By June Mathews
It’s almost unimaginable. If you had told us years ago when we started this that we would be marching in London’s New Year’s Day Parade, we would have never believed it,” said Toni Dennis, founder of Birmingham’s groove krewe Magic City Disco.
But there they were Jan. 1, noon local time, boogeying their way from Green Park to the Palace of Westminster on a mission to bring the joy of disco to the streets of London. “They” in this case were members of Magic City Disco and its mother krewe, New Orleans-based Disco Amigos.
The opportunity had arisen when a talent scout invited Disco Amigos to march in the London parade. Members of that group realized they would need reinforcements and, because of their similarity and shared history, Magic City Disco was a logical choice. So plans were made, performers and support crews were recruited, practices were scheduled, and preparations for what proved to be a major undertaking began.
“People don’t understand how much work goes in something like this,” Dennis said. “Yes, it’s fun, and it looks like we’re just out there freestyling, but we actually have choreography, and we practice once a week for two hours. And that’s just regular practice. When we’re getting ready for a big performance or a big parade like this, we add practice sessions.”
Once everyone arrived in London, they practiced even more.
The day of the event, the two-krewe combo, which performed as Disco Amigos, headed to the lineup site armed with parade favors of bedazzled 45 records and Mardi Gras beads. Their performance was enthusiastically received by the crowd, and the group attracted enough attention to garner an interview by the BBC.
“It was a magical trip for us to participate in London’s New Year’s Day parade,” said Leisha Harris, president of Magic City Disco. “The crowd loved us, and we loved them. We would welcome the opportunity to travel abroad and perform again.”
How the Magic Began
The seeds for Magic City Disco were planted in 2017 as the result of a friendship between Dennis and two Highland Park neighbors, a husband and wife who moved from New Orleans to Birmingham in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The couple eventually returned home and later shared with Dennis that they had joined Disco Amigos, a social club based on the dance, music and culture of the disco era.
It all sounded like great fun to Dennis, so when her former neighbors invited her to dance with them in a 2016 New Orleans Mardi Gras parade, she couldn’t resist. She signed a short-term lease on an apartment and began traveling back and forth between Birmingham and New Orleans to learn the dances. Before long, Dennis was hooked, and four years later, she still had the apartment and was still dancing with Disco Amigos.
In the meantime, Dennis needed some practice buddies close to home, so she recruited a few friends, who recruited a few friends, and before long, the group had grown to 14.
“I think what makes this so special is I did not set out to do this; it just sort of happened,” Dennis said. “Then we decided to get together, dress up disco and do the Doo-Dah Day parade. Some of the Disco Amigos came up here to do that parade with us, and that sort of sparked the idea of forming a Birmingham chapter of Disco Amigos.”
The chapter became a nonprofit on its own in 2019, officially becoming Magic City Disco. By 2022, the krewe was nearly 100 strong before dropping to a more manageable size in 2023.
“We now have about 50 performers and 20 to 25 people in support roles, which is a good number” she said. “You kind of have to balance quality over quantity.”
Since becoming Magic City Disco, the group has done approximately 160 performances, requiring an organizational structure that ensures everything gets done.
“We are constantly busy, so in addition to our board of directors, we’ve formed a uniform committee, a choreography committee, a staging committee and a support committee,” Dennis explained. “It takes all of us to make things happen, but everybody who does it loves it.”
As if a gig like the London parade weren’t enough for a while, Mobile’s Mardi Gras season begins in mid-January, and Magic City Disco will be performing in some of the parades. They’ll be accompanied by the Groove Machine, a 70s-type van outfitted with a DJ stage on top.
In addition to parades, Magic City Disco performs at events such as the Annual Exceptional Foundation Chili Cook-Off, Homewood Christmas Parade, Dancing With the Stars of the Magic City, and others.
“We’re a hit everywhere we go, but we don’t try to be,” Dennis said. “That’s what’s funny. We know we’re there to entertain an audience, and we know we have ‘fans,’ but we’re really entertaining ourselves.”
For more information on Magic City Disco, visit magiccitydisco.com, search for @magiccitydisco on Instagram, or look for Magic City Disco on Facebook.
