>DANCING IN DISSENT
>
>JONATHAN PADGET, WASHINGTON POST
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37961-2003Jul23.html
>
>- Your typical group of radical feminist protesters isn't likely to turn to
>a Britney Spears video for inspiration. But Chicago-based Pink Bloque isn't
>your typical group of radical feminist protesters. The members have eschewed
>the angry, anarchist demeanor and drab wardrobe that dominates contemporary
>protest culture and instead embraced pop music, straight-from-MTV dance
>moves and skimpy, hot-pink outfits -- all in the name of presenting a
>far-left political message to a wider audience. After a year of getting
>their style down pat in the Windy City, the dozen ladies of Pink Bloque
>(think "bloc," only "spelled cuter," as they say) are ready to spread their
>brand of fuchsia-fueled fun to the East Coast. A tour next month ranging
>from Pittsburgh to New York City includes a visit to Washington on Aug. 4.
>At each tour stop, the group will conduct a workshop to introduce its
>philosophy of dance-driven protest actions, says founding member Kate
>Dougherty, a 28-year-old grad student. The ladies will also teach their
>dance routines to anyone who wants to join in when the group follows the
>workshop with a protest at a surprise location.
>
>. . . For example, they've popped up at lunchtime in downtown Chicago to
>highlight gender wage inequity with a dance sequence set to Donna Summer's
>"She Works Hard for the Money," boogied to Nelly's "Hot in Herre" at the
>Taste of Chicago festival to protest the U.S. Patriot Act, and drawn
>attention to the issue of date rape -- using the same Nelly tune, a Pink
>Bloque fave -- as they've hit the pavement around the city's Wicker Park
>singles hotspots at happy hour.
>
>THE PINK BLOQUE http://www.pinkbloque.org/sitemap.html
>
>The ladies of the Pink Bloque initially knew each other through involvement
>in the punk and independent music scene, or through organizing for Ladyfest
>Midwest Chicago. Some were actively involved in radical politics; others
>were interested in politics but had never been active; all of us were
>looking for a more creative way to enact our political beliefs. We found
>some of the radical left's '60s protest tactics and didactic rhetoric
>alienating - so we decided to make protests more fun and more visually
>engaging by using the sounds, images and lingo of contemporary corporate
>popular culture. At the time the anarchist black bloc was making news for
>its direct action tactics, thousands of protestors in pink took to the
>streets for the anti-corporate globalization protest in Prague. Inspired by
>this spectacle, we chose to adopt pink as our signature color. We thought:
>"We like pink, it's cute, and cute is appealing. . . How about a pink bloc?
>How about a cuter and more uni"que" spelling for branding potential?" - And
>the Pink Bloque was named.