follow the links below to watch the interviews, see stunning photographs taken by a professional photographer, read the transcript, and ask questions or leave reactions via comments using this NowComment platform:
- Sage Bradburn had the lead role of Lady Liberty; she talks about the challenges of the role, the surprising power of this production, and the profound impact performance art can have on both the onlookers and performers (and shares her own deep emotions about the experience).
- Isabelle McMahon was the co-creator and Production Coordinator; she talks about the power and value of performance art for activists, the importance of being brave in the face of attempted authoritarian intimidation, and why the movement means so much to her as an American by choice.
- Nancy DeWitt was the co-creator and Creative Director; she talks in-depth about the creative process that made her collaboration with Isabelle so successful, and how the idea for the production evolved into the big undertaking it turned out to be.
- [4 more interviews to follow]
Unlike the first 3 acts, I’m purposely not embedding YouTube media players with the interviews; I want people to go to the respective NowComment pages to also see the photos and transcript and be able to comments.
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