Looking to blend their love of dance with their passion for environmental causes, a San Diego couple plan to dance this weekend from Scripps Pier in La Jolla to the Ocean Beach Pier as a fundraiser for a larger plan next month.
Colby Crispeno and Reece Salmons will depart from La Jolla Shores at 8 a.m. Saturday, March 16, and dance their way to OB with a DJ wagon providing music. They’re inviting friends and the public to participate. Stops are planned along the way for breakout dance parties.
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“The whole point of doing this fundraiser like this and being so public is to center joy in the middle of all of it,” Salmons said. “We’re looking to raise awareness for environmental organizations with a social justice component. … We know there can be a lot of doom and gloom with these causes and it is not always a fun topic. We want to shape a different narrative that brings joy to the environment. Dancing … is such an expression of joy, and we want to bring that to the people.”
The organizations the two are looking to raise money and awareness for are the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, Environmental Center of San Diego, Sunrise Movement, Pacific Crest Trail Association and Out4Sustainability.
Scripps Pier in La Jolla Shores will be the starting point for a dance-a-thon fundraiser by Colby Crispeno and Reese Salmons on March 16.
(Marilyn Macrate)
“The point is to turn heads and get people involved, whether that is a few steps or the whole day,” Salmons said.
Neither Salmons nor Crispeno has any professional dance training but both feel the joy of self-expression through dance, and they wanted to share it with others, Salmons said.
“I grew up in a household that was always dancing,” he said. “My family grew up watching dance shows. … When my sisters and I were young, I would ask them if they wanted to have a dance party and they always did. I feel grateful to never have lost that. It’s important to be seen in this shameless, joyous manner.”
On the other hand, Crispeno, a local yoga instructor, only recently discovered a connection to dance.
“I started with doing yoga and really found healing in moving my body,” he said. “Dancing was intimidating and difficult for me to reach at first. So when I was able to let loose in front of others … I’ve been really enjoying this carefree, shameless space and moving with others. It doesn’t have to look perfect or be trained. It can just be creative.”
In addition to this weekend’s dance-a-thon, the two hope to continue their fundraising for the organizations through a hike and dance on the Pacific Crest Trail (officially called the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail), a 2,650-mile trek from the U.S.-Mexico border to the Canadian border starting Thursday, April 18.
“For a few years now, we wanted to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and decided this was the year we were going to do it,” Crispeno said. “But we wanted to make this hike about more than just ourselves. We wanted to raise money for these causes we support.”
The two plan to livestream the local dance-a-thon and make posts during the Pacific Crest Trail hike at instagram.com/wyld.rhythms.
They also have created a GoFundMe page to collect donations at bit.ly/3Vg53j0. ◆
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