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DJ Barrel Roll
Over the Falls
Parks
My quiet
Niagara
of unnameable
things
over again
I go
in my barrel
of prayer.
– Christian Wiman
Music has always been important to me. It’s a versatile artform. It connects us to our bodies through dance, connects us to our emotions, and connects us to each other. In my youth it even got me studying philosophy and politics. Thanks, Billy Bragg! My musical backstory includes years immersed in the electronic scenes in the UK and Detroit. I began djing in 2000. I soon joined the Portland club rotation playing mostly deep house, soul, and disco. I began attending PCD events in 2014. I felt right at home. I was thrilled to find a ‘party’ that is musically eclectic in so many senses—in genre, origin, era, tempo, and emotion. Moreover, in spirit, PCD felt close to the Loft parties put on by David Mancuso, a chief musical influence of mine. His parties were known for their ethos of openness, community, diversity, and the celebration of freedom of expression. I was tutored by PCD djs, especially Deirdre, in the wave format and the principles of the 5 Rhythms. In 2022, I was inducted into the PCD dj collective. Musically, I gravitate towards house, soul, funk, jazz, and hip-hop. However, my sets are diverse. You might hear a Romanian brass tune, followed by cumbia, blues, and The Pogues. I try to include an element of improvisation in sets by taking inspiration from the dancers in the moment. In this way, dancers are co-creators in building the set. I like to play with contrasts, with light and dark emotions, slow and fast rhythms, the familiar and unfamiliar, with softness and hardness. I aim to add a good measure of unpredictability, humor, and weirdness in the mix. It’s a treat and an honor to dj for this community.
DJ Marcus Caine
Mark
DJ MELD
Mellen
DJ MELD (Mary Ellen D.) has been DJing since the early days of Portland Community Dance (2012) and over the years has studied various dance forms including jazz, modern, ballet, African, belly dance, ecstatic dance & 5-Rhythms. She loves music from all cultures and infuses her sets with unique sounds she hopes will surprise and delight dancers. British pop music is one of her guilty pleasures. Her earliest dance memories are of her father spinning her around in wild polkas before bedtime. In another life, she would be an Andean pan piper.
Ever since adolescence, music has provided me a gateway through which deeper feeling states, emotional truths, and glimpses of the transcendent divine can be experienced. I see movement and dance as a vehicle for personal and social transformation and so am drawn to choose music with a lot of texture; earthy ground, levity, silliness, spaciousness, and density. DJ’ing at PCD is an honor and a highlight of my life and I’m grateful for the direction and tutelage from PCD’s DJs that have taught me the wave format and got me started with DJ skills.
DJ Cir. NDR
Jason
DJ Mudita
Deb
When I DJ, my highest aspiration is to support our community through the transformational power of dance. I hope to inspire dynamic movement, play, honesty, curiosity and connection in the dance. I’m drawn to uniquely layered rhythms, sound that evokes stories, and songs that invite the full experience and embodiment of all our dimensions. I also care deeply about how we as humans experience space around us and the ground below us—and therefore incorporate artists who help us to connect with this musically.
Beyond DJ’ing, embodied movement is one of my life’s passion: I love to bring dance classes to our PCD community and beyond, focusing on somatic approaches to improvisational dance, and I am a body-oriented psychotherapist & trainer / consultant, as well as a somatic movement therapist (debgrant.net).
A recovering classically trained competitive chorus kid with high school playlists containing a lot of Enya, my adult self has become a music detective, listening to new music in most waking hours. Repeated song exposure was not only therapy, but also gave me the key to the great audible city. I stitch sound quilts: guttural bass, floating harmonies over field recordings, hypnotic loops. In them you'll find my seasonal spiritual practice of home-cooked multi-course dances, inviting each of us to stretch out and shake off perfectionism and judgment in our movement—dancing closer to our kid selves, surrendering to music and exploring our flow-state sparks, living freer through cross-pollinated moving.
When not DJing for the world’s best dance party people, I ReWild urban and suburban spaces with native plants (wildgardenermaine.com) and play in a band with my sister and friends (instagram.com/waynestreetband).
DJ Ena
Dena
DJ KA
Kellie
Kellie (DJ KA) grew up in a house filled with music. A father who asked her to listen with her full heart to the poetry and the sound. So when she picks music to support the dance, she is picking the soundtrack of a shared life, of community, finding the places we come together and fall apart. Dj KA chooses music from an array of genres. From lyrical to hypnotic, deeply rhythmic to chaotic. Her name, KA, means the twin body, the energetic body, the one that does not die and that becomes illuminated and stronger when we find ecstatic states. Her intention is to strengthen the community’s KA.
Chloe’s sets are a diverse mixture of music. She would describe her musical style as
playful, rich, raw, melodic, tribal, deep, funky, eclectic and fun! Chloe particularly
loves music with beautiful melody, whether it’s by itself or over a deep beat. She
loves collecting music from all over the world and piecing it together in such a way
that will allow you as a dancer to explore and discover new ways in which your
body wants to move and your spirit wants reveal itself through that movement.
Aside from being a dancer and DJ, Chloe is also a fine artist (www.chloeurban.com) and works as a web and graphic designer (www.chloefaithgraphics.com) here in Portland, Maine.
DJ L.O.C.
Chloë
DJ Sparkle
Lisa
Dance. Mystical poetry in motion. Music and silence. My DJ name, Sparkle, adopted in 2012 when PCD came into my life, has come to represent what I see that dance and music bring out in each swirling dancer. When I walk onto a PDC dance floor, it is like watching stars appear in a breathless galaxy of light and love. Working in nature in the White Mountains of NH has taught me about trusting intuitive movement. Sounds of world cultures, genres and natural elements—fire, wind, earth, water and ethers—fill my sets. With them I hold space for Spirit to unfold. I look forward to meeting you there! (www.wanderthewhites.com)
Designer of deep, dank, grit-infused grooves peppered with playfulness, DJ Bronwyn Bliss is never afraid to go deep. If a song calls to the animal body system, it’s in. Miss Bliss chooses music driven with complexity in a full spectrum of genres. She is known as a teacher, artist, henna lady, blackbird, trickster… Born into a perplexing world where strength is suspect, Bronwyn (white raven) is keen to harness music that will facilitate your core process, support your shadow work, and help you dance your soul clean. Limitation is an illusion; the only requirement is to show up.
DJ Bronwyn Bliss
Nev
DJ Pika
Pika
In the labyrinth of rhythms and melodies, there dwells a humble servant of the dance, known simply as Pika. For over two decades, he has wandered the sonic landscapes, guided by a deep love for music and a profound respect for the dance community. As one of the pioneering DJs present at the inception of Ecstatic Dance on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, Pika’s style is a reflection of his introspective nature, weaving together shades of awe, depth and play with a delicate touch.
Pika’s sets, imbued with a quiet mystique, serve as conduits for spiritual exploration and personal transformation. Through the power of music, he invites dancers to embark on a journey of self-discovery, gently guiding them towards moments of revelation and release. In the warm glow of the dance floor, Pika’s presence is felt like a whispered secret, a humble offering of solace and expansion for those who seek it.