As I stepped up to the Lincoln Center Fountain for the International Body Music Festival, the first signs of performance art I witnessed were similar to what you may see in the streets of China town in New York or San Francisco.  A group of five danced around with a big lion, clanging cymbals, and waving bright orange pieces of fabric.  This “Lion Dance” wasn’t anything new or original; nothing I hadn’t seen before.  The group moved from near the fountain over to the outdoor stage where we were to set our attention for the main attraction.

For the first approximately 17 minutes of the concert itself, two women, seemingly very close (turns out they were cousins), stood in the middle of the stage, holding each other, and sharing one microphone.  They were “throat singing”, which they described to us (the audience) as “competing with their voices.”  They completed six sets of their throat singing, which was a little too much.  More interesting than the performance itself was observing the reactions of the people watching it.  Expressions ranged from smiles to confused “what’s going on” looks.  The whole section was definitely amusing, though.

The next act of the festival included a group of three men and two women.  It started off with some beat boxing, like the background to a new hip-hop song, which was enjoyable.  The two women were soulful singers, each with an Alicia Keys-type voice.  One woman, wearing a purple jumper (Destani Wolf), branched off into a solo, which was fantastic.  People came out from the wings of the outdoor stage and began accompanying the songs with some tribal-like dances, clapping, and moving around in a circle.  The performances by the three men tended to be a little dull in comparison to the ones by the two women.  The ‘tribal dancers’ went into some unconventional form of dance with an odd backbeat, and after a while of it, it got a little tedious to watch- or rather, to listen to.  Of course, when the woman in the purple jumper came back to do her own thing, the show became more entertaining.

Following this act, a man in a pin striped vest and matching suit pants sat down in a chair and step-danced.  Things were turning into one step team after another, like I was at my high school pep rally.  The whole act was something you could tap your foot to or nod your head to, but not too much more.  In fact, that was basically all the audience seemed to be doing.

The next group that got onto the stage after the pin striped man (Derique McGee) exited did mainly the same thing he had been doing, only without the chair.  There was clapping, stomping, and even some of making that hollow popping sound with an open mouth and the palm of your hand.

Overall, the whole experience of the show being outside made it what it was.  With the changing bright lights behind the screens surrounding the open stage with the Lincoln Center banners hanging, it really was a beautiful sight.  Raindrops were falling approximately every seven seconds, accompanied by the distant sounds of ambulance sirens in the background.  Very ‘night in NYC’.

Back to the actual entertainment.  A new guy was on stage clapping, snapping, and tapping his chest.  The audience imitated his motions and movements, which was a welcome interaction.  Finally, a man came out to the middle of the stage and started singing in Portuguese to accompany the stomping and clapping.  That really livened the performance up, as it was getting a little old with the constant step-team acts.  The novel excitement was short-lived though, as the rudimentary stomping and clapping resumed.

By 9 pm, after the show started at 7:30, you could see the crowd thinning out.  I wasn’t sure if I should blame the drizzle or the entertainment, as it was getting a little too repetitive for my taste, and apparently, the taste of the rest of the audience.  But, on a positive note, the obnoxious commentator man seated behind me left the show to “go hear some music on Columbus,” or so I gathered from his too-loud voice.

The man singing in Portuguese came back out on stage, once again making things more interesting.  The music was a kind of rap, which apparently sounds good in any language.  It’s always nice to hear sounds come out of mouths and not just hands and feet.  The ends of our extremities can only be fascinating for so long.  The whole scene with the ethnic music and dance made me feel a little as if I was a visitor in Disneyworld’s Epcot.

But of course, the stomping and clapping had to predominate once more.  When they finally left the stage, they got a standing ovation, which I wasn’t sure was because they were so great or because people thought the whole thing was over and they were simultaneously getting up to leave.

Fortunately, the group of five with the very talented woman came back on, and ended the whole festival on a positive note, with some singing, which was a welcome change.

Seeing the International Body Music Festival was a great thing to do on a Thursday night, but I wouldn’t peg it as “must see while you’re in town.”  It isn’t an absolute ‘can’t miss’, but it is definitely entertaining, and probably nice to stop in at for a while on the way back from dinner, as it was free and it seemed like you could just come and go as you pleased.  Even from the streets outside of Lincoln Center it would have been great to listen to.  The whole experience of the show and music was definitely enjoyable, as it’s nice to hear music coming from our selves alone, and not just with the assistance of instruments or objects or high-tech sound systems.  It’s amazing to hear what we can do with just ourselves as resources.