The Swiss Alphorn Group from New Glarus started things off as they always do.
When they had finished, a woman came out onto the stage and greeted everyone. She began by thanking them for attending but quickly got caught up in the events up the street at the Capitol. The Wisconsin Arts Board is looking at major budget cuts under Gov. Walker's budget and the woman noted this and also that the International Festival is a free event due, in part, to funding from the WAB. While we were given no specifics on what the cuts might do to the festival, she implored everyone to go out and protest at some point during the day. At this point she got all fired up and her voice grew louder. Her message was that artists work and that they are not freeloaders. So go out and tell Walker that you appreciate the arts and what they bring into your lives.
An unexpected outburst but not at all surprising and one that got a thunderous round of applause.
When the festivities got going again, we were treated to the Zhong Yi Kung Fu Association doing a Chinese lion dance.
It's great how the lions fan out into the crowd nipping at the head of the occasional child.
Outside I caught a phalanx of protestors from the medical profession marching down State Street.
I tried to catch the Tania Tandias Flamenco dancers but the Playhouse was already full and they were only letting people in as others left. So I went to hear the Madison Männerchor, the oldest German singing organization in Wisconsin and the second oldest in the nation, doncha know.
Oddly enough, it was only when they had gotten about ¾ of the way through their performance that they finally did a drinking song.
After this I went to see the Taiwan Puppet Troupe. I saw them for the first time last year and wanted to catch their act again. Madison needs more puppets. I am jealous of Chicago when I go down to the Loop and see the Puppet Bike. Anyway, the Taiwan troupe do a couple tales from Taiwanese folklore and they're a hoot. Especially the tiger that eats the girl…
Here's Wojciech Czapliński of the Polish klezmer band KlezmaFour. He plays the clarinet and is the de facto band leader. He was at the table of the Polish Heritage Club hawking tickets for that night's concert at the High Noon Saloon and CDs.
KlezmaFour were to have local purveyors of klezmer Yid Vicious open for them and I caught a good chunk of their set. I spied Anna Purnell of Chick Singer and Reptile Palace Orchestra fame cutting a rug.
I took a break and caught a couple numbers by Charanga Agoza who put on a great Latin groove.
Then it was back upstairs to catch the guys in KlezmaFour do a number before Yid Vicious finished things off.
These guys were incredible. They got things moving and I saw Anna pull off her sweatshirt and hat and get down.
While I'd hoped to have more photos, my camera proved to be a pain. I couldn't get the flash to work for some reason and I suspect I have to get the timer thingy to stop flashing. Might be time to get a new camera. Either that or read the manual.
I would hate to see the International Fest go away. I'd be willing to pay a fee to get in but I'm not sure how charging would change the tenor of the thing. It would certainly throw off the informal nature of it where families can just walk in off the street to see what's happening without making a commitment. Even Adam Smith saw a role for government in providing public works so let's hope Walker's budget doesn't gut the state's commitment to the arts.
And where was the Indian fry bread this year?
No comments:
Post a Comment