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Opening Night of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts: The PIFA Gala
Story and photos by Brittany Harlow The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, (PIFA), just kicked off its little over two week long celebration on April 6th with the PIFA Gala, hosted at the Kimmel Center. The event boasted a red carpet cocktail hour, formal dinner, and a night of innovative and exceptional art performances. The performances included Academy Award winning songstress and American grassroots artist, Rhiannon Giddens and band, large scale and choreographed puppeteering by the French art performance company Compagnie des Quidams’, and live dancing music by upbeat, African-inspired but Brooklyn-native, 12-piece ensemble band, Antibalas. The evening began to an unfortunately dull start. Although the red carpet, cocktail hour and…