Party In The Park June 23, 2014
Williamstown Township, in combination with the inimitable Mark Chatterly, asked POPIN Artists to create a show in the open air at the Williamstown Township Park on Grand River, near Burkley Road, in Williamston, Michigan for June 23rd, 2014.
This was to be a means to introduce opinion makers to the under-used park, and to reveal a community art project which created painted park benches for park visitors to rest and admire the incredible scenery on.
In the process, we invited out powerful cadre of performers, poets, musicians and dancers to participate.
Our headliner for this gig was "Caliope," a really wonderful local-band, internationally popular, with a charming and gentle sensibility which perfectly reflected the vibrations of the afternoon and evening. Take a moment to view this video of them shot at the party, you will feel how peaceful and inspiring and enervating this gig was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kAmNRYwMdM
We organized a neighborhood potluck and, with the help of Township Supervisor Mickey Martin and local law enforcement, the park was closed to the public and became an "invitation only" event focused on the opinion leader audience and the artists who had contributed benches, in order for us to allow people to bring the libations of their choice.
The script started with the potluck and a meet-and-greet under the awnings donated by the Williamston High School Track Team, went on to a POPIN Artists performance, which included the Spanish band, Quatro Sur, several poets and writers reading their work, and ended with a performance involving everyone in attendance, led by our choreographer, Jane Gamble, that revealed the park. We had a path of tiki torches laid out leading up the ski hill we were set up on, to the beautiful rainbow scrim we set up between two amazing Chatterley sculptures (look behind Caliope in the video). Guests were enticed up the hill, through the path, by a Native American flute played by Kate and then engaged in a wonderful free-form ballet created by Ms. Gamble especially for the occasion, to the accompaniment of Carmina Burana, at the end of which we revealed the real magic of the park: a long, prairie wilderness rolling down to the river in the distance by drawing people beyond the scrim like the pied piper.
As we reached the top of the hill, dusk was in deep process and the stars were out. Millions of them, shying and tinkling in the rising heat waves. Then, at the top, we looked into the valley below, and there—in an incredibly exquisite vision of celebratory nature—there were a million fireflies rising out of the grasses. We were in a field of light sparks.
Guests followed Jane and Kate as they rolled down the hill, shouting and laughing.
A magic evening.
The artists performing were:
Quatro Sur
Michel and Kristen Teager
Paul and Carol Martin
Dan Bator
Caliope
And more (Paul will update very soon)
This was to be a means to introduce opinion makers to the under-used park, and to reveal a community art project which created painted park benches for park visitors to rest and admire the incredible scenery on.
In the process, we invited out powerful cadre of performers, poets, musicians and dancers to participate.
Our headliner for this gig was "Caliope," a really wonderful local-band, internationally popular, with a charming and gentle sensibility which perfectly reflected the vibrations of the afternoon and evening. Take a moment to view this video of them shot at the party, you will feel how peaceful and inspiring and enervating this gig was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kAmNRYwMdM
We organized a neighborhood potluck and, with the help of Township Supervisor Mickey Martin and local law enforcement, the park was closed to the public and became an "invitation only" event focused on the opinion leader audience and the artists who had contributed benches, in order for us to allow people to bring the libations of their choice.
The script started with the potluck and a meet-and-greet under the awnings donated by the Williamston High School Track Team, went on to a POPIN Artists performance, which included the Spanish band, Quatro Sur, several poets and writers reading their work, and ended with a performance involving everyone in attendance, led by our choreographer, Jane Gamble, that revealed the park. We had a path of tiki torches laid out leading up the ski hill we were set up on, to the beautiful rainbow scrim we set up between two amazing Chatterley sculptures (look behind Caliope in the video). Guests were enticed up the hill, through the path, by a Native American flute played by Kate and then engaged in a wonderful free-form ballet created by Ms. Gamble especially for the occasion, to the accompaniment of Carmina Burana, at the end of which we revealed the real magic of the park: a long, prairie wilderness rolling down to the river in the distance by drawing people beyond the scrim like the pied piper.
As we reached the top of the hill, dusk was in deep process and the stars were out. Millions of them, shying and tinkling in the rising heat waves. Then, at the top, we looked into the valley below, and there—in an incredibly exquisite vision of celebratory nature—there were a million fireflies rising out of the grasses. We were in a field of light sparks.
Guests followed Jane and Kate as they rolled down the hill, shouting and laughing.
A magic evening.
The artists performing were:
Quatro Sur
Michel and Kristen Teager
Paul and Carol Martin
Dan Bator
Caliope
And more (Paul will update very soon)