The Drip Dance Company held a fundraiser at Blank Space Gallery 201 East Central Boulevard across from the Public Library. This sketch shows Christie Miga at the Canvas dip station. She created this colorful canvas in minutes by pouring the paint onto its surface then letting it flow diagonally with gravity doing the work. The colors would blend and flow together in unexpected ways. Small canvases are stacked in the corner. For a small fee a guest could take a canvas and dip it on the pool of paints left on the plastic drop after Christie finished the big canvas. In the background in the corner of the room was something called a Sake Luge. This device had a guitar amplifier hooked up so that when sake was poured into the top it would flow down a series of slides and make a haunting ethereal sound on its route. The works of MC Esher were being projected on a screen. Steve acted as the DJ for the night. He stood behind his laptop computer the whole time mixing songs. Sam and Tin Tin, two drippies, were covered head to toe with monetary contribution amounts. Their bodies were divided up like those cattle meat charts you see describing cuts of beef. For $20 you could paint Tin Tin’s butt cheek red or for $15 you might paint Sam’s left breast.
There was a station set up to paint Christmas ornaments by dipping them is paint cans, or dripping the paint on using a brush or stirring stick. A young dancer would perform from a hoop that had been crudely hung from an exposed ceiling beam. The hoop dancers little sister was watching and tried to imitate her sisters performance before the crowds arrived.
I was sitting next to a ping pong table while I did the first sketch and it became difficult to draw as a game began and the guy on my end of the table took the game very seriously. He was slamming the ball as hard as he could and I was bumped more than a few times, but I persisted until the sketch was complete.
The walls were covered by the works of an artist who now had a line of Swatch watches based on his bold primitive work. The paintings remind me a bit of Keith Haring’s subway chalk graffiti work from the 80’s in NYC. AS I got ready to leave, I passed a group of girls on the sidewalk as they painted Sam’s bicep. They were having a grand old time.
The Drip Dance group is now rehearsing for a new Valentines show called FRESH which will premiere on February 13th and 14th at City Arts Factory. Mark your calenders for what should be an amazing event!
Drip at the Art Lounge
I went to the final rehearsal before the opening performance of Drip at Blank Space. Blank Space is an experimental art and coffee house located at 201 East Central Avenue right across the street from the Public Library. Linda Eve Elchack, the choreographer, pulled up in front of the performance space and through the store front windows blue and red lights began to flash. It turns out Linda had been “speeding” going 30 MPH in a 25MPH zone. She was pulled over just inches from where she would have parked. The performers stood by as they waited for the officers to go through the long process of getting the license and registration and issuing a ticket. Sam tried to distract the police by spinning and dancing. It didn’t work. Tin Tin who was shirtless from a previous rehearsal was told by Dave that he might want to get a shirt on. All the dancers had on flesh colored tights and Dave felt that Tin Tin showing some nipple might result in trouble with the police. The fact that Tin Tin then put on a shirt is an indication of the type of repressed city Orlando remains.
Lights were being set up and drop clothes were being hung everywhere. The “room” in the sketch was constructed of large sheets of black plastic and one wall of clear plastic. In the center were 2 ladders with a pole duck taped between them. Hanging from the pole was a large paint can. The performance which was filmed by Meriko involved the dancers interacting with the paint bucket which was filled with thin paint which dripped and poured out of the holes punched in the can’s bottom. The performance was called “Paint by Rain”.
Getting into and out of the room was a challenge all on it’s own. The doorway flaps were covered with wet paint from the dancers hands. I wore a white shirt and I was sure it would be covered by the time the evening was over. I ducked back into the furthest corner I could and started to sketch as the performance began. I had to get out of the way as Tin Tin made his way up the ladder and then I resumed sketching. By the time the performance was over, both dancers were covered head to toe in paint. I splattered paint over the page at random often along with the music trying to convey the messy and fun dance. I had no doubt this performance would be a show stopper. You can see DRIP perform every 3rd Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Get tickets at www.ILoveDRIP.com