Jul. 04, 2012 - Issue #872: The Beer Issue
StreetFest
» Taking audience participation to a new level
Fri, Jul 6 – Sun, Jul 15
Sir Winston Churchill Square
edmntonstreetfest.com
For the 28th year, Edmonton welcomes street performers from at home and around the globe for a packed program of top-notch entertainment featuring more than 1500 performances.
"It means a lot, not just for us in Edmonton, being 28 years old, but also on the world street as opposed to the world stage," says artistic producer Shelley Switzer, who has held the position since 2000, and was a volunteer prior to that. "This festival was actually the first of its kind in North America."
The festival runs rain or shine, and incorporates a variety of new acts, including Bendy Em, a contortionist from Australia; the clowning skills of Grant Goldie, Lords of Strut, who Switzer says will definitely be entertaining for the ladies and Spandy Andy, who will be keeping things tight and bright, along with a host of jugglers, unicyclists and acrobats.
"It's one of the most unique art forms, really, that is showcased in a festival situation," Switzer notes of street performing. "It's a very different business model, if you will, because it's all about access. It's about gathering people for a good time and they get to choose the value of the performance at the end. It's not charged in advance."
Jacqueline van de Geer, also known as DJ Groovy Jacks, has been a DJ for 25 years and will be manning the turntables at the silent disco, which offers party goers a whole new way to get their groove on. Each participant gets their own set of headphones and tunes into a variety of music, which can't be heard without the headset.
"You can totally be in our own bubble," she says over the phone from Montréal, adding that at the same time it allows people to easily interact with one another, since they're not shouting over loud music. "It gives you a lot of freedom how you're dancing, even though you're all dancing to the same music. It gives you a lot of freedom how to express yourself with your own body because nobody on the side knows what music you're listening to anyway."
Geer plans to keep the all-ages event entertaining with a music mix that incorporates everything from '20s Charleston to modern hits. vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus
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