Bandaloop Dame and Devil

Bandaloop Dame and Devil Dance Across the Face of the Continental Building, 2012

Bandaloop Dame and Devil Dance Across the Face of the Continental Building, 2012

Let’s hear it for the red, white and blue and a girl with a sensible pair of shoes. It takes a good pair of shoes to be able to prance across an undulating terra-cotta façade, twenty stories up. Microsoft’s Windows 8 has as its screen saver the ability to use your photographs as a slide show. Both Anne and I really enjoy this feature and frequently find ourselves hypnotized by it. Often I see a photo that I would like to use for the blog, but with over a 100,000 pictures in the library, it is sometimes difficult to actually find the photo. Not so much with this one, because I had posted about the troupe here, at the time and knew when it had occurred. We got there early enough that I could consult with the professional photographers. They advised that I obliquely shoot the show, capturing the space between the building and the dancers. One of the building’s signature busts of a continental soldier is in the background of this shot. Bandaloop was the headliner that year for the Saint Louis festival, Dancing in the Streets. I wish that they would bring back both the festival and Bandaloop.

Bandaloop

It was a fun-filled day. I’m trying to beat a midnight deadline, so I’ll make this brief. We did a lot, but I’ll tell you all about that later. The highpoint of the day was Dancing in the Streets. This is an event where 2000 dancers strut their stuff. One troupe was head and toes above the rest. Heck, they were ten stories above the rest. That troupe would be Bandaloop, a San Francisco based aerial act. Each dancer is suspended from a single rope. They rappel down the face of a tall building, artistically. Today, it was the Continental Life Building in the Grand Center. Interesting there is a local urban legend that claims that the Continental Life Building was the stand-in for the Daily Planet, in the 1950s era Superman TV show. Legend says that Superman jumped off of it dozens of times. Today, these incredible performers put fact to that legend.

Balloon Glow

Forest Park Balloon Glow 2013

Forest Park Balloon Glow 2013

Anne and I find ourselves unusually over scheduled this weekend. It’s not like we have lots of parties to attend, we don’t. It is because STL has a lot going on this weekend. Last weekend there was nothing going on. Only the Cards managed to fill our Sunday dance card. Who still manage to be in first place! Last night, we had not one, but two things to do. We opted for the balloon glow in Forest Park, but we could have gone to see Shakespeare in the Streets instead. We’ll try to see Shakespeare tonight, even though this now conflicts with Dancing in the Streets. With all of these closed streets, it is a good thing that we’ll be on bicycles today. Plus there are at least two quilting events and the balloon festival continues on. There are too many things to do!

Wehrenberg is a local movie theater chain. It is also the oldest family owned theater chain in the US. My most memorable experience with them was in 1980. I was working nights. Anne was working days. So, me and some of my co-workers went to the first matinée showing of The Empire Strikes Back. Yesterday, at work a bunch of people were consumed with creating a document. The book captain was speaking with another engineer, who said, “All right, I’ll give it a try.” She answered in true Yoda fashion, “No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.” Puzzled, he asked her what was she talking about. It turns out that he had never seen Empire, which dumbfounded everyone else.