Buffalo Rising Online

Hidden behind ad plastered doors, across from Jim's Steak Out, resides the Allendale Theater. Tonight I had the pleasure of entering through those doors to enjoy, Glass Garden, a production by Junko Hayashi. However, be advised that the event is sensory intensive and not recommended for the hypersensitive crowd. This combination of interpretive dance, narrative, film and experimental music creates an electric stimulation for around an hour.

This is not to say that the production was by any means vulgar or offensive, but I did witness a few senior men and women alarmed by the aggressiveness of the cross cultural portrayal. The intent behind the production was to express the alienation that comes with entering another culture after that culture has had a severe bought of technological advancement. Well, portray alienation they did.

In about ten chapters, the narrator delves into…

In potentially one of the best-named fund raisers ever, The Infringement Festival will be holding the Bizarre Bazaar this coming Saturday at Soundlab, and trust me, based on the line-up alone, it's going to live up to its name.

For a mere $5, audience members will be treated to 6 bands, 4 performers, short films and animations, and, with great potential a 50/50 raffle and an indoor garage sale. All proceeds will benefit the 2007 Infringement Festival, and even the door money will co cover printing costs for the festival brochure and other important festival expenses, so be generous if you're in a position to do so.

Why? Well, with the Infringement, you're not getting your normal, comfortable night out. These people are pushing the limits, not for some additional number of myspace friends or a potential contract, but simply because they can. As a result, the work is pure – y…

Kirsten Reynolds is a New Hampshire-based artist whose work has been on display in galleries throughout the East Coast. Her latest installment, The Other Last Moment, will show at the Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center.

Reynolds decides to explore the intersection of language, architecture, and the body in The Other Last Moment, using humor and the grotesque to “ceaselessly question the systems of thought that formed the original architectural space.” Much of the work appears on the verge of collapse, suspended in a way that insinuates both destruction and recreation.

“Modern physics and self-help gurus both agree that the observer affects the observed,” she writes, “What we think about a thing changes the thing itself. The question is: can a modern cynical society believe again in its own ability to make magic?”

If you believe, check out the e…

It was a busy and well-attended organizer's meeting tonight at Staples' of Allentown. Fresh on the heels of an Artie Award, Lead Scheduling Dude Kurt Schneiderman Publicity Dude Ron Ehmke and Treasury Dude Scott Kurchak met with a team of approximately 20 performers and organizers, and outlined upcoming meetings, events, and positions still needing to be filled. The festival itself will be held from July 26 through August 5, 2007 at various locations throughout Allentown. Roughly 110 performances, workshops, films, and other happenings are anticipated throughout the eleven-day celebration.

Not familiar with the Infringement? Well, if you liked Artists and Models, you're bound to have a great time at the Infringement Festival – eleven times as much, right?. As briefly described by puppeteer Michelle Costa, the proper response to "W…

There is usually a fun, lively, sizable crowd for opening nights in Shea’s Broadway series. Last night (Tuesday, May 24, 2007), was the opening of Chita Rivera: A Dancer’s Life, the final production touring through here for this theater season. The crowd included more of Buffalo’s theater community than usual… our own actors, directors, writers and so on, which made for a special kind of noise from the audience in response to the show.

You don’t have to be theater-savvy (just normal savvy) to read into the title and understand the gist of the show: Chita Rivera, a performer who has enjoyed a career of more than fifty years and is still going, relates to the audience her life as a dancer and the life that all dancers endure in their effort to make audiences happy . Again, just the gist, the essence, the idea. The seed--a simple thing--until planted.

The richn…

Fun, zany, entertaining and just plain weird are a few words that describe some of the artists we will see this year at Hallwalls' Artists and Models “Nocterminal” event; a fund raiser to support Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center.

Our first interview was with visual artist and connoisseur of the sensual, Sean McGarry. Upon entering Sean's studio, I was besieged by an exquisite collection of erotic artwork. Beautiful paintings of equally beautiful women indulging themselves in various pleasures of the flesh, made me feel as though I had stepped into some kind of alternate universe. This was an atmosphere of fearless self expression and moral immunity, an environment that demands a laissez faire attitude from even its toughest critic.

Buffalo Rising: Would you classify your work as art for experiment or art for entertainment?

McGarry: …