Watch: LGBTQ Pride Flash Mob Entertains Farmers Market Crowd

SARASOTA, FL — Drag performer Beneva Fruitville — whose real name is Berry Ayers — and members of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies surprised shoppers at Sarasota Farmers Market Saturday morning with a flash mob celebrating June as Pride month.

The flash mob dance performance to “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman” was presented by Project Pride SRQ, a new LGBTQ organization in the greater Sarasota area, as part of its Pride month calendar of events.

The event all started with Deb Lombard, an ally to the LGBTQ community and teaching artist at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. While working on another project, she came across a video of a flash mob and thought it would be fun to organize one.

“I always thought the world would be a better place if we all broke into song and dance,” Lombard told Patch.

She shared a similar sentiment on her Facebook page and was surprised by the comments she received. Many people said that if she organized a flash mob, they’d happily participate.

Lombard immediately texted Ayers and they began planning one.

“It was literally late one night she texted me and said, ‘I want to do a flash mob and I want to do it in Pride month,’” Ayers said. “She was feeling her allyship and wanted to show that in some physical way.”

They quickly settled on the song “This Is Me.” The choreographers from the film “The Greatest Showman” published a YouTube video breaking down the song’s choreography and encouraging viewers to share their own videos of them dancing to the song.

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On a practical level, this blanket permission meant rights to the song and the choreography wouldn’t be a hurdle in organizing the flash mob, Ayers said.

More importantly, the song is perfect for LGBTQ+ Pride month, she added. “It’s one of my favorite songs about empowering yourself and showing yourself to the world, flaws and bruises and all, and saying, this is me.”

Lombard organized the flash mob’s choreography and broke it down for participants to learn in advance of their performance.

They also partnered with local dancer Vanessa Russo, who trained at the Sarasota Ballet and performed with national Broadway tours, to choreograph the professional dancers at the start of the flash mob.

Ayers formed a Facebook group for potential flash mob dancers with more than 150 people joining it. They coordinated the dancers online and shared videos of the choreography so participants could learn it on their own time.

The flash mob also found support and sponsorship through the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County and D. Cole Hair Design, she said.

As they looked for a space to host it, the managers of the Sarasota Farmers Market stepped up to offer their monthly market for the flash mob as they already had a built-in audience, permits from the city to shut down the street and a sound system.

“Everything just came together,” Ayers said.

Lombard added, “I was surprised by the overwhelming support. Everyone that was asked (to help) was 100 percent on board to help out.”

The morning of the flash mob, dancers were asked “to wear their most fabulous purple," Ayers said.

Despite how quickly and easily it seemed to come together, going into the performance, nobody knew what to expect, she added.

“During the number, at one point, I kind of turned around and I was shocked, pleasantly shocked, by how many people were behind me,” she said. “It’s surprising. You kind of have no idea how many people are going to show up for these things or know the dance.”

Ayers was also amazed by the diversity of the community members that came out for the event.

“There were so many different people and so many different diverse people — people of color, Asian Americans, children — young children — some more mature performers,” she said. “It was such a beautiful mix of culture and diversity and it really felt very special.”

They’ve received a lot of positive feedback about the event and are already planning another flash mob for Pride next year.

“One girl told me it brought her husband to tears and she was on a high all day,” Lombard said. “It was a great feeling of love and unity.”

Ayers said she has been impressed by the LGBTQ community’s visibility in the greater Sarasota community this year and credits Project Pride SRQ with connecting the community and bringing different groups together.

“I’ve never had a more busy Pride month and I’ve lived in Sarasota over 15 years,” she said. “There have been so many wonderful and meaningful events.”

A proclamation from the Sarasota City Commission declared June Pride month in Sarasota for the first time in the city’s history. Mayor Hagen Brody also worked with the Florida Department of Transportation to get the Ringling Causeway Bridge lit up in rainbow colors for Pride.

Though Project Pride SRQ doesn’t have any additional events planned for Pride month this year, Ayers frequently performs in the community. Upcoming events include Drag Queen Bingo at McCurdy’s Comedy Club July 11 and Beneva’s Game Night at Mellow Mushroom July 15.

Watch the full flash mob performance here: