Jazz Parade for Democracy Interview with Drum Major Emily Little (11/19/2025)
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Dan: We're here on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. It's been about two and a half weeks after the November 1 “Jazz Parade [Ed.—for Democracy]”, and we have Emily Little here who, in addition to her career as a nurse at the Charlottesville Free Clinic, does all kinds of things around town. And one of the creative things that she did, sort of out of your role with the Wonderground Singers, she was the drum leader [Ed.—drum major], the lead person in the parade, so she had a very unique perspective, and we just wanted to get her thoughts about what that was like, and what it was like preparing to be in the jazz parade.
[0:35] Emily: Thanks, Dan. It all came to be because I'm part of the Wonderground Singers, which is a wonderful group. We like to say we're a SWAT group, so we're Sing When Asked To. We all find that we love to, when we go to demonstrations or protests or events, to have sort of something that we do. And so singing is what we bring. So I was already connected with them, and I'm regularly doing singing things with the Wonderground Singers.
[1:01] But this was this big compilation of many groups in Charlottesville, which was amazing to see come together… I'm still blown away by Isabel's organization [Ed.–al skills]. It's just mind boggling how many logistics she can keep going. And so we were having a meeting of the minds and trying to figure out all the different parts, and sort of going through the sequence. And it became clear that there was a need for a sort of a drum major of sorts… just sort of keeping us on pace going down the Downtown Mall. I was my high school mascot in Mount Desert Island, Maine; that was basically the most fun job I ever had. So when this came up, that there was a need, I was like, “I want to fulfill that need, this feels like a really good fit.”
Dan: So wait, just for the historical record — were you a bird or a bobcat or… what are we talking here?
Emily: I was a Trojan warrior.
Dan: What good preparation for this role!
[1:54] Emily: Yeah, it was a good preparation for this. And I have a dance theater background, so that was a natural jump in high school. And anyway, so when this opportunity came up, I was sort of like “Yeah, this is the kind of thing I like to do.” I do also happen to have three school-aged children, so any time when there might be something I can do to sort of embarrass them a little bit, it feels like a prime opportunity. So anyway, I offered my “skills”, whatever that may be. And it's interesting, when I said, “Yes, I will do this” I was initially thinking about the fun part, the parade part, the When The Saints Go Marching In, dancing around…
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Drum Major Emily Little leading the parade during the joyful Act 3 (Photo by Rebecca George Photography, used with permission)
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Emily Little leading the somber Act 1 in dark mourning clothing (Photo by Rebecca George Photography, used with permission) |
[2:30] I was like, “Oh, like, I am ready to do that!” That was the part that I was sort of cued into more. But then I realized that I was going to have to do the other part, which is much more solemn and serious, and… I was going to be carrying a flag in chains. I hadn't even seen that prop until the actual day of the jazz parade, and that just really struck me as quite a symbol of what we're going through in this country right now. So then I had the opportunity to lead the parade, and I had not prepared for that as much… but actually ended up being almost, for me, the more powerful piece. And part of that was because I was the first person in the jazz parade. So I got to watch the [Ed.–people on the] Downtown Mall Charlottesville react to this…“What is this?”
Dan: Let me just jump in for people who weren't there. This is 105 marchers. There's musicians, and actors in costume, and the musicians, a brass band and drummers, trumpets, and Emily is in the lead, she's the first person everyone is seeing as they're seated on the Downtown Mall or walking by or whatever. Okay, setting the scene for you.
[3:39] Emily: Thank you. So we were all in black, so it was very much a mournful thing. The one thing that had prepared me for that, though, was that actually, in 2019, six months before the pandemic, Craig and Cleo, who are the leaders of the Wonderground singers, and I and a bunch of other people, had done this weekly climate funeral down the Mall. So we'd walked the Mall in a funereal way, so I did have some idea of what that was going to feel like.
[4:05] I love protests. I think there's a huge place for protests… but there's something about [the] creative energy [of] the jazz parade; instead of [people] being like, “Oh, they're yelling at me. I don't want to be engaged”,… it's more of a curiosity of the audience, and the audience doesn't know they're an audience until that moment, that they become an audience, and they're really almost part of it too. There's not as much separation as there would be in a typical performance; I love that there's an interaction.
[4:32] So I got to walk in the front, and so I watched people's curiosity: “What's going on?” You know, talking to a friend, consulting… and then taking in the seriousness of what was happening. The dirge music was very, very moving, and very sad… it was fun, because it was like a slow recognition for people; we were not exactly obvious in the first moment, but then it was taking it in. And then I don't know what they thought once they saw all the signs and all of the different things that we stand to lose in democracy. I don't know how they took that piece in, but I know at least that they were, just so curious. And I felt like there was an openness of the curiosity.
[5:11] And then a lot of people took out their phones, which is the culture we're in, right, to document what you're seeing. And I don't know that protests necessarily get that same amount of “I want to make sure I document what's going on”. Whereas, this artistic performance feels different in wanting to sort of capture it. A lot of people would then pick up their phones and take pictures or videos of what was going on…
Dan: There are a good number of people who… “Hey, there's a parade. I'll join in.”
[5:36] Emily: Yeah, and by the time we got to the end of the mall, there's sort of this circular, octagonal shape there. And it was amazing to get to sort of watch that public space fill up.
Dan: That was like 750 people, we think.
Emily: Yeah, and it felt like that whole space was filled.
And other people in other places, if they were considering doing something big like this, it just was really neat to suddenly fill that space and have it feel like a community space. You didn't have to pay to be part of this performance, it was open to everybody. And that was just such a sort of cool … I had not seen somebody in our town sort of use that particular space in that way.
Dan: Serendipity; “I'm just minding my own business, and suddenly there's a parade and a drama performance showing up for me.”
[6:22] Emily: Yeah, exactly. And I think we all are processing a lot of what's happening… there's so much news that comes in all the time, which I find challenging to filter, and…it was so nice to be embodied. And I don't know what it was like for the experience of someone who was unexpected, but I saw a lot of tears, which I feel like is what an embodied theater piece can do for somebody. It's one thing to read the news about it, and it's another thing to see beautiful images around it. And I feel like that helps bring your emotions through, about how you're feeling about what's happening in this country, which is a lot to deal with.
[6:57] Dan: One of the things you mentioned [was] people carrying signs. There were 24 tombstone signs that had, “RIP Women's Rights”, “RIP Voting Rights”… and as that solemn procession…very slow dirge. And you're seeing all these freedoms, all of these values that are under threat. And yeah there were people who were… I'm getting choked up a little bit now… yeah, there were definitely people who were emotional about it.
[07:22] Emily: Yeah, I found myself way more emotional than I had realized I was going to be in this first half. I was thinking about this woman who'd recently been picked up by ICE in Harrisonburg, and it just had happened this week, and then brought to court. And I was thinking about this happening to our neighbors and people that I know in the community. And … that's one of the things we stand to lose.
[7:45] Dan: Very true. What have your thoughts been now that it's two weeks out?
Emily: Well, it's always sort of like “That felt good.”
One takeaway I have is it's just really fun when different groups come together to do something like this. This was not a singular entity, and this was not a singular person. I mean, there were a few people who did a huge amount of work to keep us on track and going. I'm thinking about Nancy [DeWitt, Creative Director] and Isabel [Ed —Production Coordinator] in particular. So having a couple of good leaders on something like this is so important. But not isolating yourself into your little silo of the people that you already know who care about this, but actually…
[8:20] And we’d never actually done it from start to finish as the whole group, that was what was even more fun; we were on our growth edge! It could have gone off the rails!! It didn't, but…. and that was just so fun. And because we were so many different community groups going together, that was part of what made it impossible to sort of run the thing from beginning to end, and certainly not in the space, because then it would have sort of been weird to have done it twice … so you couldn't really have a dress rehearsal.
[8:45] But I think my main takeaway: it's always good to invite others to the table. And you don't know the other people in your community necessarily, or to the degree in your community, who care about something, and I think there's something reassuring about being with the people who want to stand up against fascism, against the downfall of democracy, against any particular thing. And I liked that we weren't necessarily focused on one particular piece of thinking. It was really more like the full meaning of what democracy is. And we weren't necessarily reacting to a particular thing that the federal government [Ed. —has done] that we disagree with. It's more overarching, the change in culture that they've been pushing. And I felt like this was our reaction of “No, there's a different way, a different culture of being and being in community, of working together, of bringing music and beauty and theater to all of this,”… and that counteracts the other narrative that's out there.
[9:42] Dan: Really well said. Anything else you'd like to add that we haven't touched on?
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Emily Little high-kicking while dancing during joyous Act 3 (Photo by Rebecca George Photography, used with permission) |
Emily Little waves a large American flag as spectators applaud. (Photo by Rebecca George Photography, used with permission) |
Emily: Not everybody wants to be a band leader, right? Not everyone is like, “Oh, I'm a mascot.” And that's what I want to do. I love that. And actually, a few people afterwards were like, “Do you get nervous when you have to do something like that?” And I was like, “Actually, I get a lot more nervous when I open my email and I see how many unread emails I have.” I hate email. For me, the bandleading thing was so much fun, but… everybody has a different thing that that’s true for. … not everyone wants to be the band leader. Some people want to do the email back part and get everybody organized.
And so finding a group of people where you have diverse things that you're bringing can make something like this so fun, because leaning into the things that you naturally love and naturally want to do alongside other people who are leaning into the things that they naturally want to do, right? Some people are the documenters, some people are the performers… finding people where they appreciate and want you to be who you are, and they get to be who they want to be and are, and that just makes it fun.
[10:46] But there's so many different roles… there's always a role for somebody. Some of the Wonderground Singers don't really love to perform, and they don't really love to show up at protests, but actually singing has given them this: “I have a circle of people, I actually feel more safe, and I can be a little more introverted, actually, because I have this thing that I'm doing, and I don't have to figure out what I'm doing at a protest.” Finding your role is just a real fun way to do it.
Dan: Some people paint props, and some people make phone calls and some people pass out water for people on a hot day… there's always a way to plug in.
Emily: Yeah, always a way to plug in.
[11:18] Dan: Indivisible [Ed.—Joking] [is] doing a nationwide search for a mascot, so I will share your name.
Emily: Oh, nice. Put me in there.
Dan: It pays really well; the usual volunteer rate, but with amazing perks!
Emily: Amazing, you get to dance wherever you want to!?
Dan: You get to dance almost all day, yeah.
Emily: Ok, sign me up!
Dan: You were fantastic, Wonderground Singers were fantastic. Thank you so much for talking with us.
Emily: Thanks Dan.
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Postscript: In the interview Emily told an amusing story about the provenance of her costume.
It wasn’t 100% relevant to the general themes of the interview, but cute, so I’ve preserved it here: https://nowcomment.com/documents/412741/twopane
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