Dancing on Cherokee: Bill Streeter’s Exuberant Short Video

Maybe you know, maybe you don’t: Bill Streeter, the fillmaker behind LoFi St. Louis and Brick by Chance and Fortune, has a new enterprise, Hydralic Pictures. (We should note that film and TV producer, Gretta Forrester is also part of Hydraulic.) They moved into a space on Cherokee this summer, a decision that made a lot of sense. After all, Streeter’s long been a fixture on the street; for instance, last April, he used it as the backdrop to shoot 16 music videos in one day. 

Speaking of videos, we suggest you click on the play button and take a look at the one above. Whether you haunt Cherokee on a regular basis because you go to a lot of shows, or you only visit the street irregularly when you have a hankering for a taco, it’ll lift your spirits. Here’s some background, from Bill’s post on the Hydralic Pictures blog: 

So last spring the Cherokee Street Business Association commissioned me to make a video to promote Cherokee as one of the great destination streets in the area. The idea was to capture the energy and diversity of businesses and people in the area. This seemed like a no-brainer at the time since we were already thinking about Cherokee street as a possible home for Hydraulic Pictures. Plus I personally have had a strong affinity for the neighborhood as a place with a strong DIY entrepreneurial spirit. Not only that but it’s just fun to hang out here.

So with that in mind I decided to take a montage approach to the video with one hook…dancing.

You hear a needle drop on vinyl, and the bluesy grind of the Rum Drum Ramblers‘ “South Saint Louis Boogie,” kicks in. We’re introduced to our cast of characters: Jeez Louise of Cherokee’s Van Ella Studios; Chris Ward of KDHX; Jenny Shirar and Christian Frommelt of Lindy Hop St. Louis; Minerva Lopez of Goolll! soccer shop and WasabiNet; Jordan Howe of Union Tree Review; and Sharon. (Yup. Just Sharon.) 

Interspersed between the dancers, who do everything from a moonwalky shuffle to handstands to banner-twirling, we take a slo-mo cruise down the street, passing storefronts and landmarks like the wooden Indian at Jefferson and the Lemp Brewery. You see the pear trees in full flower, a little girl in a yellow dress twirling through a cloud of soap bubbles, a cooler of beer. There’s also footage of Cinco de Mayo, including the People’s Joy Parade; the Totem Fest; and the Labor Day dumpster pool party  that parked itself outside the Fortune Teller this summer. If you don’t feel proud of St. Louis after watching this video, well…we might diagnose you with a case of an overchilly heart. Of course, some folks have a hard time feeling the St. Louis patriotism without some reference to baseball. And we do need to note that’s the one thing you won’t see here, though to be fair, it wasn’t quite in season when much of the footage was shot, and well…Cherokee may be baseball hat territory, but not baseball, proper. However, Streeter covers that in his blog post, and we’ll echo that sentiment here: 

GO CARDS!