Cavalcade of amazement: Saturday field report, continued

I've lived in Buffalo for over twenty years now, and I'm pretty sure today ranks as one of the most delightful afternoons and evenings I've ever spent in this town. First, the Real Dream Cabaret did our third show of four (pictures of which are posted here), then, as noted elsewhere, I spent a little time with Julie Perini's Hydration project (documented here).

Next, I set off in search of Arzu Ozkal Telhan's roaming street performance, Self-De/fence. I never quite found her, so you'll just have to pretend that this



is a picture of her in action, since it looks a teensy bit like her specially designed wearable fence. Abandoned that search, saw Gary Corbin at Allen Dance Studio (described in a separate post), made a reservation for Car Stories for Sunday, then walked over to Coit House for a bit of Virtual Reality MicroTheatre. Somewhere in there I had a bite to eat at the Hardware Cafe and watched some of the aura readings across the street:



The scene on Allen Street Saturday night was glorious. I haven't lived in Allentown in years, but I kinda doubt this is a usual occurence: people clustered around Rust Belt for the shows there, crowds inside Nietzsche's which spilled outside and intersected with Kate Parzych's Fluxus-style piece, Constellations, which called for collective bubble-blowing:



Right next door there was an opening at College Street Gallery.Meanwhile, MC Vendetta was across the street outside the Hardware Cafe doing another of her excellent spoken-word shows (now with a mic and backing tracks, unlike the previous 2 times I'd seen her). And just a few feet away, a nice-sized crowd sat in Days Park watching Squeaky Wheel's evening of short animated films (which continues in Martin Luther King Park, by the way):



Fiiiiiinally, Scott Kurchak, a carload of his cronies, several folks I recruited at the last minute, miscellaneous strangers, and I kicked off the premiere production of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot (more like Shakespeare in the Parking SPACE, but nobody seemed to mind). Lit by car headlights and flashlights, this was about 90% spontaneous and 100% fun. Dave Pape took way better pictures and posted them here, but I'll share my meager snapshot just because I can:



I've had days like this in New York, scurrying from one show to another, but never quite this many in one evening. I was in hog heaven. The street scene reminded me (on a MUCH smaller scale) of public festivals I've been to in Toronto and New Orleans, but it had a distinctly Buffalo flavor. Low-key but heartfelt. Friends and strangers galore. I heard many of them remark about how incredible all this was.

So, what did you do this weekend? Post your inFRINGEment (and/or other) stories here.

And, I dunno, but I keep thinking as the festival continues that the city has really turned a corner somehow, culturally speaking; it doesn't feel like the same place it was 10 or 15 years ago. That was a good place, too, but this one feels like it's come of age, or is in the process of catching up with the times or something. No county funding? City and county governed by control boards? If you ask me, that's only part of the story. The Allentown I spent the day in didn't look like it was on life support at all; it looked like a thriving urban hotspot to me. Now all we need is to get that word out to more people, locally and otherwise.