Chess on the "Square"

Thousands upon thousands of chess matches are played on Pioneer Courthouse Square each year. People come from all over the area to get into a match. In order to accommodate so many players, they play various forms of speed chess. The players bring their own rolled vinyl chess mats and timers. There are a large number of regular players, but there always seems to be a lot of new people. I’ve stopped by many times to watch a couple of matches, and I’ve never seen a woman play in one of these matches. What’s up with that?

Le Grand Continental

This event turned out to be a surprise. When I went to photograph it last Sunday, I didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be a fun experience that I really enjoyed. White Bird celebrated its 15th anniversary of bringing the best dance from around the world by presenting "Le Grand Continental," a thrilling line dance choreographed by critically acclaimed Canadian choreographer Sylvain Emard. There were two 30-minute performances, danced by 160 non-professional members of the Portland metropolitan community, of different ages and backgrounds. The dancers rehearsed for several months to prepare for the performances. There was a tremendous crowd, which I suspect was a result of the 160 members of the dance group constantly upgrading their status on Facebook and Twitter for the past few months. I saw thousands of photographs taken. It would be fascinating to know how many photographs posted on social media outlets of this event. Viewing space was at a premium, and people had to resort to finding unusual places to view the dancing.