4 minute read
Skateboarding & Music
Innoskate seeks to unite South Dakotans in Pine Ridge and Sioux Falls
By Bernie Hunhoff
WHAT DO SKATEBOARDING, jazz and the Smithsonian all have in common? The answer to that trivia question, at least for the summer of 2022, is “South Dakota.”
The venerable Smithsonian, the world’s largest museum, risked its stodgy reputation a decade ago when it created Innoskate, a program that explores skate culture’s creative spirit.
Seven Innoskate festivals have been organized, the latest in England. Now the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for Invention and Innovation is partnering with South Dakota art and education organizations to host events in Pine Ridge and Sioux Falls in July.
Levitt at the Falls, the summer music venue in downtown Sioux Falls, is at the center of the collaboration. “This may surprise some people, but skateboarding is all about music,” says Nancy Halverson, Levitt’s executive director.
“If you watched the Olympics last summer, you might remember members of the press wondering on television why the skateboarders were on their cell phones,” she says. “It is because they choreograph their runs to music, very much the way ice skaters might choreograph their routine except with skateboarding we don’t get to hear their music.”
The music will be heard in Pine Ridge and Sioux Falls. The Smithsonian’s Jazz Masterworks Orchestra will perform with professional skaters and Olympians, as well as with local jazz musicians. Innoskate will also include skate demonstrations, panel discussions, skating clinics and numerous other activities designed to spark the imaginations of youth and entertain people of all ages.
This is not Halverson’s first collaboration with the Smithsonian. She helped to organize one of the first Innoskate festivals in 2015 while serving as CEO of The Children’s Museum of the Upstate in Greenville, South Carolina.
She returned to Sioux Falls in 2018 to lead the Levitt, where one of her chief goals is to encourage and inspire youth through music. “That’s what it’s all about for me,” she says. “Bringing the very best performers to South Dakota so our kids can see somebody on stage who maybe looks like them — so they can look up there and think, ‘If they can do that, so can I!’”
Youth of the Pine Ridge Reservation consider skateparks a safe haven in a sometimes-challenging rural environment. Pictured at the Manderson park are (from left) David Parham, Taylor Shot, Francisco Richards, Lemar Little Dog, Robin Condon and Shanti Condon.
The entire 2022 Levitt season is built with that in mind, but Innoskate is the most colorful example, and it represents the first time that Levitt staff has collaborated with organizations across the state.
The principal sponsor is the Wokini Initiative of South Dakota State University, a project that supports Native American youth who seek to succeed through higher education. Other partners include the South Dakota Community Foundation, South Dakota Humanities Council, Arts South Dakota, the South Dakota Arts Council, Downtown Sioux Falls, the Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues Society, Sioux Falls Skate Association, Rehfeld’s Art Gallery, the Sioux Falls Arts Council, the Ray and Vera Coniff Foundation and the David H. Horowitz Fund.
Two youth organizations from the Pine Ridge Reservation — Ground Control and Rock the Rez — are also part of the effort.
Innoskate is set for July 5 at Toby Eagle Bull Skatepark in Pine Ridge, where skateboarding has become a popular activity in the reservation’s efforts to steer youth away from drugs, alcohol and gang activity. A nonprofit called the Stronghold Society has built skateboard parks, with major assistance from the Tony Hawk Foundation, the band Pearl Jam and numerous other groups and individuals.
Sioux Falls is also undergoing a skateboard awakening. The city’s Chamber of Commerce and Skatepark Association are finishing a $1.6 million drive to build a state-of-the-art project in Nelson Park. It will be styled after the natural features of the Big Sioux River and the falls.
The Innoskate festival will be headquartered at the Levitt amphitheater July 7-9, with related events in the downtown district, including a skateboard art show at Rehfeld’s Gallery and a vendor skater village.
There are also plans to close a road next to the venue to build a temporary skate park where local youth can skate alongside members of the USA Olympic team. “We want to bring people to our state who represent all of our cultures and backgrounds so we can lift each other up in a safe, fun and accessible way,” Halverson says.
Music is famous for bringing people together. Skateboarding and music might really move us.
