Most of the work was done when I swung by the Paint Louis wall Monday afternoon. A few finishing touches were being applied while visitors like me cruised for photos. This woman was posing in front of one section while another took pictures. They said they were friends of the artist. I asked if I could join in and they were happy to oblige. Since she was standing in a circle, it occurred to me to have her raise her arms like clock hands.
I've been posting photos from the St. Lou Fringe for a couple of weeks. There are a few more shows for me to edit for the festival archives but it's time for a change.
There are a few miles of 20 foot / 6 meter floodwall along the Mississippi south of the Arch. Every Labor Day weekend muralists and taggers can redecorate the whole thing, and thus Paint Louis. This character - I don't know what you would call it - greets artists and visitors from a pillar under a railroad trestle as you enter the area. I don't know who does these. It's someone local and you see the figures here and there around town. It's freestanding but note that it's chained to the pillar.
I've mentioned before that I don't much get dance. I'm not putting it down, I'm just physically graceless. I could barely shuffle my feet across the floor at my and my daughter's weddings. So when I shoot a performance like this for the Fringe I'm thinking about images and F stops. Others decide on the meaning.
This performance was called Hey! We're Working Here. The ticketing website has this description: "How do a lifetime of memories, thoughts, and associations influence the choices we make each day? Watch dancers and musicians explore each other's choices as they work to create a piece in real time based on audience input." Okay, if you say so. Unfortunately, I have no information about the dance company.
I've been wanting to mix in some other material with these performances but have been thwarted. There is a major Japanese festival at our botanical garden over Labor Day weekend. We went over yesterday morning and found that the third most distant overflow parking lot was full. There was rain in the forecast for the afternoon so we bailed and went to brunch. Turned out we guessed right. A lot of people got very wet.
A provocative title. The comedy/cabaret/confessional is best described in the words of the performer, Brooke McCarthy: Blake (the character) has a problem - she is wrestling with a desire for a loving monogamous relationship...and so much more. Will Blake's latest and more mature love interest Guy be the answer for her orgiastic fantasies of love and sexual gratification? Or is it impossible to be an Ethical Slut? This original one-woman cabaret show is a bold, sexy and vulnerable story that is sure to leave you laughing about sex and wondering about love. (Hint - lots of it is funny but it's not all happy.) www.howtobeanethicalslut.com
It has been six years since Miki Byrne, Khnemu Menu-Ra and Terrie Carolan last performed their cabaret act at the St. Louis Fringe. I photographed parts of two of their performances this year. The show has evolved and this version was based on the poetry of William Shakespeare, blended with songs from Lady Gaga, Prince and Stephen Sondheim, among others. The trio has been working together a long time and blend perfectly.
The name of the show is meaningless. It's just catchy, something that's hard to forget. Variations have been around for years. I saw a version of it in Chicago perhaps 15 years ago. The deal is that there are 24 scenarios for two minute improvs that have to be completer in 48 minutes. If the cast doesn't make it, the audience gets a treat. Here it was candy. In Chicago it was pizza. Way better.
The four actors were theater students from Indiana University. They were terrific, totally out full bore. The premises included "Masterpieces of the Lyric Form: Exploring Neitzschian Images of Superman in 'Crank Dat' By Soulja Boy" and "Three Year Old Interview: Pringles and an interview by a three year old, what could be better?" And each explained in two minutes.
I'm only half way through the Fringe shows I photographed. There is a lot going on in The Lou this weekend. I'll be featuring some of that with Fringe images mixed in. Who knows, I might have more than one post a day.
I can get people to act like complete idiots for me and be proud of it. Find out which City Daily Photo members are faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive at https://citydailyphoto.org/category/theme-days/.
