Dancing in the Street

I spent most of the afternoon yesterday at the 4th Street block arts festival.  I've already mentioned here that the block on 4th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues is jam packed with arts orgs, including La Mama, the Kraine Theater, KGB, and New York Theatre Workshop--where the eventual Broadway smash hit Rent first premiered in 1996.

Visually, it's small and unassuming, tenement lined.  I found a chair and watched a stream of dance companies perform, and then this performance artist, attached to a plastic tube attached to a garden hose.  She wore a plastic dress reminiscent of a hospital gown.  The dress began to slowly full of water.  As if unaware, the artist danced in the dress, her movements slowing as the dress got heavier.  It was both visually and theoretically fascinating.  What could it be a metaphor for?  Moving through tight and or heavy places.  Too easy, probably.

Eventually, she collapsed on the street and began to leak, bleed water.  It looked both alarming and lovely.  I have a line-up of outdoor events today, including Circus Amok.  I love that just because summer is officially over it doesn't mean we all have to move inside yet.