This past weekend was Bumbershoot, Seattle's annual local music and arts festival. The music lineup this year included Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horses and M. Ward. Comedians from near and far graced the stage and One Reel Film Festival again held their Fly Filmmaking Challenge, showcasing the indie filmmakers' process. And of course, Flatstock is always a must-see.
The two highlights this year for me were "Words and Music" presented by Sherman Alexie and The Stranger and the performances of Australia's Strange Fruit.
Words and Music featured a medley of performances centering on the theme of influential books and music but most notably included a tribute to Hall and Oates. The exciting news? Alexie announced that this was only the first of a series of homages to legendary artists.
Strange Fruit is a performing arts group from Melbourne. The performers stand atop 15-foot poles and sway back and forth like stalks of wheat in the breeze. The music and costumes coupled with the expressive, mesmerizing movements of the show serves to straddle the intersection of dance, theatre, and circus. It reminded me of a dance performance that I saw in Minneapolis years back where the performers were suspended from the ceiling and hung in climbing harnesses. Their fluidity of movement created the illusion that they were swimming underwater. It was breathtaking. Strange Fruit caused the same desire in me to run away and become a circus performer. Then perhaps I could finally force myself to learn to play my musical saw in an eerie circus-music band. Hmm, I wonder if I could just install one of those poles in my backyard.
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