Fire Island 2011: All About the Dance

Started writing at 1:04 p.m. on Sunday, July 17, while lying on the Grove Hotel’s pool deck.

Mother Nature has once again blessed the beach with beautiful weather—a deep blue sky with low humidity and a refreshing ocean breeze. In other words, it is the perfect time for this reporter to write by the pool between the Cherry Grove Community Association’s July meeting and the Fire Island Dance Festival in neighboring Fire Island Pines.

This weekend’s busy schedule included Larry Kramer’s talk at the Blue Whale in the Pines, a late night moonlit walk from the Grove to Ocean Beach after Daniel Nardicio’s underwear party at the Ice Palace on Friday, July 15, the Fire Island Pines Fire Department’s annual block party and Gay Men’s Health Crisis’ reception at Whyte Hall in the Pines on Saturday, July 16. The day’s schedule ended with SAGE’s annual Grove fundraiser.

On this busy mid-July weekend, it seems appropriate to acknowledge some of the characters whom I observed and/or encountered since I arrived on the beach early Friday afternoon. These include the two-year-old boy who was holding court in downtown Cherry Grove on Friday night who will become a future mayor of the hamlet one day, the long-time Grove archivist who remains proud of his community’s history, the sexy Complexions Contemporary Ballet dancer who wowed this reporter and other FIDF supporters at Whyte Hall on Friday night and the “A-List” crew members who were shooting scenes around the Pines harbor on Saturday morning. Five drag queens—Ariel Sinclair, Jason Cosmo, Dallas Dubois, Logan Hardcore and Sabel Scities—also boarded my Ocean Beach-bound water taxi in the Grove while I was on my way home from FIDF. They were scheduled to perform at the Island Mermaid at 9 p.m.

Welcome to summer on Fire Island!



Moon over Point O' Woods around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 16.



Grove beach scene on Sunday, July 17.



Some gusty winds in the Grove!



At the Fire Island Dance Festival in the Pines on Sunday, July 17.



Members of the Complexions Contemporary Ballet at Whyte Hall on Friday, July 15.