In 2016, Guenet and Sam Roberts of the Caribbean American Passport and Yves Bouele of the African Leaders Council approached Terry Olson, Orange County’s director of arts and cultural affairs, about creating an international event that would fuse together the many backgrounds and heritages of the people of Orlando.
“While there are dozens of festivals centered around one heritage or another in our community,” they write on their website, “we thought, what if we all came together at the same time?”
That coming together became FusionFest, a two-day, free-of-charge festival in the heart of Orlando celebrating the people and the many different heritages that make up Central Florida by showcasing the music, food, art and stories from more than 110 different cultures during Thanksgiving weekend.
FusionFest celebrates its fifth annual event Nov. 26-27 in Dr. Phillips Center’s Seneff Arts Plaza with more than 1,000 local artists expected to perform and showcase their craft on FusionFest’s stages, in its galleries and in its interactive installations. The highlight of the festival is sure to be the all-new signature show called Kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscope will feature over 40 musicians, dancers and singers from various organizations including Inez Patricia School of Dance, the Asian Cultural Association, Central Florida Vocal Arts, Polynesian Luau Productions and Orlando Dance Network. They will appear in one blended show providing each cultural community with a unique experience to collaborate with local representatives from each of the ten regions of the world.
“Kaleidoscope will fuse together an unexpected myriad of performances which will all speak to unity, as well as use artistic creation to uplift and offer hope,” FusionFest wrote in a press release.
Kaleidoscope will be produced by local music icon and FusionFest entertainment director CeCe Teneal.
Teneal grew up about 30 miles north of Orlando in Osteen, Florida. A “country girl blessed with a powerful voice that is filled with soul and resonance,” Teneal has opened for and performed with blues greats such as Buddy Guy, Joe Cocker, Johnny Lang, Betty Wright and B.B. King, as well as toured to perform her own original music with her band, Soul Kamotion. Teneal may best be known for her brilliant covers of Aretha Franklin, which she tours the world performing in a tribute show to the Queen of Soul.
Teneal was gracious enough to chat with Watermark over Zoom ahead of this year’s Fusion Fest to talk about what kind of entertainment we can expect to see at the festival and how this girl from Osteen found her powerhouse voice.
WATERMARK: Talk to us about growing up and performing here in Orlando and in Central Florida?
CeCe Teneal: I was born and raised in a little town outside of Orlando called Osteen, and I didn’t really do a lot of performing other than in church growing up and I didn’t want to do that forever. This wasn’t what I had my heart set on. I was going to be someone’s teacher, you know. You hear these stories of people who started young doing theatre throughout high school, and they do chorus or band, that was not me.
I was 21 years old and a friend of mine said “You are always singing around the house, as my present for my birthday all I want is for you to sing in this talent show.” Literally from that moment, it was like a bug bit me and I knew this is where I’m supposed to be and this is what I’m supposed to do. So that’s what I have committed my life to doing. I started performing in Orlando in 2002, started and built-up Orlando’s first really big open mic night downtown, where it was spoken word and live music. I did that for about 15 years. I also worked at B.B. Kings, I was the headliner there for four years. Then I started traveling doing my own shows. I’ve released two albums now, and that’s kind of been my trajectory. Always pushing to see what the next thing is going to be and always advocating for the arts in the process.
So much attention gets put on the theme parks here in Central Florida when it comes to performers and live entertainment, but there is such a diverse culture of entertainers throughout the area. How has Orlando and the greater Central Florida area helped you to become the performer you are today?
I don’t have a lot of experience with Disney, which it lends to what you said about having a rich culture outside of Disney, because Orlando certainly has that. I think for me, performing in Orlando, I’ve just been fortunate enough to have my name mentioned in a lot of different rooms. I’ve had a lot of different opportunities from opening Steinmetz Hall with being a part of the Rise & Shine galas, doing things with Cole Nesmith and now moving on to do things with FusionFest. I think what has helped to keep me going in Orlando, what has really caused me to be an international singer, is that the people of Orlando have always supported me. I love to talk about the people of Orlando. There are so many, many people in Orlando who love and support the arts, and that’s why I’m able to be successful and why I’m able to express myself as an artist, because those people come and they listen and they love.
As a performer, who are your musical inspirations?
I would definitely have to say Aretha [Franklin] is probably my biggest inspiration. That’s how I travel all over the world making my money [laughs]. I am traveling and doing a tribute to her, so I do think she is my biggest inspiration, but I love Whitney Houston. I love Etta James. I love Diana Ross. I love Chaka Khan, I love the divas of music; the ones who have paved the way for us. You can also catch me listening to a good Prince or a good Michael Jackson record. I also listen to some of the Blues’ greats like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Johnny Lang, Joe Cocker; I love all of those people. I have a pretty eclectic music taste, but if I had to say “inspirations” it would definitely have to be the old divas of soul.
We have been watching clips on YouTube of you perform and your voice is amazing. When did you first realize you had that kind of power in your voice?
The funny thing is I talk about this in my show, I always remember my mom and my grandma would say “Nobody can sing the blues like Aretha.” So I just remember one day my grandma stumbled upon me and I was singing the blues like Aretha, and I was like nine or 10 years old, singing about “my baby done left me” and “my man’s been cheating on me” [laughs]. I think it was then that my grandma really said, “Wait a minute, she’s really got something. She can really sing.” Then my mom had me singing for her friends and that kind of thing, so I think once they start asking you to do it then it must be good. Because it you sound horrible, they aren’t gonna ask you to sing for their friends [laughs].
You have recently come out as a member of the LGBTQ community. Talk to me about your experience with Orlando’s LGBTQ community?
If I’m being honest, I’m just now connecting with the LGBTQ community here. It wasn’t until last year, [One Orlando Alliance’s] Josh Bell had me on a panel, and I actually felt comfortable enough to say it publicly. To say “Yes, I am a part of this community.” I’ve started to connect with my community and they have been embracing me and I’m happy about that. But I don’t have a lot of experiences with being out publicly right now, but what I can say is they have really embraced me and if that is indicative of how they maneuver then I am going to have a great time.
I think I was worried for so long that the music industry had placed a stigma on being plus size, on being gay, on being a Black business woman; the industry places a stigma on that, so I tried to fly under the radar with who I am but in 2020, in the aftermath of the racial injustice and the Black Lives Matter movement, I decided that I was gonna be unapologetically me. And I am finding that people really like me and I don’t have to pretend to be anything else, and I don’t have to follow the guidelines from the people who have put those in place. That in of itself has been refreshing for me to walk in that.
What changes have you noticed most about yourself since you have come out?
I think authenticity. That it’s OK to be myself, to be who I am and that you don’t have to have everyone’s approval. You just need a subset of the universe because not everyone is gonna like you, not everyone is going to always be on your side; I think once I realized that, that has kind of been my “a-ha moment.” Coming out and being a part of all the different communities that I represent — the arts community, the LGBTQIA+ community, being a part of all these communities, it just confirms that we are all human. We can be all different colors, all different shapes, all different elements and still come together in this beautiful menagerie of what is the human race.
You posted a photo on Instagram recently of yourself with the phrase “Be REAL, not PERFECT!” What does that mean to you?
When you are in the public eye, there’s so many challenges for you to be perfect. I recognize that in my quest for perfection I was depressed and filled with anxiety, so I found that being real and authentic garnered me the most happiness as well it attracted the right people to my tribe.
How did you get involved with FusionFest?
I just got into this role in April or May of this year, so not very long, but the way it came about is I participated in Rise & Shine at Dr. Phillips Center, and I did a cultural fusion performance where I brought together all different types of dancers. I brought in Peruvian dancers, Hispanic dancers, African dancers, and music of all kinds and put them together on one stage for one 8-minute performance. The FusionFest team saw me put that together and they asked me to submit a proposal for doing something similar but on a larger scale for FusionFest. I presented them my ideas and they presented who they are back to me and we found that it was a match so we got married [laughs].
For those who haven’t been before, what is FusionFest?
FusionFest, and it is interesting because I have never been, so I am brand new to this experience and I am learning so much about the different cultures that exist in Orlando, but what I can tell you from what I know is it is a safe space for you to express who you are and educate other people about your culture. There’s food and there’s displays and there’s music and there’s dance; there is something for everybody. It’s a two-day festival that centers around all the different cultures around the world.
Talk to me about some of the entertainment people will be seeing at this year’s festival.
During the entire festival there will be all different cultures and all types of entertainment woven throughout. So you may have spoken word on one stage mixed with fashion. There will be dancers ranging from five years old to 85 years old, there will be musicians from Colombian musicians to jazz musicians and brass band musicians, so it is going to be a cultural overload of music, dance, art and more. We will have 10 regions of the world represented.
And let’s talk about Kaleidoscope, because that is a whole different monster. It’s a big, beautiful monster because what we are doing with Kaleidoscope is we are taking all of these cultures and we are weaving them together in a 45-minute performance. We will have different cultures layered on top of each other, so you may see hip hop with Irish dancing, or you may see Peruvian dancers mixed with Vietnamese dancers while opera is performed. It is going to be this fusion of all these different cultures coming together to show that we are all one human race. We are all one in the same underneath it all.
The fifth annual FusionFest will take place in the Seneff Arts Plaza at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 26 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Nov. 27 from 12-6 p.m.
The FusionFest line-up includes several all-new features including a Cosplay meet up/contest (1:15 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday) and a Citizenship Ceremony (10 a.m. on Saturday) – along with the return of festival favorites, among them: Family Village featuring the Cardboard Village of the World, the Fun & Games Tent and the Family Art Tent; Cultural Displays; International Marketplace; Foods of the World & Fusion Foods; screenings of MYgration Films in partnership with the Global Peace Film Festival; Diversitastic! Choir performances; Visual Arts Gallery; Global Street Dance Party; Scavenger Hunt; two stages featuring music, dance, spoken word, fashion and a cosplay contest; plus, community panels, prizes and contests with cash awards.
Visit FusionFest.org/Schedule for the complete line-up.
You can find out more about CeCe Teneal, including information on her albums and upcoming tour dates, at CeCeTeneal.com.
