PHILA.’S POPPING arts scene struts its stuff around the city as September be-

gins. Artists both world-famous and up-and-coming are performing in dozens of

venues as part of our Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe festival. We take a

look at one imaginative local performer on page 3.

PhiladelphiaDaily Record

Vol. II No. 133 (293) Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia September 6, 2011

TakesCenterStage

2 | THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD 6 SEPTEMBER, 2011

T h e P h i l a d e l p h i a P u b l i c R e c o r d C a l e n d a rSep. 10- 1st Nat’l Organiza-

tional Policy Sum-

mit at School

District Bldg. Main

Audit., 440 N.

Broad St. to fight

for additional fed-

eral and State fund-

ing, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

For info Dr.

Churchville (215)

848-8511 or Mr.

Adams (215) 397-

2734.

Sep. 10- Billy Meehan

Clambake at

Cannstatter Volks-

fest Verein, 9130

Academy Rd., 4-8

p.m. $100 per per-

son. For info

Carmella (215) 561-

0650.

Sep. 10- Jobs with Justice

and DC 47 Presi-

dent Emeritus Gary

Kapanowski hold

Sustainer Soiree in

Sir Francis Rm. at

The Drake, 1512

Spruce St., 7 p.m.-

12 a.m.

Sep. 11- Phila. Firefighters

Union Local 22 and

Penn Treaty Special

Services Dist. invite

all to attend unveil-

ing of “All the He-

roes of 9/11”

Memorial at Local

22 Union Headquar-

ters, 5th & Willow, 1

p.m.

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25 AUGUST, 2011 THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD | 3

by Nathan Lerner

For 16 days, the upcoming

Philadelphia Live Arts Festival

and Philly Fringe will dominate

the local culture scene with an un-

interrupted smörgåsbord of avant-

garde dance, theater, music and

interdisciplinary work. Now in its

15th year, the ambitious convoca-

tion will encompass a mind-bog-

gling 2,000 artists appearing in

more than 1,200 performances at

venues throughout the region.

The event was founded in 1997 as

the Philly Fringe Festival. Today, it

has morphed into a dimorphic en-

tity. The Philadelphia Live Arts

Festival is curated and includes

some of the world’s leading per-

forming artists. In many instances,

it affords the only opportunity that

Philadelphia audiences will have

to see shows that are traveling in-

ternationally.

This is complemented by the

Philly Fringe, an unfiltered plat-

form for performing artists who

are unfettered by the curatorial

process and enjoy total artistic

freedom. For some aspiring per-

formers, it provides their first

chance to take the stage and appear

in a public venue. For more expe-

rienced performers, it constitutes

an invaluable incubator for further

honing their skills and obtaining

audience feedback.

Chestnut Hill native Lauren Rile

Smith will be producing her new

show, imaginatively titled “Am-

persand,” as part of the Philly

Fringe. The 24-year-old Smith is

the founder of the performance

group Tangle. Her innovative piece

involves an amalgam of traditional

circus arts, such as trapeze, acro-

batics and aerial rope, with narra-

tive concerning the themes of

memory and belonging in an urban

milieu.

Smith graduated from Swarthmore

College with a degree in English

literature and philosophy. After

graduating, she made a somewhat

unlikely transition and enrolled at

the Philadelphia School of Circus

Arts.

Smith recalled, “When I started

training, I was inspired by the

blend of athleticism, narrative and

physical artistry in contemporary

circus arts.” Smith subsequently

undertook further training at LAVA

and Ruby Streak Trapeze Studio,

both of which are circus schools

located in Brooklyn.

Currently, Smith works at the Rare

Book and Manuscript Library of

the University of Pennsylvania.

According to her, “It allows me to

switch gears between the head-

centered world of books and li-

braries and the body-centered

world of training circus arts.”

Smith recalled, “I chose the name

‘Tangle’ for our acrobatic perform-

ance company because we are all

about the possibilities that arise

when things get complicated.” She

continued, “Tangle also evokes the

shapes of bodies you might see on-

stage when we perform.”

Smith reflected, “We devised the

show together as a company over a

long, collaborative process. We’ve

been rehearsing and collaborating

on Ampersand since March. ‘Am-

persand’ is our first full-length

show, and our first performance at

the Philadelphia Fringe Festival,

so we’ve put a lot of love and

sweat into it.”

She clarified, “We named the show

‘Ampersand’ after the typesetter’s

symbol for ‘and.’ We’re inspired

by stories of unusual connection

and intersection.” Smith described

the show as being “all about meld-

ing performance disciplines, using

music and found text to create new

concepts, bringing bodies together

in movement, building structures

from which we can take flight.”

In presenting “Ampersand,” Smith

will be joined by her 17-year-old

sister, Pascale. The latter will be

performing on aerial hoop and col-

laborating on a trapeze piece. Aug-

menting the Smith siblings, Kate

Aid, Tasha Connolly, Maura Kirk,

Lee Ane Pompilio, Sarah Nico-

lazzo and Deena Weisberg will be

performing at the show.

Smith is looking forward to pre-

senting “Ampersand” at the Philly

Fringe. She said, “I’m excited to

bring this show to the festival be-

cause I think it’s very special —

not quite like any other dance, the-

ater or even circus-arts show, but

sharing elements of many different

styles of performance.”

Ampersand will be performed at

We’re On The Fringe For Two WeeksLocal Artist Tells Tales With Circus Feats

4 | THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD 6 SEPTEMBER, 2011

Good News: It was A Disaster (Officially)

Philadelphia Soundstages/Invinci-

ble Pictures, 1600 N. 5th Street,

Thursday, Sep. 8, 7:30 p.m. & Fri-

day, Sep. 9, (6:30 & 9 p.m. Info:

www.tangle-arts.com.

(Nathan Lerner, the director ofDavenport Communications, is ac-tively involved in civic and culturalaffairs. He welcomes feedback atculturevulture1@aol.com.

Philadelphia Live Arts Festivaland Philly Fringe run through toSaturday, Sep. 17. For tickets, call(215) 413-1318 or visitwww.livearts-fringe.org.)

Hurricanes bring plenty of trouble

in their wake. Getting disaster cer-

tification after one strikes, how-

ever, is always a spot of good

news.

The US Dept. of Homeland Secu-

rity’s Federal Emergency Manage-

ment Agency announced federal

aid has been made available to the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

to supplement recovery efforts in

the area affected by Hurricane

Irene during the period of Aug. 26-

30.

Federal funding is available to

Commonwealth and eligible

local governments and certain

private nonprofit organizations

on a cost-sharing basis for emer-

gency work and the repair or re-

placement of facilities damaged

by Hurricane Irene in the Coun-

ties of Chester, Northampton,

Sullivan, Susquehanna, and

Wyoming.

Federal funding is also

available on a cost-sharing

basis for hazard-mitigation

measures for all Counties

in the Commonwealth.

Thomas J. McCool has been

named as the Federal Coordinating

Officer for federal recovery opera-

tions in the affected area. McCool

said damage surveys are continu-

ing in other areas, and additional

counties may be designated for as-

sistance after the assessments are

fully completed.

Toomey Hails White House For Reversing

Course On Ozone Standards

US Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) re-

leased the following statement Fri-

day about President Obama’s

decision to withdraw the Environ-

mental Protection Agency’s pro-

posed ozone standards.

“The White House’s decision to

withdraw the EPA’s proposed

ozone standards has taken a huge

regulatory burden off the table for

small businesses and job creators

seeking to expand and hire new

workers” Sen. Toomey said.

“As I travel across Pennsylvania, I

consistently hear from job creators

expressing concerns about the

EPA’s regulatory overreach. That

is why I have introduced legisla-

tion that will require the EPA to

consider the jobs impact of any

new regulations. With the nation’s

unemployment rate near double

digits, this latest announcement

from the White House is encourag-

ing, and I hope the administration

will continue pursuing common-

sense regulatory reform.”

6 SEPTEMBER, 2011 THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD | 5

Design Competition For Fire, Police

Heroes Memorial Will Be AnnouncedSupporters of the Philadelphia Fire

Fighters Local 22 and Philadelphia

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge

No. 5 Memorial Fund (the Fund)

will announce a Design Competi-

tion for the building and placement

of a Memorial honoring Philadel-

phia Fire Fighters and Police Offi-

cers who lost their lives in the line

of duty this Wednesday.

The Wednesday announcement

will take place at 1:00 p.m. at the

southeast corner of Franklin

Square (6th & Race Streets).

The design competition is being

run and judged with the coopera-

tion of the Philadelphia Branch of

the American Institute of Architect

and will be open to professional

and student architects throughout

the mid-Atlantic region. The me-

morial project has received broad

and cooperative support from His-

toric Philadelphia, Inc., the organi-

zation that renovated and oversees

Franklin Square and the Betsey

Ross House.

Philadelphia At-Large Councilman

Jim Kenney, a Fund Trustee, will

be master of ceremonies at the an-

nouncement.

The Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3

nonprofit organization committed

to ensuring Philadelphia firefight-

ers and police officers who have

lost their lives in the line of duty

are honored in a fitting and re-

spectful combined memorial site

that is accessible to the public. The

Fund has a website that will be up-

dated prior to the Wednesday an-

nouncement. See

http://fallenheroesmemorialfund.or

g.

City Plans To Restore Neighborhood

Commercial DistrictsThe Philadelphia Dept. of Com-

merce and the Office of Arts, Cul-

ture, & the Creative Economy

announced the ReStore Corridors

Through Art program, which aims

to energize commercial corridors

through art and creative spaces.

Temporary art projects will be in-

stalled in vacant or under-utilized

properties to enhance the

streetscape and to attract new visi-

tors to the neighborhood. These

businesses and artists will follow

the national trend of using empty

commercial spaces for art. Cities

like San Francisco, New York and

St. Louis have seen increased eco-

nomic activity and new creative

communities thrive as a result of

projects similar to ReStore Corri-

dors Through Art.

“Bustling commercial corridors

are the lifeblood of our neighbor-

hoods and the backbone of our

business community,” said Mayor

Michael A. Nutter. “Public space

for art and creative use will engage

the community in new ways. Our

Administration places a high value

on supporting Philadelphia’s cre-

ative industries.”

ReStore Corridors Through Art

will create partnerships with com-

munity organizations, businesses

and artists to transform storefronts

into imaginative and innovative

spaces. These spaces will be de-

signed to bring more activity and

traffic to the targeted areas, in-

crease visibility for the art commu-

nity and present opportunities for

Philadelphia’s residents to improve

their neighborhood commercial

corridors.

“Philadelphia is a place where the

words ‘creative’ and ‘economy’ re-

ally do come together,” said

Deputy Mayor for Economic De-

velopment Alan Greenberger.

“That’s why the City is so excited

to bring increased resources and

attention to our neighborhood

commercial corridors, and to do so

in a way that engages the commu-

nity through art. The first project

has already sparked a high level of

interest, and we are confident that

our investment – along with the

hard work of the artists involved –

will help to further the redevelop-

ment of these important centers of

6 | THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD 6 SEPTEMBER, 2011

commerce.”

Organizations were chosen based

on several criteria.

• Overall concept plan, including

quality and scope of proposal;

• Compatibility with the City’s

goals;

• Preliminary stakeholder commit-

ment and partnerships;

• Organizational capacity to man-

age project; and

• Potential connectivity to other

neighborhood initiatives and pro-

gramming.

“It is gratifying that our Com-

merce Dept. is looking to the

power of art and artists to revital-

ize commercial corridors,” said

Chief Cultural Officer Gary

Steuer. “We are eager to continue

to work with the Commerce De-

partment and other City agencies

to weave the arts and creativity

into our efforts to make Philadel-

phia the best possible place to live,

work, play and do business. The

arts can play a critical role in

place-making and Philadelphia is

at the leading edge of this work

nationally.”

The first project to be completed is

“New Trails” on Germantown Av-

enue and within Fairmount Park in

Chestnut Hill. The main gallery is

located at 8517 Germantown Av-

enue, where a public reception cel-

ebrating the project’s launch is

being held this evening at 6:00

p.m. More than twenty artists will

produce work inspired by the

Chestnut Hill community. More

information about New Trails can

be found at http://www.newtrail-

sphila.org.

The next project, “Lancaster Av-

enue Arts,” will launch at a later

date. It will be a coordinated effort

between Drexel University and the

local community to install art on

the 3500-3900 blocks of Lancaster

Avenue.