Sarah Rose Smiley
Out on the wiley, windy shores of Lake Mendota, a crimson-clad company of dancers whirled and kicked in joyful unison as the otherworldly wail of British art-pop legend Kate Bush soared from rigged-together boombox speakers.
It was a dress rehearsal for the Madison installment of “The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever” — a global event held in nearly two dozen cities across 12 countries on July 16, with fans gathering en masse for flash mob-style re-creations of the music video for Bush’s 1978 debut single, “Wuthering Heights.”
“Channel your inner Kate. That’s the most important part,” Melissa Marver, a UW-Madison graduate student and lifelong dancer, told the workshop of about 25 performers of all shapes, sizes and gender expressions on Saturday afternoon at James Madison Park. “You don’t have to be perfect, because you’re already perfect for this.”
“Wuthering Heights” and its corresponding dance and music video have become iconic in their sounds and imagery: Bush as the ghostly specter of Catherine Earnshaw in a flowing red dress, dancing alone in a misty woodland clearing, keening for her beloved Heathcliff.
The cult classic reached new heights when a performance art group called Shambush assembled more than 300 people in Brighton, England, for the first “Wuthering Heights” tribute in 2013. The Madison event is thought to be the first ever held in the Midwest, and since it’s in the westernmost time zone, it would be the “grand finale” of the worldwide “Wuthering Heights” celebration, organizer Katie Schaag said.
“I love Kate Bush, and I’ve always loved that idea of public art bringing people together,” said Schaag, a UW-Madison graduate student and multi-disciplinary artist. She saw Facebook posts for a “Wuthering Heights” event in Berlin and felt inspired to organize something local. “It feels like we’re creating this utopian fantasy space, and [with the events around the world] it’s like we’re all dancing together in spirit.”
Other local fans were delighted to learn that the event was in the works. Gwendelara Hendee, who moved to Madison about a year ago, saw a flier while shopping at the Willy Street Co-op. “I thought, ‘No way, are you serious?’” said Hendee, a former dance teacher. “I had to explain to my spouse why I absolutely had to go...and why I was having a spaz.”
At James Madison Park, dancers wore individualized variations on the “Wuthering Heights” frock — a Korean hanbok robe paired with bike shorts, a leotard worn over spandex leggings, a fringy flapper dress, a men’s dress shirt and slacks, a South American-style poncho — all perfectly color-coordinated in shades of red. Accessories included long brown wigs, black sashes, flower crowns, green eyeshadow and red lipstick.
Robert Walter, a 25-year-old web developer and information technology worker, heard about the event on Facebook. He offered up his technological expertise to help with the audio setup and stuck around to dance “because it seemed like the natural thing to do.”
Elegant in his floor-length red skirt and bold, smoky eye makeup, Walter said he admires Bush’s independent, unapologetic creative spirit. “She didn’t get permission or reassurance that what she was doing was safe,” he said, adding, “I feel like, if you have some weird thing that you want to do, you have to go do it. You have a moral obligation to share it with the world.”
Asked if he feels creatively starved in his day job, he answered: “Doesn’t everybody?”
Michelle Greenwood, 53, learned about the event via Tone Madison and showed up to watch the performance. A Kate Bush fan since the ’80s, Greenwood said hearing the music transports her to a specific time in her life. But even now, decades later, she said this modern re-imagining of “Wuthering Heights” — and its fierce, puzzling, rapturous celebration of femininity — “just makes sense.”
Added Greenwood: “With how difficult the last few weeks have been, it just seems important to find time for these joyful things.”
Signature Kate Bush moves: Wuthering triple spin, zombie walk, ghost fingers, backwards pterodactyl
Amount of red lipstick applied: So much!!
Feelings: Joy, anguish, power, vulnerability, friendship, femininity, fabulousness
Spirit of Kate Bush: Infinite
