I felt low expectations for DanceOWeen because what kind of tacky name is that? Then I spotted this trailer where a girl puts on roller skates that make her dance. She goes around spreading the joyful disease, causing SF to break out of its AI spell and start dancing again.
Halloween’s not meant to be serious, and silly was definitely the vibe in the Mission on Thursday. So was drunk, raucous, hilarious, tacky, and weird — but the good San Francisco weird, not the way we use that word in the current election cycle.
It was immediate chaos. Partygoers took over 16th Street, oblivious to the cars that were unwisely trying to commute, and a group of people selling sus goods on that one curbside marketplace.
But in the midst of what appeared disorderly was actually pretty fucking organized. The music synced over multiple boomboxes, and the bubble lady had an industrial-sized machine that covered at least 100 feet.
DanceOWeen organizers made herding the crowd fun. They created surprisingly effective barriers out of just caution tape and an airhorn, and didn’t even flinch when every car at a four-way stop light got impatient at the same time and started honking, or when an angry driver gunned it through the intersection.
I felt immediately disoriented as we moved in the Mission. As a group standing on top of a truck, I thought this smells like disaster if the owner of this truck comes out. But it was actually a band that rented a UHaul, so they could get the height without worrying about damaging someone’s vehicle.
Live music and dancing happened on box truck roofs at every other turn. Blow-up beach balls, disco balloons, and a shark floatie stayed buoyant above the crowds. We moved in staggering unison with the traffic lights and the beat of Lil John’s Get Low.
And the costumes — holy cow.
A man in a cow suit bent over with something in his mouth. It looked like maybe one of those scenes from Folsom Street Fair that you don’t want to see, but you do, so you look. When I realized that he had an utter in his mouth, not a part of his anatomy, I asked what was in it. “Espresso martini,” he replied matter-of-factly.
The unanimous favorite was Trevor Mead’s Silicon Valley version of Frankenstein — the Doloresaurus. A frequenter of his neighborhood Mission Dolores, Doloresaurus is also a regular at Burning Man and other festivals. Trevor takes the glow-in-the-dark dinosaur out around the city whenever he can, “to keep San Francisco weird and spread joy,” he told me, noting that sometimes kids are scared.
He added that the costume incorporated sounds in order to make Doloresaurus more approachable.
San Francisco native Carissa Marker was at DanceOWeen for her first time in a sexy Harley Quinn outfit. She said this party is not her age demographic but that she’s glad she came out because she was having a great time and loves seeing parties where you can drink in the open. “Plus, I had this outfit so that was easy,” she said.
I was in my paparazzi outfit, which I think people assumed was just a costume that I was really into cosplaying. As I pulled my camera up to take a shot of one subject, he pulled his camera up too, and we shot each other. The secret handshake of the trade.
Another photographer ran in front of me and shoved me out of the way as I was taking a shot of a clown girl smoking a joint. I’m not sure if he thought I was wasting a good shot roleplaying or was just stealing my photo, but if you see this photo in another publication, that’s our perpetrator.
Brixton made an appearance as oversized Toto. Apparently he got trampled a few times, and I did see a drunk person dancing perversely with him, crotch to face, which I didn’t love, but Brixton seemed fine with it.
There was a “No Dancing” sign guy, bringing us full circle to where we started.
As we approached the final destination, Mission Playground, hoards of party people ascended on the merry-go-round. The costumes and spooky vibes added a thrill to being in an already creepy place.
A Beetlejuice mask is never as unsettling as when it’s coming toward you from behind a tent, and it hits you that you’re not actually sure if this person is in character or actually a crazy person, or if those two are mutually exclusive. I saw an ultra-surreal clown custome that I wanted to get a picture of. But as soon as I got over to him I kind of panicked and ran away.
This is about the time that I realized I had been walking around in a cloud of marijuana smoke for three hours, and that I was probably high now. I started feeling a little paranoid, and hungry. I walked over to the Mexican food truck to check the line. About 15 people. Not bad for how many people were out on Vaendia right now (thousands?), but too much for me to wait.
From roller-skate-induced dancing to bubble-covered streets and roaming U-Haul bands, DanceOWeen managed to turn the Mission into an unhinged carnival where every participant seemed like both performer and audience. Will I come back? Who knows, but what a fun night.
Courtney Muro is a San Francisco-based content strategist, producer, designer, and creator.
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More photos from DanceOWeen 2024
All photos by Courtney Muro for The Bold Italic.
