For Immediate Release:
June 27, 2002, Somerville, MA

To round out the SOMERVILLE ARTS COUNCIL'S ART BEAT festival this year, there will be a nighttime carnivalesque extravaganza in Davis Square's "Dilboy" VFW Hall on July 20th. Combining a sideshow motif with the festival's "Food for Thought" theme, the night will feature burlesque performances, baton twirling, indie rock mixed with staged food-fights, a dance party with a DJ, and miscellaneous fun including carnival-inspired music, games, food, and art installations.

Somerville's most belligerent musical collective HANDSTAND COMMAND will present "Food Fight," a whimsical amalgam of rock-n-roll and staged battles. Several of the Handstand Command bands--including indie-poppers The Operators, pop-punkers The Anchormen, garage-rockers Asian Babe Alert, and the theatrical dance band Scrapple--will play whirlwind sets of songs about food or fighting. Interspersed with the music will be food fights: dueling vegetables, boxing berries, jello arm-wrestling, and as a finale, the Artichoke vs. Beet sumo wrestling championship (for the Art Beat title).

The BURLESQUE REVIVAL ASSOCIATION (lovingly known as BRA) is a production company and a performance group dedicated to the art and practice of classic Burlesque Variety. They sing, dance, do comedy, drag, sketches--and of course, strip-tease. Burlesque shows are fast-paced, multi-faceted variety shows, providing something for everyone. B.R.A. was formed in September 2000 and is run by Trista Beard and Sarah Lafferty, with a rotating cast of talented performers.

BATON TWIRLER LAUREL KIRTZ is a local artist and a member of non-profit art space the Berwick Research Institute. As an artist, Laurel has dabbled in all types of craft and performance and has performed interpretive baton-twirling since 1999. Each show offers a unique message; her audience at the Side Show should be prepared to "Return to the Goddess," "Partake of the Goddess's Fruit" and "Submit to the Goddess's Glory."

Finally, there will be a DANCE PARTY WITH DJ C (a.k.a. Jake Trussell), a founding member of Boston's Toneburst experimental event production collective. Trussell has done remixes for Tiger Saw and Hrvatski; has appeared on compilations with artists like Thurstin Moore and Jim O'Rourke; and has performed at events with the likes of Lee Scratch Perry, the Mad Professor and DJ Spooky. Known for his sly mix of jungle, dub and grainy electronics, DJ C will add a large dose of danceable tracks for the ArtBeat Sideshow dance party, from midnight to 1am.

For further information: http://somervilleartscouncil.org

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