The Philly PR Girl team covered a variety of shows for Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts this month. Of course we are all very excited about this weekend’s Street Fair which concludes the 31 day festival. PIFA will be closing down Broad Street for an all out extravaganza! Here’s a recap of our favorite events!
Casual Friday
A local dance troupe that prides itself on honesty, innovation and experiential performances, the Stone Depot Dance Lab took to Northern Liberties’ Ruba Lounge for their original piece, “Casual Friday” and Philly PR Girl Contributor Jess was there!
The tradition of a weekly dress-down was begun in the ’60s by Bank of Hawaii president Wilson B. Cannon Jr., who allowed his employees to wear Hawaiian shirts in the office on Fridays. The notion caught on in the United States in the ’90s, propelled by leaders of the dot-com boom who wanted to project an image of buoyancy throughout the work force. ‘Casual’ described the show’s entire affair: from the laidback, table seating and happy hour beforehand, to the cool Hawaiian tunes written and performed live on electric bass and guitar by composer Chris Farrell and the Rit Mo Collective.
The piece was short and sweet, choreographed and danced by Beau Hancock and Eleanor Goudie-Averill with supporting roles from Temple students Cody Knable and Nia Shand. Amid environmental distractions including an office affair and spastic typewriters, employees receive numerous corporate memos outlining the can’s and cannot’s in the wake of initiating casual Friday, which dictate their choreography and multiple costume changes. The audience was included in part of the show, asked to author the final memo through a short game of Mad Libs. One note was selected and then read aloud and repeated numerous times, piece by piece, as Goudie-Averill and Hancock improvised a hysterical accompanying interpretive dance. Stone Depot Dance Lab’s four performances were intimate and informal, and provided a ton of laughs – a welcome ending to a Friday night after work!
The Hamilton Garden nested the performance perfectly in its cozy, dim lighting. This story of mass-hysteria brought about fear along with hearty laughs. When the circus’ most famous elephant kills off one of the workers in front of a giant crowd, the town goes up in arms in a trial to kill the animal. Throughout this tale we are treated to wonderful musical pieces that quite literally had me tearing up with laughter. At other points I felt myself uncomfortable with how serious the dialogue and allegations against the animal were. Simultaneously, the audience was made to be a part of the action; The actors treated us as though we were part of the township. PIFA truly delivered the full 360-degree experience in this show.
This one night only performance was brought to you by Maria del Pico Taylor who joined in on the act during the final performance. The show started out with a single performer, Kinan Idnawi, wowing the crowd as he played the Oud. Right away you felt the Latin influence! As the show went on the acts reflected different Latin cultures such as Mexico, Cuba, Spain, and more. When Lilliana Ruiz, a Flamenco dancer, joined the performance I was instantly inspired and had to hold myself back from getting up to dance in the aisles. Her dress was actually part of the performance! If you were there, you know what I mean. I was memorized by it all. Bravo Maria! Bravo Kimmel Center! Bravo PIFA!
Daringly High
As you know by now, Kate took a Trapeze lesson with the Fly School Circus crew. She couldn’t stop talking about it, so this weekend Victoria, our Philly PR Girl Editor, is also going to fly high over Broad Street! (Yes, pictures to come!) It goes without saying that the experts are much better than Kate; they are so talented that their final performance tonight (April 26th) is an absolute must-see. For only $10 (what a bargain!) you can go watch them fly 25 feet over Broad Street in this exciting show. The Trapeze is set up right across from the Kimmel Center and tickets can be bought at the door.
The Time Machine inside The Kimmel Center
Latin Fiesta!
The Grand Finale at the Latin Fiesta
Kate on the Trapeze! Thanks to Philly Chit Chat for the photo!
