Future Joy
Regarding what you may already know or have heard about Flow Fest: yes, there is yoga; sure, there are hula hoops; there may be stilts, and maybe some juggling. All of that, and live music, is baked into the Flow Fest experience over a decade-plus of immersion in the wonders of performance art.
But no two editions are really alike, though they might reprise some of the spirit of earlier go-rounds. The theme for Flow Fest Fort Lauderdale 2025 in Esplanade Park is Whimsy, and event organizer Casandra Tanenbaum tells PureHoney it’s a bit of a callback to her favorite Flow Fest theme, 2019’s Wonder. The idea, she says, is to recapture some of the “spirit of surprise and shenanigans” of the Wonder year.
“I felt like I wanted to get whimsical!” Tanenbaum exclaims as she talks about what it takes for a nonprofit organization like hers to pull together a suite of annual festivals — six now, with Denver launching in 2025 — for which gate admission is free but expenses are real.
Flow Fest, which South Florida-based Tanenbaum started in Lake Worth in 2011, attracts a diverse group of professional performers and gives them room to do what they love and share their knowledge with festivalgoers. There are 50 diverse workshops on tap this year, some of which are also free. (The rest require an all-access Workshop Pass that can be purchased in advance.)
Flint Blade
Attractions include Morning Musical Jam Session with Miami musician and circus artist Siboney, and Yoga with Live Music led by Kelly Brookbank of Fort Lauderdale YogaFest and Delray Beach Colony Yoga fame, featuring music by Chapman Stick maestro Flint Blade, from Fort Pierce. There will be workshops for juggling, levitation wand, belly dance, breakdance and more.
Tanenbaum is a former high school teacher, so the synthesis of performance and teaching comes naturally to her. She’s also a music buff. This year’s Flow Fest will feature music from Future Joy, the electronica-plus duo of Emily Cooper and Zach Simms. “I’m a fan,” says Tanenbaum, “and it’s my absolute delight that when I reached out, they said yes!”
Siboney
A self-described “Future-Funk hybrid duo hailing from wherever their mobile RV stage is parked,” Cooper and Simms actually have a couple of anchor points. They divide time between Denver and St. Petersburg. The Rocky Mountain-Gulf Coast duality hints at the nomadic character of their music, although their influences sound more rooted in classic music cities like Chicago, Detroit, Philly and Memphis. Future Joy stack funk, soul, house, hip-hop, electro and more on a platter of dance, with two keyboards, tandem vocals and Simms’ wailing saxophone to keep the party peaking.
The two met when Simms walked into a karaoke that Cooper was hosting. “Zach sang Rick James; Emily sang Amy Winehouse; we’ve been together nearly every day since.” Future Joy told PureHoney in a whimsically conjoined email interview.
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Cooper and Simms say they’re basically never not touring: “We are constantly on the road.” They work with other producers and musicians remotely, sharing tracks and demos online as they roll along. They remain inseparable — and more on that in a moment.
Building on a self-titled debut album in 2018, Future Joy have assembled a discography of upbeat and sometimes quippy music that celebrates togetherness. They are buoyant, warm, curious and unafraid of being fun or funny, but they’re serious about their craft. A summer 2024 single, “Do You Wonder?”, is a genial, thumping bass-music taunt about staying out way too late, A newer single, Coast to Coast, pays euphoric disco tribute to the road trip as personal journey.
One reason they’re looking forward to Flow Fest is encoded in the name. “The festival atmosphere is a wonderful place to perform,” they say, “because the crowd is regularly ready to engage with the moment and share in the energy.”
They will be touring some more in 2025, “booking shows and festivals all over,” they say, and working on a new album. “We’re also throwing an open-invite festival for our wedding on February 1, 2025, in St. Petersburg.” So you know your next stop after Flow Fest.
Flow Fest kicks off 9am Sunday, January 19 at Esplanade Park in Fort Lauderdale along the New River. flowfests.com, futurejoymusic.com ~ Tim Moffatt
