Twas the first Saturday of December and unseasonably warm, which was surely a good omen for the Performance Salon of the International Women Artists' Salon's Exhibition TWO:colortalk. Chashama, the beguilingly named host for a two-week celebration of visual, literary and performance arts from NYC's global melting pot of talented shes, offered a tempting 42nd Street debut for me as MC. I got there to find an extemporised tech being banged out by one of the super performers and visual artist Patricia Shea. What a trouper! By combination of gerry-rigging a hidden PA system - with no sight lines to our stage - in what was once presumably a clothing store, and bringing into action an amped-up boombox, she ensured the show would go on. Meanwhile Salonista-in-chief, Heidi Russell, wrestled with fabulous large sculptural pieces to make way for the expected hordes. I was trying to take the time to make sure my running order was going to work, checking in with performers and making my Hiyer-Ku poems slightly more colour-coordinated than the astonishing assemblage of clothing I had on, not to mention some clown-face makeup. There are no lengths I will avoid to make a rainbow. Our 7pm stated start time slipped a little (the luxury of being free from the discipline of a stage manager) as we waited for a couple of performers, along with AN AUDIENCE. We kicked off with my reading the poems of the absentee artist, Janet Restino (happily booked for a paying gig), and the world premiere of my specially devised HIYER-KU, Manchester's irreverent answer to a more delicate Japanese art. And we were off. Karlyn DeSteno captured much delicacy with her mesmerising blend of folk guitar and voice, then Melissa Riker swung everything around, literally (or maybe bodily?), with a site-specific devised dance piece that took her and her hat out of the storefront and scampering around the scaffolding outside. She made the most of the balmy night and caught the attention of passers by as she looked in on the audience, rapt by her playful and poised movement. Way to draw a crowd! Aimee Whelan kicked up the energy another notch with her swelligant renditions of a few showtunes (replete with some avant-garde chair-dancing by yours truly during an instrumental break) which took us into an intermission that buzzed with excitement and joy. Our impromptu, show-saving tech director, Patricia Shea opened Part the Second with her punchy guitar-fuelled folk-rock, then Kelley Donovan snaked her way through the space with her hypnotic dance of reptilian renewal. Jendog Lonewolf jumpstarted my heart - and the audience - as she paid tribute to our Jenny Green clan in her powerful, lyrical hip-hop, before being joined by the arrestingly beautiful Yalini Dream' sung and spoken performance poetry. There was scarcely a dry eye in the - pleasingly full - house by the time we finished. I for one felt we had all given from our multi-colored, multi-cultured hearts to make the Exhibition TWO Performance Salon the best free ticket in town for some time to come.
HIYER-KU OF THE RAINBOW, by Jenny D
RED
I hate red
my mum always says,
so in defiance I like it
for the slag in my bed
YELLOW
He called it mellow yellow
in a hippy haze.
Sunflower head,
Or colour self-dead?
PINK
Pink stinks
for outraged feminista
But l’il girls still love it
- Powderpuff sista
GREEN
Envy, earthy, innocent, fresh
So much meaning,
a colour most blest.
And, it’s my name – Pellegrino!
ORANGE
Orange is not the only fruit.
An amber flash,
a ginger joke.
Pekoe flower tribute
PURPLE
I am old enough to wear purple,
curse within my prose,
yet prefer the crush of velvet
To a drunken bruise
BLUE
A kind of sad thing,
Downbeat jazz
Smokey ganja party
Hallucinogenic smurf
Jenny D Green: mc, actor and producing artist, working in NYC since she graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2008. She has enjoyed hosting events ever since leading school assemblies as a tween (before tweens existed) and is more surprised than anyone that this has recently developed into being a Priestess (of the non-denominational www. kind). Fave mc & presenting gigs incl Mind The Gap, the BBC, Manhattan Theatre Source & indeed The Duplex. See jennydgreen.org for more and please don’t hesitate to contact Jenny at jennydgreen@gmail.com especially if you need your nuptials officiating! And keep an eye on her production company The OPTimistiks for word on a PANTOMIME for NYC...
