Spoleto Update: Festival gears up for second weekend

• Ursa Waz
• ODD JOBS: Mike Daisey will perform his controversial monologue “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” at this year’s Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.

Charleston’s Spoleto Festival is gearing up for its second weekend of shows, and as always the rotating roster of performances ensures that each segment of the performing arts festival will have a slightly different character.

The term “arts festival” may bring to mind images of ribbon-dancers, face-painting and bric-a-brac sold from tents. We have nothing against face-painting, ribbon-dancers or even bric-a-brac, but “arts festival” doesn’t quite capture the amazing vibe in Charleston during Spoleto. Audiences go to performances with a certain anticipation and leave venues still excited for more rather than with a sense of closure. The quality of the performances, the intimate venues all in close proximity, and the way the entire city seems engaged with the festival all contribute to the unique atmosphere, making Spoleto one of the best fests in the nation: There’s nothing remotely like it in the Southeast. (It’s hard to even think of a close second). Organizers bring in pieces of the coolest arts shizzle from around the world - Beijing, London, Japan, New York - and offer it in a condensed two-week buffet of awesome.