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MOREONMAIN IS A FREE PUBLICATION

LlVE:BlENNIAL OF PERFORMANCE ART
PAGE 4

ISSUE 3

So much performance art,
so little time.
We didn't have a lot of extra room in
this issue, so in the stead of a teeny
little feature article, we thought it
would be apropos to lend this space
to the huge & fascinating coordination of live art that is taking place on
Main Street in the next few weeks.
Many kudos to Glenn Alteen, Morgan McGuigan & all of the curators,
performers, volunteers (& of course
to Sniffy the Rat in his rumoured return from the crypt) for putting on
this wonderfully diverse explosion of
art & culture.
LIVE Biennial of Performance Art in
Vancouver
October 13 to November 30, 2001
www.livevancouver.bc.ca
604-875-9516
Tickets available at event
Video In
1965 Main St 604-872-8337 10:30 pm (Doors open at
10:00 pm)
Launch After party - The Return of Talent Hut
Talent Hut, established in 1989, is rearing its ugly head
once more after an extended run in hell. Mainstays include MC Jimmi Schmooz, Orlan Fortrel, Big Glory (guitar) Hole, Ina Pavlovina, Jean Poole, Boofka Putz, Countess Turnofiand new recruits take you on a seedy tour of
the bottom end of show biz. With Special Guests the
funny, sexy and visually flamboyant Draggin'Angels.

grunt gallery
116-350 East 2nd Ave 604-875-9516 www.grunt.bc.ca
Saturday October 20
8:00 pm
reservoir -Rebecca Belmore
reservoir is a new durational work by Rebecca Belmore.
In it she will use recycled jars to collect water and stockpile it in the space. The reservoir will remain in the gallery as an installation for the following week.
Sunday November 11
8:00 pm
La morue (Cod)= Diane Landry
"Using two record players in a DJ-likc manner, Diane
Landry conducts a true circle of casual objects: various
kitchen tools, toys, shoes, skates, for example, randomly
take their turn on the plates, one after another. Caught
in a kind of merry-go-round, their daily routine is
"unsettled"; lit by different light sources and spinning
around, the objects assume unreal proportions, almost
gigantic, and project a whole universe of moving shadows on the walL " (Marie Fraser) Accompanied by
an installation from November 9 until December 1.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2 0 0 1

FREE TO G O O D HOME

MOREONMAIN...CELEBRATING ARTS, CULTURE & COMMUNITY ON MAIN STREET

ARTISTS ON STAGE

grunt gallery
Wednesday November 28 8:00 pm
Taking in Stranger-Louise Moyes
Taking in Strangers is a show that explores through oral
history, physical theatre, video and projected images the
similarities and connections between the people of N e w foundland and Quebec. With text taken verbatim from
conversations, this show plays with senses of humour and
place and looks at how language - each uniquely distinctive
reveals the identity of both.

A Mile in My Moccasins=Kerriann Cardinal
A chance for the audience to experience with Cardinal the
tender relationship that she had with her grandmother who
taught her about her Metis heritage.
Folly Gallery. England
At grunt gallery 116-350 East 2nd Ave
Wednesday October 31 6:30 pm
2001 a space odyssey - an excavation of truth (work in progress)
Hester Reeve (UK)
A live performance piece (durational - about 5 hours and
carried out in isolation) performed by Hester Reeve in England but projected into a prepared location in Vancouver
for LIVE 2001. The projected performance will present the
spectator with the virtual artist's body interacting with concrete physical space but from a different dimension and location.
Thundering Word Heard and Conundrum Press
at Cafe Montmartre 4362 Main St (Main &: 28th)
604-708-5021 www.thunderingwordheard.com/
Sunday November 25 9:00 pm
Vancouver book launch of Impure: Reinventing the Word in
Montreal Writers: Vincent Tinguely and Victoria Stanton
Thundering Word Heard, the weekly spoken word/music
fusion open mic series, presents the Vancouver launch of
Impure. Word-sters include JenLam, T. Paul Ste. Marie,
Kedrick James, Justin McGrail, Tanya Evanson, Steve Duncan,
Louise Dubreuil, Vincent Tinguely, Nathalie Derome, and
Victoria Stanton. Hosted by T. Paul Ste Marie.
N O COVER - hat will be passed
FA3
at grunt gallery 116 - 350 East 2nd Ave
Thursday November 29 8:00 pm
A series of short works from the Montreal performance festival FA3.
Same line =Josee Tremblay
An artist, curator and arts organizer since 1989, Tremblay s
curiosity has drawn her to experiment with a diversity of
artistic forms (dance, theater, video and visual arts) through
performance and media arts.
Girouette-Weathercock = Nathalie Derome
They say that women have problems with geography (direction). In my case it is true. I guess it is because we have
also problems with history (direction). So: little stories, little
songs, little doubts from the St-Lawrence Valley. A low-tech
performance.
EYEIN' H A N D , FEELIN' BEAT= Louise Dubreuil
Thinking feelings & feeling thoughts/ Bridging minds to
heartlands/ Together in darkness/ We mind the gap.
(If) not for me (If) not for youVictoria Stanton
a romp through the having and then not having of something someone wanted and then couldn't have anymore, and
then decided didn't need it in the first place .maybe.

ARTISTS ON STAGE
Biennial Listings continued

Western Front
303 East 8th Ave
604-876-9343 www.front.bc.ca
November 9 and 10 9:00 pm
Catwalk Envy: A Subverted Runway Show
Lorena Wolffer
Mark your calendar for a performance art fashion
show of local artists curated by Mexican performance artist Lorena Wolffer. As well as creating a
unique group show, Wolffer will be performing her
own piece which critiques the effect of the North
American Free Trade Agreement on the women of
Mexico.

understanding and communication
b r e a k d o w n between nations a n d cultures.
T h e youthfully u r b a n show consists
of eight unrelated vignettes which all
d e m o n s t r a t e various lessons and dil e m m a s relating to the t h e m e .

Each

of these scenes is b r o k e n u p by Avery's
beat b o x i n g r o u t i n e (the musical feat
of m i m i c k i n g DJ t u r n tabling effects
a n d percussion with the h u m a n voice)

Friday November 16 8:00 pm
Empire and Au pair
Robert Ashley - spoken word opera
Singers: Jacqueline Humbert and Robert Ashley
(U.S.)
Live mixing and sound processing: Tom Hamilton
Empire is an allegory about the establishment of
one of the largest corporations in the world. Au Pair
explores the often hilarious relationships of adventure-seeking childcare workers from Europe with
their affluent American employers
Tickets $15/$12

in w h i c h he rhymes a n d beats his messages o u t w i t h an amazing level of skill
that frequently resulted in enthusiastic cheers from the u p b e a t crowd.

Freight Train Land:
a hip-hop opera

Ste. Marie, w h o presented the d i l e m m a s to be discussed in a neo-Shakespearian style while sporting
a rockabilly look.

@ T h e Western F r o n t S e p t e m b e r 1 9 - 2 1

604-683-7395
at The Anza Club. 3 West 8th Ave
Friday November 9 8:00 pm
A Country & Western Jamboree
Larry Krone & Guests (New York)
Rodney Graham, Michael Turner and Judy Radul
(Vancouver)

"Preaching Love to the Perverted"
U r b a n H i p H o p o p e r a d e l i v e r s t h e m e s of u n d e r -

Video In
196$ Main St 604-872-8337
Saturday November 17 8:30 pm
re: live Video Screening
re: live is a two part event combining a video screening and a subsequent panel discussion, both addressing the historical and contemporary relationship
between performance and video art. Performance
and video find a common legacy somewhere in the
confluence of the Happening and Porta-pack in the
late sixties. Since then the video and performance
arts have been participating in a process of
cross-fertilization, as performance works often persist through video documentation, and video - with
its persistent affinity for the real -routinely appropriates the aesthetics of documentation.
Thursday November 22
8:00 pm
re: live Panel
Judy Radul, Warren Arcan, Meesoo Lee, Tagny Duff,
and facilitator Randy Lee Cutler
curated by Andrew Power and Jen Weih
re:live wants to address the evolving relations of these
mediums through a variety of questions: What is
the value of the ephemeral? Has the performer's insitu audience become a spectacle for the remote
viewer? Has the camera eclipsed the audience? Are
we now privileged to witness the dissolution between mediums as everything becomes media'?
What is gained through mediation and what is lost?

Continued on next page

W h e n I entered t h e W e s t e r n Front's theater o n
Friday, S e p t e m b e r 21 I was very interested to discover w h a t exactly a h i p - h o p opera was.

O t h e r highlights include the

m a n y gifted vocalists o n b o a r d the project.

standing and acceptance
Or Gallery

In t u r n , each

scene was aptly i n t r o d u c e d by a r h y m i n g T Paul

Written & Directed by C.R. Avery

Appar-

ently, I wasn't the only o n e , as there was a lineup
20 people thick trying to sneak into a S R O theatre. T h e stage h a d a u n i q u e a r r a n g e m e n t w i t h a
funk b a n d on the side, a few large graffiti murals
a n d a large screen w i t h a projection of Vancouver's
d o w n t o w n n i g h t t i m e skyline. As I soon discovered, the h i p - h o p opera replaces traditional

the-

atre tools w i t h those of the u r b a n u n d e r g r o u n d .
T h u s , Arias & librettos have been replaced with
r h y m i n g a n d rapping, the traditional orchestra is
n o w a funk b a n d and DJ w h o s e m u s i c plays w i t h
the onstage action, operatic singing is replaced with
soul and R & B , b a c k g r o u n d s are grainy digital video
and stills and the lighting frequently resembles that
In the b e g i n n i n g , the funk b a n d sprang to life a n d
t h e screen changed to G e o r g e W Bush's address to
the n a t i o n following the attack a n d destruction of
the N.Y. W o r l d Trade C e n t r e . In the clip, the U S
president gloated a b o u t the equality and freedom
that all Americans enjoy. It soon b e c a m e a p p a r e n t
that C.R. Avery, the production's writer and director, was not only trying to emphasize the fallacy of
Bush's s t a t e m e n t , w h i c h can also be a p p l i e d to
C a n a d a , b u t to use the satire as a springboard to
p r o m o t e positive change in local c o m m u n i t i e s be-

w i t h their h o n e d and soulful vocals while M o n i c a
Lee shot forth powerful rhymes. W h i l e m o s t of the
s h o w is scripted, the players can often ad-lib given
the freestyle n a t u r e of their rhymes often with fresh
and powerful results.
A l t h o u g h Avery isn't sure where his next show will

a t t i t u d e toward ourselves a n d each other.

Later

t e m b e r 11. b o t h because they were on everyone's
m i n d and that they d e m o n s t r a t e d the extreme consequences which will inevitably result w h e n

Biennial Closing
Western Front 303 East 8th Avenue
604-876-9343 www.front.bc.ca
Firday November 30th, 2001 10:00 pm sharp
Tinsel & Cream...again?=produced by Shawn Chappelle
The now infamous cabaret makes a reappearance for the
festival closing. A parting night that bends, cuts and folds
performance. Victoria Singh, Joelle Ciona, Joel Taylor and
Tricia Middleton, Andrew Dadson, Lyle
Neff, and Annthea Whittaker. Cloud ambience by Elizabeth Zvonar, planes by Rebecca Watt and Onya HoganFinlay. Lasdy, Dylan Cree's 16mm film "vulgar...incomplete
'n yet whole" and the new Chicago-like sounds of t h e
band "Secret 3".

be, he has designs o n taking his t r o o p d o w n to
Seattle, W A to perform at
the N e w Urican Cafe.

His

overall p l a n is t o t o u r in
smaller t o w n s a n d t o n o t
only perform in these places

1

b u t to a c t i v e l y ' t a k e t h e

ART OF STEELg

t o w n over' for a week by
hosting workshops

a dialogue of u n d e r s t a n d ing.
of the most eclectic a n d interesting productions I
h a v e h a d t h e p l e a s u r e to
witness. It truly speaks to
today's generation a n d offers relevant and useful solutions. If I were you, I'd
keep an eye out for future
dates in this and other p u b lications.
C.R. Avery is one to watch.
Sean

McDiamond

ill

and

street performances to start

g i n n i n g with u n d e r s t a n d i n g and an o p e n m i n d e d
Avery explained he integrated the events of Sep-

Sara

C a d e a u a n d Amalia T o w n s e n d rocked the space

Freight Train L a n d is o n e

of an u r b a n rave club.

IMAG
604-871-0173
At grunt gallery 116-350 East 2nd Ave
Friday November 23 8:00 pm
Kyoti Bites = Marie Baker
A new multimedia performance by a Vancouver based writer
celebrates the coyotrix - the continuing presence of the
coyote in urban life.
Full Circle: First Nations Performance
604-683-0497
At grunt gallery 116-350 East 2nd Ave
Saturday November 24 8:00 pm
November rain and all Marie Clements, Margo Kane,
zachery longboy, archer pechawis a time to gather around
the burning fire/ to feed the fire and keep the fire burning/
to feed the spirit and keep the fire burning/ to feed the
moment and keep the fire burning site specific / site of the
performance/ not restricted to the normal

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