Poetry in Motion
Last night's event at the Alliance Francaise in Toronto was absolutely fantastic. It was a sold-out evening in the gorgeous old house on Spadina Rd. featuring the wonderful Cindy Doire accompanied by mouth-harp magician Paul Reddick and Bernard Dionne on bass. Sound artist Marc LeMyre wove in spoken word samples with live and pre-recorded readings from actress Sophie Perceval.
I'm very proud that the seed of the evening was the poem "Générations" by the late Robert Dickson, which I commissioned back in 2006 for a Six String Nation event at the Townehouse Tavern in Sudbury, Ontario. "Générations" appears for the first time in print in the Six String Nation book with permission from Dickson's estate. Marc incorporated the same recording of Dickson reading the poem we used to open that night at the Townehouse along with a live reading between Sophie and Cindy. It was so incredible to hear Robert's words come alive again with those other voices. Very moving.
The blend of Cindy's raspy voice and Paul's haunting blues harmonic effects was anchored by Bernard's bass. And of course Voyageur made an appearance as well, with Cindy using it about halfway through the set. And when it wasn't on stage, it was present all around the room as the "Nation Six Cordes: Miroir du Canada" portrait exhibit is up in the space until the end of the month.
Thanks to Cindy, Paul, Bernard, Marc, Sophie, Dominique Denis, Patricia Guerin and Jean-Claude Duthion. Thanks also to Ira Smolkin for coming in from Victoria and bringing friends Bill and Dave.
(Pictured L-R: Bernard Dionne, Cindy Doire and Paul Reddick wearing Cindy's "Metronome Helmet")
Posted at 10:51 AM
Digging Debaj
I've been to Manitoulin Island maybe 3 or 4 times and here's what I knew about it:
It's the largest island within a freshwater lake (Lake Huron, in this case) in the world and you get there by driving to Tobermory and taking the ferry.
So that's how I started off my trip on Monday morning to go and meet with the De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group in Manitowaning. I realized far too late that the ferry had closed operations for the season a couple of weeks ago so I had to drive around the bay and reapproach the island via Sudbury and Espanola. Needless to say, I was about 8 hours later for the meeting than I wanted to be.
But it was no big deal, really. This was more of an exploratory meeting. Sanjay Shahani had suggested we might find some common ground and after a wonderful phone conversation with Outreach and Education director Joahnna Berti, I agreed to drive up and see things for myself.
It's a pretty extraordinary place populated by an extraordinary group of people with a unique vision to create a sustainable arts+culture economy in northern Ontario. As Sanjay predicted, I found a lot in their mission and their methods that resonate with the Six String Nation project and I think that, after a day of hanging out and talking as well as presenting Voyageur both formally and informally, they felt the same.
So the conversation has begun and now we'll just have to see where it goes but I'm inspired to think that some unique collaboration could grow from this first short visit.
I did manage to squeeze in a dinner with Gregory Hoskins (who is doing an extended workshop with Debaj) on Tuesday night but not before Debaj Artist Director Joe Osawabine (pictured) took me on a tour of Wikwemikong (Wiky, for short), the First Nations reserve that is the neighbour community to Manitowaning. It's also home to this remarkable burned out former girls' school next to the Anglican Church that has become one of Debaj's outdoor performance venues.
Thanks to Joahnna and Ron Berti, Joe Osawabine, Audrey Wemigwans, Debbie Robinson, Joyce & Brian, Gregory Hoskins and the amazing young guitarist Joseph Pitawanakwat.
Posted at 10:47 PM
Meeting Ontario's Music Educators
I had two opportunities this weekend to address the Ontario Music Educators Association conference (ConBrio 2009). We were received con calore and I think Voyageur really found a home with these teachers. It was great to be in a room with people who so instantly "got" the connection between the guitar, students, curriculum and culture. Quite often it takes some leading people to get them there but this was a group that already works in this direction in so many ways.
A real highlight of the Friday night was the performance following my presentation by Markku Wainman (pictured) – a grade nine student who was fingered to bring the guitar to life for the attendees. He was phenomenal. Not only was he a great kid who was genuinely excited about the chance to play Voyageur, he was also a terrific guitarist and a fine composer. He played something he wrote for the occasion and it was beautifully structured and well executed – prodigious without being unnecessarily flashy. I think we'll be hearing a lot from him in years to come.
This morning was the wrap up and I was invited back to share some of the portraits that Doug took on Friday night and to introduce them to the project we did with Nelson Mandela Park Public School. It meant another emotional session but I think everyone liked it OK and I hope some of those teachers were inspired to bring us to their schools.
Thanks to Jane Wamsley, Kevin Merkley, Jane Cutler and all the attendees of ConBrio 2009.
Off to Manitoulin tomorrow and I'll try to write from there Monday evening.
Posted at 4:20 PM