DCist Preview: Kennedy Center's 25th Annual Open House
The Kennedy Center kicks off its fall season with its annual Open House Arts Festival, a highlight of its performance calendar. Every year, as part of its Performing Arts for Everyone initiative, the Center opens its doors to the public and folks can see cutting edge artists from around the world in nearly every performance space the venue has to offer. This Saturday marks the 25th installment of the festival, dubbed Stage & Street Spectacular. In recognition of that milestone, the event’s organizers took a step back to assess their approach.
“The festival is so large that it can be difficult to see as many artists as you would like,” said Garth Ross, director of Performing Arts for Everyone. “It gave us a chance to look at how to serve the patrons better.”
This examination led Ross and fellow organizers to the street performance tradition, which is well established elsewhere in the world, but not very prevalent in the United States. A major inspiration was the Aurillac Festival International de Théâtre de Rue, an annual 4-day French street festival that draws some 100,000 visitors, and that is known for its artistic breadth and depth, ranging from slapstick comedy to the avant-garde. With this range in mind, and in cooperation with the French American Cultural Foundation, the Kennedy Center has assembled artists from around the globe for the Open House. These include local and national artists, and international artists from France, Canada, and as far away as Australia.
"This style of performance is highly participatory," Ross explained. "Essentially, this year, anywhere you turn, any point in the day, there will be a performance for you to take in."
Highlights include We Built This City, by Australia's Polyglot Puppet Theatre. Guided by company members, who will act as construction supervisors, children are invited to turn the Center's South Plaza into a city of cardboard boxes, with their imaginations as the only limit on what is possible. This project will have musical accompaniment from local acts DJ Lunch Money, Mambo Sauce, and others. Other performers will include a local unicyclist, the oldest flea circus in the country, a nationally recognized double dutch team, aerialists, and interventionist artists from Canada and France. These are artists who do not just perform, but wander through the crowd and make patrons part of their out-of-the-box performances.
For those who value personal space, Ross assures that there is no reason for anyone to feel uncomfortable when it comes to engaging the artists.
"These are all artists who make their living doing this," he said. "The expertise and sensitivity with which they read their audience is pretty remarkable."
These street performances will complement traditionally staged events taking place in the Center's more formal venues, of which there are several notables. Local afro-funk band Chopteeth and Latin ensemble BioRitmo will perform dance sets in the Theater Lab. The Family Theater will host Lesole's Dance Project and the Kennedy Center's Dance Theatre of Harlem. The Eisenhower Theater will host The Ark, by L'Arsenal, a French-Canadian theater company. This piece uses an innovative projection technique, music, and wordless performance to draw attention to environmental issues. In addition to the myriad performances going on throughout the day, the Center's Upstairs Atrium will be home to the 14th Annual Multicultural Children’s Book Festival, which celebrates diverse cultures with renowned authors.
Ross hopes that this event will be part of a broader acceptance in this country of street performance as a legitimate art form. If there is a positive reaction, this could be a huge well for performers and presenters alike.
"The simple reality of being a theater is that there are so many conventions," he said. "When you take it outside, it’s a fresh start between artist and audience. That’s what I found so engaging."
The 25th Annual Kennedy Center Open House Arts Festival and 14th Annual Multicultural Children's Book Festival take place on Saturday, July Sept. 12, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the grounds of the Kennedy Center.