A Zany weekend of Downtown performance art
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Zany Umbrella Circus is celebrating its 10th anniversary with performances of "Cake" at Market Square this weekend.
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A weekend after the St. Patrick's Day festivities, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership will keep the city lively this weekend with public performances by our own Zany Umbrella Circus and Sisters of the Lattice.
The Zany Umbrella Circus will celebrate its 10th anniversary in Market Square with a retrospective featuring free performances, workshops and a traveling museum. Zany is presenting "Cake," a live visual storybook, with bold colors and 1950s-era stylings, about a young child whose birthday surprise does not go as planned. It will integrate aerial, trapeze, clowning, mask work and other circus feats.
"Growing up in Pittsburgh, and working in communities throughout the world, it is very meaningful to bring this retrospective series to Market Square," Zany executive director Ben Sota said in a statement. "In particular, Market Square really feels like a spot that is for ALL of Pittsburgh."
Performances are at noon, 5 and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2, 6 and 8 p.m. Sunday. The performers will also offer free workshops including classes in juggling, plate spinning and mini-stilting, along with a photo and video gallery museum on their school bus. Workshops are free, but participants are encouraged to sign up in advance.
On the other end of town you'll find The Sisters of the Lattice, self-described "conjoined techno-mystics who work to deepen the connection between individuals and the technological devices they use every day."
They will transform the parking lot located at 921-923 Liberty Ave. into a group meditation space with HOTSPOT, a participatory ceremony connecting a human "wireless network" through the viewing of an 80-minute experimental documentary film, "Link," filmed during the Sisters' May 2012 American Tour. Ten selected individuals will sit for this ceremony in one of the Sisters' personal steam saunas.
It will take place at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The Sisters are Pittsburgh-based Agnes Bolt and Nina Sarnelle, both of whom earned master's in fine arts degrees from Carnegie Mellon University. They explain HOTSPOT, saying, "Downtown Pittsburgh is an area where rivers converge, some say even creating an energetic vortex. With this event, we hope to harness the social and symbolic energy of the Golden Triangle."
Also this weekend, the Office of Public Art will offer the Public Art Walking Tour: North Side from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday, beginning at the Buhl Community Park at the Children's Museum.
On Saturday from 6 to 7:30 p.m., the Office of Public Art will host a happy hour at Tavern 245, Downtown, to celebrate the redesigned Pittsburgh Artist Registry, the region's only free database for artists of all disciplines (PittsburghArtistRegistry.org).
Information: pittsburghartscouncil.org. www.zanyumbrellacircus.com, www.sistersofthelattice.info/connect.html.
First Published March 21, 2013 12:00 am
