Candy Land

Ahhh, Candy Land*.  Have you ever seen, heard, or done something that you knew nothing about going into the experience, and that lack of mental preparation/assumptions/prejudice (as in pre-judging) allowed the event to just wash over you and engage you in an unexpected and satisfying way?  In 2011, Candy Land was one of those things for me.

Back in 2011, I knew my friend Sarah Robb was putting on some kind of event in The Village of East Davenport, but I truly knew nothing more about it.  The sights, sounds, and flavors for the evening were quite a treat and since my reactions were totally elicited without any previous assumptions on my part, I hold those reactions as truer and more authentic.  This is why I don't like to hear reviews about movies before I see them, or read artist statements before seeing their work.  I want my initial reaction to be as genuine as possible.  A year later, my visual memory bank is still churning over things I saw that night.

So to make a long story shorter, Candy Land 2011 was certainly cool enough that I wanted to provide a sneak peek teaser for Candy Land 2012.  IF you want to be totally surprised and experience Candy Land without ANY of my 'Blah blah blah', STOP READING NOW!  I will have wrap-up post on Impromp-Tu-Tu or another blurb about carving posted in the next few days and we can all get together and have good wholesome fun then.

So for those of you who love spoilers or must read the last few pages of a book before diving into the whole thing, this next bit is for you.

Candy Land is going to be in The Village Theater in The Village of East Davenport.  To quote the Candy Land website:  The event promotes a juxtaposition of performance art art including live body art, music, poetry, and hoops with the intention of engaging, enlightening, and entertaining a diverse audience.  It is a two-day variety art event with one night devoted to kids as artists and one night devoted to adults as artists.  The audience will enjoy the artistic expression of Face and Body art, Photography, Performance Art, Fashion and more.  In fact, here is a link! (http://www.robb-designs.com/Candy_Land.php )

Right off the bat, one of the coolest things they do is to transform the personality of the space which shapes the entire mood/atmosphere of the event.  When it is done properly it is impressive how much a venue takes on a new persona.  Candy Land does it properly.

Here are a few shots of the venue early in its transformation.  That guy in the red coat may or may not be one of the same people from the Gila Cliff Dwellings (for you repeat readers).

See how much the space changes with just having white walls?

Always a good sign when someone cracks out the spray paint!

The stage

Some bats for the wall

That's right, bats for the wall.....

An exceptionally cool moon provided by Dustin Collison at dciPrint  (http://dciprint.com/).  Btw, Dustin has bailed me out on a couple of occasions with quick turnaround times and cost/ass-saving suggestions.

Here comes that transformation part......before.....

.........after!

Before.......

........after (not after-after mind you, just 'after').

Now this next image is important because I had to relentlessly nag/hound Sarah to e-mail me images from last years' Candy Land so I could provide an even remotely effective teaser.  For students of body language, if you study the image below closely, you can discern Sarah's feelings about being 'hounded' (by the best, I might add).

Anyway, the transformation of the space is underway.  Sound checks are taking place.  Spot lights are being adjusted.  Body paint is on stand-by.  Walls are being decorated.

The first night (Friday November 30th) is a family-friendly event from 6-9pm.  The hula hoopers from Staci's Happi Hoops will be showing willing and enthusiastic attendees the deadly art of Hula Hooping.  Sarah Robb will be be face painting as well.  Friday focuses on kids as artists.

Here are a few of those 'doggedly-nagged' shots from last year with kids enjoying hula hooping and some face painting.

The second night (Saturday, December 1st) is adult night/ adults as artists (6pm until midnight).  There will be fashion from 7 Tree Designs and Unforgiven Vintage.  Poet/musician/thinker Mona Riteman will be the emcee for the event.  (Hula) Hooping from Staci's Happi Hoops.  Bottoms Up Quad City Burlesque will be Burlesquing (I can't believe spell-check let that one go by unmarked!) and there will be music from Busted Chandeliers.

An example of body art/action canvas from Nicole Cisne Durbin below.

Candy Land is organized by Sarah Robb and Nicole Cisne Durbin with a gaggle of volunteers making everything run smoothly.  Tickets are $22 in advance, $24 at the door.

* Please note that attending Candy Land may put a smile on your face and flood your mind with images.  Fighting with candycane pugil sticks may result excessive mirth.  As always, use caution.