Helene Clehr tries to stop laughing long enough to explain how, at age 70, she became a dancing witch. Or more precisely, an OV Sea Hag.
It’s as if this cackling troupe invoked a spell on her during Ocean View’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in March.
Was Clehr captivated by their wicked costumes, from black lace to pointy hats? Or was it the enthusiasm of so many brooms moving in synchrony to hip-hop?
Perhaps it was their undeniable energy, which casts joy like sea foam.
“I saw them, and I said, ‘This is what I want to do with my retirement!” said Clehr, wearing a rumpled witch’s hat and flimsy patchwork skirt that falls below the knees. “I literally chased after them down the street screaming, ‘How do I join?’”
Summoning others to be part of the fun, to move to song, to celebrate sisterhood and community define the OV Sea Hags, who have spent the last year doing all of that while raising money and awareness for nonprofits. They’ll share their joy along with some local history at the Ocean View Witch Walk: 250 Years of Legends and Lore at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Ocean View Park.
The twilight program pairs snippets of hyper-local history — a homage to Ocean View — followed by short bursts of movement, a combination that would inspire a wallflower with two left feet to shake a leg. Spoiler alert: Get ready to do the Locomotion after learning about the mysterious being known as the Ghost of Willoughby Spit.
The festivities will include their version of the broom dance, an upbeat, contagious routine set to German rapper Peter Fox's “Shake Your Bacon,” or “Schüttel deinen Speck” in Germany, where it originated.
When a video of a coven of witches broom-dancing to the song went viral in 2016, it inspired women around the globe to form amateur dance troupes.
As soon as Cheryl Hahn saw it, she knew it was in her future. Last October, she committed to organizing a troupe after taking a step back from her role as president and CEO of CozyPure, the organic and latex mattress business she started in Norfolk 35 years ago.
“Are you in?” she asked, calling her best witchy friend Jennifer Newby.
She didn’t have to ask Newby twice.
“I like to have fun every day of my life,” said Newby, a former Hurrah Player.
A social media post engaged four more to join them for that first meetup in a conference room at the Pretlow Library. Since then, mostly crones — the folklore word for women who embrace a later stage of a life well lived — have brought their magic to the OV Sea Hags.
“It’s been a perfect outlet for me,” Newby said. “I have a serious job in front of a computer all day, and then I get to go and put on my witch’s hat and dance with my girlfriends.”
The OV Sea Hags are a group of 22, with 16 members who participate in nearly every event. They support other organizations' fundraisers instead of organizing their own. The Hags are more akin to community ambassadors than the juju surrounding traditional Wiccans. They practice on some Wednesday evenings, though they're rarely all together at once.
No broom dance experience? No problem. Learn as Hahn and Newby did, by YouTube video. Wear your witch’s hat and BYOB — bring your own broom.
Not from Norfolk?
Ronda Maus comes from Suffolk, after hearing about the OV Sea Hags from her daughter, who lives in Florida.
“I had been doing the broom dance in my living room,” she said.
Costume and accessories are whatever. Karen Carter, aka The Happy Hooker, crochets most everything she wears, including the raven atop her crocheted broom. Between thrifting and a handful of vintage blouses from her closet, Alicia Gee found a look that suits her style.
The 100% volunteer OV Sea Hags stay busy year-round with a packed schedule all of October. It’s no surprise that they’ve got a gig on Halloween night: Sea Hags on Ice at Scope with the Norfolk Admirals.
The OV Sea Hags are the first and only Coastal Virginia group officially recognized as an affiliate of the original Wolfshäger Hexenbrut from the viral video in Germany.
“Doing this brings me more joy than I could ever spread,” Maus said. “In this day and age, we need more of that.”
“We’re kind of the new Red Hat Ladies,” Carter said, referring to an international society of older women who wear red hats and purple and celebrate aging with wisdom and humor. “Instead of purple and red hats, we wear witch hats and dance.”