Albany WordFest, etc., April 20

The "etc." was the final event of the semester in the Yes! Poetry & Performance series at the Social Justice Center, in Albany, NY. I was just passing through on my way to Urban Guerilla Theatre but caught part of the performance. This night combined modern dance, poetry & a dance party.

The small storefront space was packed with dance fans/friends for Rachelle Smith-Stallman & Company in an piece with grim & dirty (black charcoal) abstract dancing, abstract electronic & guitar music, &, well, abstract lighting & projection to-boot. I like watching such dancing, because I like watching human bodies in motion, but don't always get what's what (like a lot of modern "experimental" poetry).

After the dancers cleared out there was more room in the place & the one poet I caught was Tim Peterson reading his chapbook Violet Speech (2nd Ave. Poetry). The text was taken from documents from his life & a discourse on contemporary queer poetics. As Tim explained, he had been (almost) evicted from his home, from his poetry & from his body.

UGT had already begun so I split & missed the rest of Yes! Hopefully there will be more when the season starts up in the Fall (but let's not wish the Summer away!).

This month's Urban Guerilla Theatre was billed as "Skit Happens," featuring short videos, "Booty Credit" Parts 1 & 2 with the very sexy Tenesha Smith using her assets to buy things in a store. There was comedy (of sorts), Jessica did a porn-poem "I Faked It", Christopher the P.O.E.T. did some of the pieces he did last night at the Social Justice Center, FLOETIK (a group from Detroit) did some rap/hip hop pieces, including the moving "Cry for Me," even some characteristically uplifting words of wisdom from Poetic Visionz. There was more that I missed on this night of half-shows as the 2012 Albany WordFest continues.

UGT is usually on the 3rd Friday of the month at the Linda Auditorium of WAMC on Central Ave., Albany, NY.