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Field Notes for Venice Beach Street Performers
Introduction/First sight: Many of Los Angele’s streets are buzz with pop culture, music, art and weird shticks. Thanks to an array of talented buskers, areas like Santa Monica and Venice Beach are entertained by street performers, day in day out. Approaching the beach from the boardwalk, the first thing that captured my eyes were the vibrant and extraordinarily flexible artists going about their acrobatics with zeal. Music in various renditions fills the air as one walks past. There are rarely dull moments along the streets of the beach and tourists, who frequent the beach in large numbers, are inevitably charmed.
After a short walk, I realized that the Venice Beach has many attractions other than the hot sand. The place has rich tobacco industry’s history, dating back to the slave trade era, various destructive storms and colonization of America. The beach is used by various artist groups, beach football and basketball teams and cyclists among others.
Common figures: if you came across a man in black adidas jacket and track suits, it must have been Harry Perry. He is a lead guitarist in a local band. He is a very talented musician who has travelled across many countries to promote his recordings. There was also Robert Gruenberg. He is a common attraction at the beach. The artist is very talented and respected by peers. During my visit, he had a chain juggling show and stand-up comedy. After the show, I concluded that performance at the Venice beach require bravery and fantastic combination of talent and skills. These factors act as the major attractions to the audience at the beach.
Best performances: a walk along the beach reveals existence of unique performances at the beach. The beach was packed with dancing troupes; stand-up comedians, musicians and skating teams. Virtually all performances were represented. However some groups were unique and stood out among the rest. Goldman’s body paints and ancient pirate attires are hard to miss for any visitor of Venice beach. Those who know Goldman well informed me that he is one of the top artists who not only commands respect among his colleagues but has also performed on many cities such as Los Angeles for many years. Goldman gave one of his best performances, depicting the dances by Michael Jackson. Another remarkable performance came from a tall Latin American with trademark beards; Perry Hernandez. Also known as Huba Huba, Hernandez put in an outstanding show with a barefoot walk on glass. Sources reveal that this performance was inspired by a practice called bottle dancing n Trinidad, from where Hernandez hailed. The dance entails a hopping movement from a chair located at the center of a circle onto a blanket. The blanket was randomly filled with pieces of glass. Another captivating character was the Puppet Man. The man performs with his ratty puppet to the serenity of his audience. His passion and creativity is humbling. Indeed, Bowl-goers revealed that they are entertained by Hart and his team. Hart leads a group of baritone vocals that has managed to produce some likeable, hymn-like jingles. Hart, now 57-years of age is not only a singer but also an actor, a songwriter and a comedian
Becoming a street performer in Venice beach:
I inquired from experts and stakeholders about what it takes to become a street performer in Venice, and found out that this was a free endeavor, as long as one abided by the law. Los Angeles has a lot of freedom when it comes to street performing. The artists do not need any license or permit to perform. Since the Venice Beach forms part of the City, street performing has been embraced by the locals and visitors. However, the freedom to stage a street performance was realized after a suit when the city authorities attempted to restrict the performers at the Venice Beach. However, the artists are required to follow the laid down rules and procedures before and during the performance. Failure to observe the guidelines would lead to a fine or a charge in the court.
Conclusion: Venice beach is buzz with activity on a daily basis. There are rear moments of dullness and the amount and genre of arts and music that fills the air is astonishing. The freedom that these performances have been permitted in this particular part of the nation perhaps makes Venice beach unique. Inspiration comes form need to generate income develop talents and even just for the passion of it. Regardless of cause, the performances and the performers are well motivated as is evidenced by the large volume of tourists that frequent the beach. However, a few of them gossiped about having been harassed by police in unwarranted arrests related to their performances. The law’s standpoint in Venice and Los Angeles as a whole is that street performing is legal and does not require any permit. I witnessed perhaps the best aspects of creativity and arts on my tour to the beach.
