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Are they dancers? Ask them, and they'll tell you: "Strange Fruit." And not just any kind of strange fruit: "Australia's Strange Fruit." They may be from Down Under, but they're "over the top" ... and over the audience. Way over the audience.
"I get to kind of fly and woo people, anyone can kind of get something out of the show. Some people can get right into the music," said Strange Fruit's Kathryn Jamieson. "Other people just get into the comedy of it. It's just a beautiful thing."
Strange Fruit is an appropriate name, because this kind of fruit starts on the ground and works its way up the "tree"; trees being wispy poles that stretch 13 feet into the air. And it's up there, high above the concrete, where Strange Fruit blossoms.
"It's birdlike, and let's face it: Everyone wants to fly," said Strange Fruit's Darren Carmichael. "I think that's the essence of what makes it so breathtaking."
Strange Fruit relies on a pretty strange set of tools: They've got the eclectic outfits, they've got the huge steel foundations, and of course, the 13-foot-tall fiberglass poles. Which basically makes this the world's only family-friendly version of "pole-dancing."
And if you're wondering about those poles, you're not alone. Sure, they're thin and seemingly pushed to their limits, but they're also safety-tested.
And Strange Fruit performers understand the gravity of the situation.
"I'll be in the show but I'll be thinking, 'I hope this isn't it!'" said Jamieson.
"We've never had a pole break," said Carmichael. "They're made of fiberglass, so you can trust them completely. You have to. Or else we fall."
And no one wants that. After all, a mime is a terrible thing to waste.
