Different Strokes is an LGBT dragon boat club that trains in Sydney. Each year we do a float for the Mardi Gras celebrations. The theme this year was ‘Rise’ but our club had been battered by Covid restrictions leading to a lot of cancelled regattas and training sessions. So, we decided to personify our club with a dragon who had lain dormant at the bottom of Sydney harbour but was now ready to ‘rise’ out of her slumber, triumphant, at Mardi Gras.
Over the course of six weeks we built a dragon head from chicken wire and fabric. We sculpted the shape of the head using foam and built lights and a smoke machine inside so that our dragon could breathe flames. The dancers all formed the body of the dragon with scales of rainbow coloured fabric being held up to catch the light.
