Experimental Cabaret, Lark Tavern, Monday, Feb. 12

The Experimental Cabaret, with your host Nicole Peyrafitte, continues to be a fascinating event, even with fill-in/guest readers, such as myself. Held on the second Monday of each month at Tess' Lark Tavern on Madison Ave. in Albany, NY, performers must present work in more than one medium, but simply singing & playing the guitar is not enough.

On February 12 Nicole & I performed "America, America" by Iraqi poet Saadi Yousef, with graphics projected behind us (Nicole's techie intern Sarah Rogowski handling the computer & digital camera). The program was planned to highlight the up-coming 4th anniversary of the U.S. invasion & occupation of Iraq. We also performed three poems by another Iraqi poet, Dunya Mikhail, "An Urgent Call," "The War Works Hard," and "Bag of Bones," with, literally, a bag of bones.

During the break, as the next group set up, Nicole spun out genuine, 100% French crepes, garnished with sugar & lemon juice.

The second program were shadow dances by Sara Worden, with Tonya Abernathy, Jim Clark, Cullen Kasunic, Bonnie Lee & Ingrid Staats, with music by Ryder Cooley on saw & accordian and Chris Harvey on bells. The shadows of the dancers were projected from behind a scrim, the combined bodies at times like outlines of gods we see in Tibetan mandelas. One never knows what one will see at the Experimental Cabaret, do one?

(Note, on Sunday, March 18 there will be a peace march in Albany from the Museum steps at the Empire State Plaza to the Federal Building. Each participant is asked to carry the name of a U.S. serviceman or woman killed in Iraq. To register & be assigned a name, and for more information, visit the website, www.RememberingTheFallen.org.)