Dallas Black Dance Theater rocks Dallas City Council Inauguration

by Shawn Williams · June 23, 2009

On Monday, Gloria Campus hosted the Dallas City Council Inauguration Ceremony at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas. The council and mayor Tom Leppert welcomed two new members and said goodbye to two former colleagues who were leaving due to term limits.

It had been a while since I had been at the Meyerson, and had kind of forgotten how great a venue it is. It made me even that much more excited about the opening of the Winspear Opera House in October.

There was nothing exciting about the inauguration (save Angela Hunt not giving the Mayor a hug as she accepted her council certificate), which continues to be the story here in Dallas. The council gets along so well -a far cry for days of near brawls in the council chambers just a few short years ago- that the drama usually associated with local politics is mostly absent.

Dallas Black Dance Theater – Night Run

The most exciting part of the ceremony was the performance of the Dallas Black Dance Theater, who performed an excerpt of “Night Run” choreographed by Christoper Huggins (2003). It’s amazing that they were able to get so much life out of the small stage that they were left to work with.

Mayor Leppert had “remarks” near the end of the program which were half inauguration speech, half convention center hotel victory lap. Leppert said that we have to continue to invest in the city, even in the midst of the economic crisis. Leppert said the hotel election was about “choosing hope over fear.” Somebody’s been listening to the POTUS I see.

After the council was sworn in by my good friend Judge C. Victor Lander, a reception was held in the their honor in the lobby. At their first meeting, the Honorable Dwaine Caraway was elected Mayor Pro Tem in an 11-4 vote over District 5 representative Vonciel Jones Hill. I guess you can call that a split vote, I don’t see it as that big of a deal.

I do look for more members to break with the Mayor this term if for no other reason than to try to raise their own visibility. On Monday, Dave Levinthal of the Dallas Morning News broke down just how often the Mayor comes out on the winning side of council votes and who is most likely to side with him. But at the inauguration, it was smiles and hugs all around, well…..except for the Mayor and the lady (from District 14) in red.