By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
An original sea chantey, a krill-inspired dance, and an old WhaleFest fave appearing virtually are on tap Friday night at this year’s Maritime Grind.
It’s the second Grind of the season, and one that can be expected to draw a large audience of Sitkans and WhaleFest-goers to Harrigan Centennial Hall to see a variety of entertainment.
The Maritime Grind will start at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and includes dozens of performers in nine separate acts on the stage of Centennial Hall.
Don Sineti, the Mystic, Connecticut-based chanteyman, is pictured in the BEAK restaurant in 2019. He will perform virtually this year to open the WhaleFest Maritime Grind. (Sentinel File Photo)
The return to an in-person Grind last month after two years of virtual performances was greeted with enthusiasm, and organizer Jeff Budd had the unhappy task of turning people away after it sold out. That shouldn’t be a problem at the much larger venue, he added.
Budd said he sees why the Grind is still going strong even after 27 seasons. He enjoyed being part of the Grind in Ketchikan, and brought the concept to Sitka when he moved here. He still enjoys watching it.
“I like that it’s for everyone, it’s family friendly, affordable, and we have people of all ages,” he said. “It’s always nice to see someone on stage who has never performed before.”
He added kudos to Jeanne Stolberg for keeping the Grind going for the last two years by offering live virtual programs at no charge to audience members. Stolberg will run sound at Friday’s Grind.
The event will be a mix of seasoned performers and first-timers.
Jo DiGennaro DeBell choreographed a jazz dance piece by the Sitka Studio of Dance. She teaches jazz, lyrical and modern at the studio, and is a choreographer for Fireweed Dance Theatre.
The dance, set to “In the Belly of the Whale,” will feature eight Sitka Studio dancers from three different classes, in a dance inspired by krill – a favorite food of baleen whales.
DeBell said the Newsboys’ song title provided inspiration.
“I thought, what’s in the belly of a whale? Krill!” she said. The opening movements are meant to bring to mind krill appendages, as are the fringes on the costumes.
“In choreographing the dance, I had to learn about krill,” she said, and shared: “Krill are some of the biggest biomasses in the world, they can be seen from space. Swarms of krill in the southern Pacific ocean are larger than the continent of Africa.”
DeBell said that while it’s mostly a “fun jazzy dance” she was also happy to recognize krill through the dance during WhaleFest.
“Without krill there wouldn’t be WhaleFest because there would be no whales,” she joked.
Also in the first half will be Sitka singer-songwriter Dan Palof, who plays guitar and sings, and has performed in several grinds.
“Molly-O” was written by Palof during and after a season of fishing in the late 1980s, with his childhood friend Chris Glaab, “being explorers on the great blue ocean.”
One summer Palof was a deckhand and Glaab the skipper, and the two fished out of Port Alexander aboard the 21-foot fiberglass boat the Molly-O.
“It’s mostly about the boat, but it’s a story about our friendship and how as kids we were explorers, and at the age of 18 we found ourselves fishing,” he said. “When we were kids we made big things out of things that were small. And when we were adults we did the same thing, and we still played.”
In the style of a sea chantey, Palof will invite the audience to join in the refrain:
“Molly’s a friend of mine
The Molly-O
Pull your lines, Christopher
Dancing whales blow.”
(Glaab today lives in Madison, Wisconsin, but his brother, Pat, lives in Sitka.)
Opening the show is Don Sineti, the Mystic, Connecticut-based chanteyman, who will perform a traditional tune in a video. He has performed family concerts at WhaleFest almost every year, and frequently opens the Maritime Grind.
Other acts are:
Inupiaq Dancers from Mt. Edgecumbe High School
Yup’ik Dancers from Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
Ceoltoiri Celtic, a Celtic music group.
Jamison Dunn, Sitka High School drama, debate, forensics team member, with a speech about the benefits of kelp.
A vocal and guitar trio led by Lilli Garza.
The Breakwater Blues Band, including Christian Jensen, Peter Apathy, Johnny Elliott, Gary Gouker, Marshall Bovee.
One important change to this Grind is that coffee and other hot drinks will be available, but attendees should not bring or expect dessert.
Tickets are $5 at Old Harbor Books.
