Fringe Festival celebrates innovation.

NEW YORK CITY--Risky business is the order of the day when the second annual New York International Fringe Festival returns to Manhattan's Lower East Side August 19 for twelve days and nights of nonstop experimental, innovative dance and theater. A multidisciplinary, multicultural event, FringeNYC offers street performances, visual arts, theater, and dance, as well as spoken word, performance art, and new media. Boasting more than 150 shows in 20 theaters, the festival includes artists from Sweden, Singapore, Holland, England, Switzerland, Canada, Germany, and the United States.

"Our job is to build a festival of diversity," says Diane Paulus, who, with fellow artistic directors Aaron Beall and John Clancy, is responsible for the festival, which last year attracted more than 20,000 artists, producers, and dance-theater enthusiasts. "It's a cultural marathon--and dangerously entertaining."

FringeNYC participating artists are chosen solely by their proposals, which, according to Paulus, are required to show vibrancy, innovation, and diversity. "The fringe is not a showcase," says Paulus. "It really should be an opportunity to take a risk." Proposals from choreographers are read and reviewed, then chosen based on their capacity for innovation. "The dance proposals are the most innovative of all, in terms of experiments with multimedia," says Paulus. "You're going to see people pushing boundaries more than normal. There will be lots of use of video and multimedia and technology."

This year, when New York choreographer Ben Munisteri shows his Late Night Sugar Flite, he also discusses the choreography with the audience; Baltimore-based choreographer Doug Hanby uses video footage while dancers are obscured behind giant screens; and the Five Andrews, a fiveman dance troupe from London, don leather dresses and perform on Persian rugs in the irreverent Corps.

In addition to performances, there are free panel discussions, workshops led by festival participants, and focus groups discussing process in art. New York City is among seven U.S. cities hosting fringe festivals including Seattle, Chicago, Orlando, San Francisco, Minneapolis/St Paul, and Philadelphia. "It's not just an opportunity to deliver a brilliant show," says Paulus. "It's a chance to start an active conversation with other global artists."