COVER STORY
First Night 2000: The program
Grand procession
The RCN Grand Procession, touted as the biggest yet for First Night, begins Friday at 5 p.m. in front of the Hynes Convention Center and proceeds down Boylston Street to the Boston Common parade grounds. Vantage points are along Boylston and Boston Common. The following acts are participating:
Ark For the New Millennium
Anthropomorphic animal puppets from the Hawthorne Youth and Community Center.
The Batucada Belles
Women's percussion band does Afro-Cuban/Brazilian rhythms.
Bob Harmon and the Electric Space Co.
The Revolving Museum presents an electrically lit festival collage.
Brother Blue
Storyteller for all ages; you can't miss him.
Caribbean Bandleaders
Sequined marchers samba to Caribbean-inspired music.
Dinoman!
He walks his dinosaurs.
Fantasy Island
Children from the Arlington Center for the Arts dressed in hand-made wild animal costumes.
The Grand Masks of Peace
Performers from the Behind the Mask Theatre represent characters of the new millennium: Wise Ones, Guardians, Leaders, Deities, Animals, Children, and Clowns.
Geometric Progressions
Costumed group hands out silver reflective stickers to put on your face.
Hot Tamale Brass Band
New Orleans-style marching band led by Mickey Bones.
Light of the New Millennium
Millennium Santa, Lighted Liberty, other creations by Malden High School puppeteers.
Made in the Shade
Swing along with this New Orleans-style marching band.
Masque of the Four Seasons
A pageant of the four seasons by Puppeteers' Cooperative and Back Alley Puppet Theater.
The Milky Ways
Galaxy of 40 performers in homemade costumes imprinted with stars.
Mitch Ryerson's Star Wheel
People-powered sculpture. (Artist profile).
New England Aquarium
Giant glowing sea creatures from the aquarium's art camp slither and swim down Boylston.
New Liberty Dixieland Jazz Band
Hot music performed from a '40s-era fire truck.
NinotsWild in the City Brass Band
With puppets of urban plants and animals.
OpenAir Circus
Twenty-five stilters throw glittering confetti as costumed dragons run alongside.
Peg Preble
Tiny cars toddle, toot, and tear on by.
Puppet processions
Big puppets carried by their creators, the young artists of Dorchester Community Center for the Visual Arts and the Citizen Schools.
Roma Band
Classic Italian-American marching band founded in Boston in 1919.
Samba percussion
A costumed, all-ages band with stilt walkers and giant puppets.
The Snow Queen
Her highness leaves snowdust and sparkles in her wake.
South Boston Action Center
South Boston youth groups celebrate the millennium.
The Strangemen
Perched on a tropical island, they enchant mermaids with surfer and rockabilly music.
Year of the Dragon
Two dragons, one illuminated and one dancing, parade with paper lanterns, lion dancers, drummers, and masked performers.
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