Jump-start party will pay tribute to S.T. Shimi and other lost friends, family
Jump-start Performance Co.’s Performance Party, titled “Traditionally Untraditional,” will be a little different this year, but one thing remains the same: It will end with fire.
Since 1995, the company’s annual kickoff to the new year has concluded with a performance by the Flaming FireEaters, Jump-start members who have mastered fire eating.
Like so many things right now, that performance and the rest of Performance Party won’t be the same. Instead of being presented in a theater, the 36th annual edition will be streamed via Zoom on Saturday.
The evening will be a smorgasbord of performances of all stripes by Jump-start company members and friends, including Chayito Champion, Rodney Garza, Kristina Wong, Ruby Nelda Perez and Erik Bosse. Each segment will run about two minutes or less.
The evening will begin with a blessing of the virtual space by actor Jesse Borrego. Those who start their stream a little early will be treated to a preshow playlist spotlighting local musicians.
The 36 performances that follow will be a mix of live and prerecorded segments. The Fire-eaters will perform live.
“It’s kind of been our little tradition for many years, and we’re going to try,” said Sandy Dunn, a founding member of the company who is directing the FireEaters this year. “It still looks OK in everyone’s little square. They’re creating a space, having a little bit of a costume and something shiny and bright against black.”
This year’s Fire-eater segment — titled “Shimi, Dolly, Dina and …” — is a tribute to people with ties to Jump-start who died in 2020, including company mem
ber S.T. Shimi, board member Dolly Miller and Dina Parrilla, wife of company member emeritus Max Parrilla.
“We’ll say Shimi’s name as we eat fire, and we’ll say Dolly’s and Dina’s name as well,” Dunn said.
The ellipses in the piece’s title come from the other loved ones whose names will be invoked. Dunn is asking every Fire-eater who wishes to do so to make a dedication to someone else they know who is no longer here.
“Everyone’s lost someone this year,” Dunn said.
The segment will open with company member Lisa Suarez singing Mercedes Sosa’s song “Gracias a la Vida.”
“It’s a beautiful song, it’s about a minute, and then we’re coming in with a song that Shimi can definitely dance to wherever she is, by Missy Elliott, ‘I’m Really Hot,’ ” Dunn said. “We considered ‘Burning Down the House,’ we considered ‘Girl on Fire,’ but Missy Elliott is so Shimi.”
Shimi, who died last month after being hit by a car while crossing the street to her studio, was one of the Fire-eaters.
Dunn is, too, and said she may participate in this year’s piece if she can swing it: “I would like to jump in at the end, if possible.”
After the fire-eating, there will be a dance party, just like there is every year. The difference is that everybody will be dancing wherever they’ve been watching the stream instead of all together in a theater.