Sexion Q_16

www.whiteparty.net
The White, Hot Sound of it All
Get Set to be Scorched by the Pumping Sounds of the Hottest White Party Ever!
T Drew
By Ian
The 17th annual White Party and White
Party Week is set to kick off with the official
pre-White Party Fashion Tea at the Sea
Monster on November 11.
And that is just the beginning.
The legendary week of charity events is
one of the biggest annual AIDS fundraisers in
the world and it happens every year right here
in South Florida.
Care Resource, a local agency that assists
those afflicted with HIV/AIDS and works to
end the pandemic, produces the event. The
group promises that this year’s edition, which
draws partiers from around the world, will be
the best yet and it has a roster including some
of the top DJs from across the Western
Hemisphere to prove it.
White Party Week officially kicks off on
Saturday, November 17 when the Welcome
Center opens at the Surfcomber Hotel, located
at 1717 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach.
Passes, tickets, and merchandise can all be
picked up there starting at 3 pm.
The week then continues with a full
schedule of parties and events. It all reaches a
grand culmination with the colossal White
Party itself at Vizcaya in Coconut Grove on
Sunday, November 25, followed by the Noche
Blanca afterparties at Level and Crobar.
Sprinkled throughout the week’s parties,
the disk jockey assortment will give partiers
plenty to marvel at. The roster, which is hand
selected each year by the Care Resource White
Party Committee, is a special mix of new faces
and legendary turntable masters alike. Each
of them are selected on the basis of their
unique, uninhibited talent for shaping a groove
and making sure a crowd has little reason to
sit down.
Here’s a small sampling of some of the
talent to watch out for at this year’s events:
DJ Connie Casserole
There aren’t enough words to describe this
infamous and established club personality and
“freak drag” empress.
Despite his outrageous personae, it is all
just an entry-point leading to the full unleashing
of his rather impressive DJ skills.
No pun intended here. Casserole is also
known as the sharp-footed door host at such
elite dance mausoleums as Salvation and
Crobar. But it has always been inside, behind
the turntables, where his heart longed to be.
“DJing was really my lifelong dream, but
it took me a long time to get here,” the New
Jersey native says. “In the long run, being
Connie Casserole made it easier by opening
doors because people wanted to hear what I
had to say and what I was about. However, my
music had to be good or it wouldn’t have
mattered.”
Saying that Casserole’s distinctive way of
making the records go round is merely good
is an understatement. The fledgling DJs career,
which has made it through the release of one
album TWIST presents Connie Casserole, and
Q2
a host of gigs around the world, will get a
chance to shine once again at this year’s Heat
Wave Pool Party at the Doubletree Surfcomber
Hotel on Friday, November 23.
Casserole plans to shift his signature
deep, tribal house sound into a more soulful,
jazz house vibe for the outdoor bash.
“This party will be very different for me,”
he says. “I usually go for a very grounded, beat
heavy set that doesn’t feature many vocals. I
want a more laid back, pool party feel for this
event without it being necessarily
commercial.”
Casserole, who started DJing at the age
of 10 and has gone through spells as a
hairdresser and fashion student, moved to
South Florida at age 24 and had his first DJ
gig several years later on Valentine’s Day of
2000.
That gig led to residencies at South Beach
clubs Twist, Score, Level, Crobar and
Salvation, and more gigs as close as Tampa
and as far away as Barcelona, Madrid and
Columbia.
After his spot at this year’s White Party
events, Casserole will be busy gearing up got
the release of his second CD, To The Beat of
My Drum, set for early next year.
Casserole doesn’t neglect the past as a
searchlight to help him get to where he is
going.
“I’m definitely blessed,” he explains. “To
go from a hairdresser to a drag queen and then
a DJ is pretty strange. But then again, I’ve
always done things differently. I believe that’s
what makes me a unique individual. I’ve
always prided myself on being different and
doing things my own way.”
DJ Susan Morabito
Another legend promises to keep feet
moving and bodies pumping during this year’s
White Party Weekend.
The long reigning circuit goddess, Susan
Morabito, sinks into her most popular role
behind the booth for White Dawn at Crobar
on Sunday, November 25. The party begins
while the kids eat their Cap’n Crunch at 8 am
David Knapp
and pounds your ears until 2 pm. It is billed as
an event built around “great music, friendship
and camaraderie.”
The great Morabito, who saved her lunch
money to buy records in high school, has spun
at nearly every major venue around the world
and has released five noteworthy mix albums.
Known for creating a story with her music
while using lighting and visuals to help move
the narrative along, the Cleveland native and
New York City resident cemented her status
as the true circuit queen by playing the
Stonewall Gay Games in 1995.
Throughout the ‘90s, she was contracted
to play some of the biggest circuit events,
including The Morning Party, the Saint-atLarge Black Party, Equinox, and New York
City Gay Pride festivities.
The legend continues. Drum roll please,
Morabito combines soulful house vibes
roll out the red carpet…nah!
with full on hard house and a constant barrage
None of that for David Knapp.
of various rhythms. For another year, she
Despite the praise and accolades for graces Miami with a special appearance to
reigning over the main Vizcaya White Party benefit those in need.
event for the ninth consecutive year, this guy
DJ Alyson Calagna
does his job because he loves it.
The Billboard Magazine reporting DJ
with a law degree from the University of Miami
has become nothing short of a true success
story in the dance music world. Citing Junior
Vasquez, Frankie Knuckles, and Danny
Tenaglia as mentors, Knapp has grown to be a
force in his own right with a monumental
worldwide appeal.
From his consistent repertoire to
incredible remixes to his numerous album
appearances on New York promoter John
Blair’s CD releases, nobody is able to match
him for this position.
The White Party Committee has even
assured the Mixmaster that the Party is his until
he wants to step down from the throne. And
when he does, he can dub and crown his own
successor.
The Party has certainly helped to cement
Knapp’s fame and popularity, leading to his
This Louisiana native will be showing off
www.ExpressGayNews.com • November 5th, 2001
CYMK
eventual move from South Beach to New York
to take over ruling the roost at such hotspots
as Twilo, the Roxy, and Limelight.
He also became the first non-New Yorkbased DJ to play the Saint-At-Large Black
Party there.
This year, his diverse and integrated house
music set rocks the gardens again at the main
event. Now that’s entertainment!
her fierce versatility at this year’s White Light
Tea on Sunday, November 25 at Rain, located
at 323 23 Street in Miami Beach.
One of the rising stars in the circuit scene
today, Calagna is known for her long overlays,
intense buildups, epic breaks and ferocious
sampling techniques. She is a resident DJ at
the 735 Club in New Orleans and can often
be found working her aural magic at such spots
as our own Salvation, Crobar, Copa and
Coliseum.
Calagna is often paired with top DJs and
performers including Eddie Baez, Amber and
Chris Cox.
Rain, which is the former Groove Jet
space, offers the perfect acoustics for this rising
star.
DJ Roland Belmares
Roland Belmares could not be more
excited about DJing at the popular Muscle
Beach Party on Saturday, November 24th. The
party will be directly on the 12th Street Beach
in South Beach.
It has grown in popularity so much in
recent years that it is often hyped as second
only to the White Party itself.
Not only is this Belmares’s first year as a
White Party headliner, but it also represents
the culmination point in what has already been
a hard-earned rise to the top in a short period
of time.
Belmares first started mixing tapes for
himself and his friends after coming out and
going to his first gay clubs in 1995. After
applying for a job at a local bar with one of the
tapes in 1996, he got the gig and soon took
over the local Austin, Texas club scene as one
of its main sonic specialists.
Shortly after meeting partner/manager
Ken Harwood in July of 2000, Belmares
moved to West Hollywood, California and was
soon jetsetting the country spreading his mixed
music sound to the masses.
Residences at Crobar in Miami and Velvet
Nation in DC are still in his constantly shuffling
deck of gigs, and international playdates are
still being drawn up as he also looks towards
production and remixing opportunities.
This year, Belmares plans to touch on all
types of music to keep the energy up. His
trademark sound is to always keep the
momentum going and never let the fever stop
rising.
He is also excited about returning to South
Florida. “Miami is great, “he says. “The people
are here to dance and the second you start
playing they are there. They have an
appreciation for the music and I love playing
to that kind of audience.”
For a full listing of all White Party
events and DJs, and to purchase
tickets, please visit the official Care
Resource White Party website at
www.whiteparty.net, or call Care
Resource at 305.667.9296 ext 12.