I’ll admit it; I’m pretty much a High Performance Rodeo virgin. Oh, I’ve been to a few shows over the years, here and there, but I’ve never taken in “The Festival” as a whole. I expected quality programming, which I definitely received. What I didn’t expect was the flame relit within me for theatre and live performance as a whole.
It’s definitely been the year of music and dance for this year’s Rodeo, featuring the in-house styles of the Rheostatics, the infamous Kronos Quartet featuring Tanya Tagaq, all the way to Montreal Danse and Peggy Baker Dance Project.
The Bell Orchestre
I definitely didn’t know what I expected with this fivesome from Montreal. I heard “featuring members of The Arcade Fire” and the Canadian pop/rock side of me got all excited. The name should’ve given it away: An Orchestra – of sorts – with instruments such as the violin, upright bass, drums, French horn, trumpet, keyboards, triangle… and typewriter?
The band took the stage in the complete dark, dressed all in white with small, glowing lights on each of their bodies. The entry, set to scratchy synthesized noise and radio broadcasting was quite ethereal. Not your average rock show – but as billed – “a post-punk art rock, avant-garde chamber music and cerebral electronica.”
The Corridor – La Caravan Danse Theatre
After seeing “The Corridor,” I had the pleasure of speaking with choreographer and dancer, Maya Kandensky. Trained in the art of the dance in her home country of Israel, she arrived in Canada four years ago and set out to create that which she could not find. The Corridor was her first full-scale, full-length show with La Caravan Danse Theatre, a performance that she choreographed and starred in.
I asked Maya about where her inspiration came from for the Corridor. “My intention was to find a place or platform of a certain existence where all of my ideas could come and emerge from; The concept, or story, that can come out and interweave through this miniature universe that exists in the in-between. The Corridor is a dimension, of in-between, exit and entrance.”
Certainly, themes of birth, growth and metamorphosis repeat themselves throughout the production. “There is no ending,” Maya continues, “In our mind, death is an end...but it is merely the door for the next stage, the next dimension we are travelling into. At each stage, we are transformed to something else, eventually united as one, with no separation.”
Every character in The Corridor is on a journey of their own, and the dance explores the interaction and communication of each of these characters as they come together to interact before moving on to the next dimension. I was enthralled by one character that reappears as the same in each scene, her movements spastic, jerky and un-conforming. Maya explained to me, “She is a free spirit, the rebellion, the spark of light. A very naked spirit who doesn’t follow any order of organization; always coming in and out and in between, interacting and penetrating the corridor in her own way. She is noticed through every journey and finds a way to be communicated or be noticed, until eventually she is embraced as well.”
That’s a character I think most of us can identify with.
The Rheostatics
Best Of
“Legends in the House!” is how the advertisement rang, and I was assured by my partner in crime that this was true, he being a true Rheo’s superfan that had already attended nearly every show they put on the second week in January. As a Rheostatics newbie, I had chosen the “Best Of” show to play it safe. Not the best choice overall, as I hadn’t realized that this meant ‘guest stars’ – fans of the band, singing to their favourites. At times a happy surprise (Kris Demeanour comes to mind!), other times strained, it was an entertaining evening nonetheless, thanks to the familiar banter that the band has perfected over their years together. Dave Bidini has his comedic routine down to an art form. Even though I didn’t get a chance to experience the Best Of show in true Rheos’ form with Martin Tielli at the helm, I’d definitely venture out to see the guys again.
Harmelodia
New to the Rodeo this year is the introduction of Kid Friendly Shows, including the Rheostatic’s children album, Harmelodia. As my 11-year-old accomplice had to say, “The thing I liked most about the Harmelodia concert was the music. I think the seats were okay, but they were not too comfy. I thought the way they were arranged was kind of squished. I liked the story of Harmelodia and I also liked the fact that he actually read the story. My favourite part of the Harmelodia story was when they played the music in Popopalous and then Harmelodia and Popopalous joined. I thought it was cool how Martin Tielli could play a lot of different types of guitars. I thought it was cute how some of the little kids started dancing. I did not understand why the drummer played barefoot. I think the theatre should be a bit bigger. My favourite member of the Rheostatics was probably Martin Tielli because he had a lot of guitars. All in all, it was a great concert.” (Thanks, Veronica!)
Pyjama Men – Stop Not Going
In the dark, hollow European voices ring out, “Marco!”, “Polo!” before the conversation got down to the real nitty gritty: How do you play water polo, anyway? Do the horses wear snorkels? And so begins the absolute and divine ridiculousness that is the Pyjama Men. The imaginations of Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez, you’re thinking, surely belong to the most absurd ADHD-stricken 8 year olds imaginable, or delightfully deranged freaks with too-high serotonin levels.
Dressed only in their jammies, and with only two chairs to aid them, these two men from Albuquerque, New Mexico transform your surroundings with a host of make believe characters, voices, sound effects, invisible props and costumes. The two have known one another for 13 years and have been performing together for six. Their creative process, Shenoah tells me, usually involves them locking themselves together into a room and not coming out until they have some workable material, before further condensing it down into something usable. Self-identified as sketch comedy, they feature a hefty dose of improv as they fly from character to character, situation to situation at breakneck speed. This dizzying venture of non-stop comedy left us out of breath and me with tears down my cheeks from laughing so hard. If I ever get the chance to see the Pyjama Men again, it’ll be a waterproof mascara night for sure.
Monster Theatre – The History of the Future
Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to make Monster Theatre’s newest production, “The History of the Future,” and after speaking to Ryan Gladstone (writer and performer) in Vancouver, to say I’m disappointed would be an understatement.
A native Calgarian, Ryan explained the show and the history of Monster Theatre to me. As part III of the “History series” (the first being Canada, the second the World), this was an adventure story of the future. Each of the three guys who make up Monster theatre (Ryan, brother Jeff Gladstone, and Bruce Horak of Toronto) all play versions of themselves who each venture off to a different place in the future in their time machine: 50 years, 1000 years, and the Apocalypse.
Drawing from research based on science, economics, medical technology; plenty of 1950’s science fiction and a liberal dose of religious and end-of-world mythology (include everyone’s favourite, Nostradamus!), the three create enough chaos and destruction forcing Ryan to travel even further to rescue his two comrades, save the audience, and ultimately destroy themselves as a result. Who expected such martyrdom from Monsters?
Taking most of their cues from history, Ryan states his philosophy as thus: “All stories have already been told. Our job is to adapt and retell these stories for Modern Times.”
You can catch the boys of Monster Theatre in “Jesus Christ: The Lost Years” at the upcoming Calgary Fringe Festival.
Sheri-D Wilson
Adventures of the Trick Riders: During the Apocalypse while Thinking of Jesus
The incomparable Sheri-D is recognizable as the driving force behind spoken word in Calgary. With not only spoken word but an entire melange of art forms, Sheri-D, along with her sidekick, Laura Parken, hook you and have you ride along the trail of their bandit past. Sheri-D’s character returns home from New York City to her childhood hometown of Black Diamond for the funeral of her dear friend and first love, Clare. She revisits her history growing up in small-town Alberta with her twin sister before their ride takes you to the inevitable dead end. In the background, utilizing a glaring palette of black and white on a newspaper canvas, Martin Guderna paints their story. Above, multimedia visuals further illustrate their story through light and dark, punctuated by the musical styling of Richard Broom. All of these elements may sound confusing, but together, serve to carry you along on the sisters’ journey with them.
As Sheri-D herself puts it, she took a “Big, ugly chance which could’ve been a total disaster or a beautiful ride.” Fortunately for the audience, it’s definitely the latter. “Adventures of the Trick Riders” explores social violence without hitting the audience over the head with the message. Using all of these different forms of artistic representation results in a gentle ride with ever-changing scenery – at times laugh-out-loud funny, at times shocking and painful – but all the time a reminder of our histories and how we end up being who we are.
Look for more of Sheri-D Wilson at the upcoming Spoken Word Festival in April here in Calgary, featuring a special presentation of queer voices.
Bubonic Tourist: Mutton Busting
Though not a One Yellow Rabbit event, Bubonic Tourist’s Mutton Busting has been a side-event to the Rodeo for the past five years, and this year marked the onset of special programming for Queer events. It’s easy to see why Artistic Director Eric Moschopedis received the 2004 Calgary Professional Arts Alliance & Enbridge Emerging Artist award – such forward thinking deserves such reward.
We took in “Orgasm: The Annie Sprinkle Porn Fest” for a few hours and enjoyed it immensely. Having had Annie Sprinkle in my peripheral so many times and been aware of her presence as both a feminist and an artist, this was the first opportunity I had to see her work, and I found it as refreshing and sexy as it was campy and funny. Although unfortunately not well attended, it was an afternoon well spent – who wouldn’t want to spend the afternoon giggling in the dark with a group of strangers at Motel?
I’m looking greatly forward to further Bubonic Tourist projects – a fun group of people determined to carving a special niche in the Calgary performing arts community.
Complete schedule of events and all the info you need to know can be found at http://www.oyr.org/hpr_06
