Street performers bring joy to audiences
Street performers love to interact with the people at their shows
The top critics with the Edmonton-area Cappies high school theatre program are spending this week in journalism training at the Edmonton Journal. We sent them out to cover the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival, which continues at Churchill Square until Sunday. (Check out edmontonstreetfest.com for festival hours.) Here are two of their reports. Read the others at edmontonjournal.com/cappies.
GEORGIA ASHWORTH
Ross Sheppard High School
Dana Smith has been strolling his striped pants and trunk of tricks from city to city for 40 years, a feat that few performers can boast at the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival.
The San Franciscan’s performance is a cocktail of circus arts with (to the delight of many-wide-eyed-children and the dismay of blushing adults) a focus on audience participation. His diverse array of tricks includes juggling, ball spinning, hat tricks, Chinese rhythm stick, diabolo and catching an orange on a fork held between his teeth.
Executed with the finesse of a seasoned performer, his act is coloured by a playful stream of comedic banter. The look of awe on a young volunteer’s face as he finds himself spinning a ball on his finger, the laughter that punctuates each joke and the cheers that erupt from the audience as Smith takes his final bow all attest to the performer’s ability to bring unburdened joy to every performance.
Q: How did you get into street performing?
A: I started 40 years ago as a sidekick in this little show called the Royal Lichtenstein Quarter-Ring Sidewalk Circus. For a year we travelled around the United States and I got to see how a small, impromptu, spontaneous show could build an audience.
Then I started working on my own show. It was 1974 and street performing was just coming out. We were still learning whether we could pay bills and make it work economically for us. It was a little rough at first, but it grew and many of us learned how to make a life out of it. I was one.
Q: What do you love about street performing?
A: We live in a complicated time, but street performing is so simple, so pure and elementary. That’s what attracts me to it. It’s just you and me; there is no theatre, no pretences. That’s what I love, the purity, the simplicity. I try to take that into my own life.
Q: You’ve been to the Edmonton festival six times before. What makes it special?
A: The producers make a real effort to curate the cast; they are looking for certain things. Do they have heart? Are they greedy or are they generous? Do they love that audience or are they just there for themselves? Do they have imagination?
The acts that are here have a fantastic display of imagination and everybody takes their own approach to the street. I think that’s what keeps the audience coming back. It’s democracy. You get to pay what you want after the show, if you want to pay anything at all. I love that. And the producers would never try to tell me what to do. There is a tremendous respect and freedom in street performing. Most of the shows are comedy- driven, but if you keep looking you’ll see the underlying spiritual heart guiding the performer.
COURTNEY NICKERSON
Strathcona High School
Away from the heat, the hip-hop dancers of Rhythm Speaks pop and lock with an enthusiastic crowd in the main tent at the Edmonton Street Performers Festival.
During the day, the dancers can be found teaching kids basic hip-hop moves, including floor spins.
At night, they can be found in the air and on their hands, tricking and wowing a more adult audience.
Describing their style as “tradition-ill,” the five-man Edmonton group seeks to educate young people about the hip-hop genre and inspire the next generation of dancers.
The many smiling faces of the children they work with are a testament to Rhythm Speaks’ intense passion and hard work.
Matthew Wood, Sean Paul Arceta, Jeffrey Nguyen, Lakota Tootoosis and Jackrit Kho have been performing as Rhythm Speaks for five years, but even before that under a different name. After a thrilling workshop with many excited and enthusiastic children, they agreed to talk about their style and message.
Q: What is your motivation?
A: We’re all about making a positive hip-hop influence. You know, hip-hop has a reputation of being bad. We also like to mentor upcoming dancers and encourage the little kids to pursue dance.
Q: What is ‘tradition-ill?’
A: We mix our traditional dances with b-boy. Matthew is trained in grass dance, and Lakota is trained in hoop
dancing. We have many backgrounds — Thailand, Vietnam, First Nations. We’re all native to some place, if you think about it.
Q: What do you do when you’re not performing?
A: Some of us DJ, dance, (Matthew points to Sean) do social work. Matthew DJs almost every night that he’s not dancing. Jeffrey is a chef. After the festival, at nights, we sit in this green room and trade stories and stuff with the other performers. Q: Who is the biggest character in the group? A: We’re all characters! When we’re performing, we each have our own individual characters onstage. Jeffrey has flourished … grown the most as a performer. He’s come out of his shell.
Q: What is your favourite part of the festival?
A: The fans’ response. The crowd, for sure. The growth of us as performers. The friendships we’ve gained. The teaching to kids, and when one of them wants to pursue it. We’ve been at this festival for 10 years now and each time we step it up another level.