Canadian Festival of Spoken Word 2013- Montreal
So I know I’m supposed to talk
about one specific artist, and why their work excites me- but seriously,
seriously, I can’t think of a more inspirational and transformation art
experience (that I JUST HAD) at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in
Montreal this past November.
So quick backstory- I just spent
the month of October performing in a play by playwright/poet/mc- Donna Michelle
St. Bernard. The play was titled, A Man A
Fish, it was an amazing experience- because the script, the words in the
play were so heightened and poetic that I was essentially immersed in a month long
study of an epic poem. The day after the show closed I was on a flight to
Montreal- to an even bigger epic poem experience.
The Canadian Festival of Spoken
Word is run under the auspice of SPOCAN: Spoken Word Canada, the national
organization that fosters growth and development of and within the Spoken Word
Community. Up until now, I’d thought of spoken word as small cafés with tiny
stages where poets would share their words to snaps and claps, or under street
lights, and in other moody speak easies. I’d been privy to any number of Def
Poetry Jam episodes on youtube, and Upworthy videos on Facebook, etc. but
discovering this sizeable organization of poet elders and young poet activists
pushing the limits of the artform, and mindfully maintaining the importance to
openness and acceptance in the community was awe inspiring.
With this post, I’m going to
highlight a few artists/events and performances that really changed my
perspective, and opened up ideas and possibilities for this type of work. I’m
hoping to somehow process this and incorporate it into my thesis. OK, so let’s
do this…
First I’m going to talk about-
the workshops. OMG the workshops. I was left thirsty because I was just NOT
having it. The first workshop I attended was “safe(r) spaces” facilitated by
the amazing Ryan Thom, a trans identified poet/performance artist, who I am in
talks with collaborating with in the near future, and Janice Lee, a renound
poet from my old hood in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. These lovely people
worked hard to promote an open and safe space where the bathrooms were gender
neutral, you could speak in English, French, or ANY language you wanted- even
if it meant that NO one else could understand you.
A huge chunk of the beginning was
establishing ground rules of respect and understanding- and that there were
always people ready to listen to us if something in the workshop triggered us.
Then came the round circle introductions. I’m always amazed at how soft spoken
and shy some artists can be. I of course, was loud, brimming with energy and
this may or may not have served well in this environment. But enough play by
play, the heart of the workshop was problematic for me. At the core, the
discussion was on creating safer spaces- especially in slam environments and
new slam communities- with a focus on supporting and fostering new poets.
A significant amount of time was
spent on shared (horror) stories of racially, sexually, discriminatorily bent
performances in past events where audiences did not react well, and some of the
challenges faced by the host/moderators who had to either step in or manage the
situation. I felt like too much time was spent on validating the challenges of
people facing a hard time, and not enough time was spent on speaking about the
issues and how to deal with them.
We moved into a role playing
scenario, and my benefit of the doubt was… given, to a semi-improvised scene
where “actor A” portrayed a trans audience member who spoke to “actor B” about
a fictitious performance she gave- where she essentially excluded
trans-identified females. It was tough to watch, and tough to take it- because
there was no time to debrief. We committed to discussing the issue further,
talking about what strategies could be used to help that situation, and broke
into two groups. Unfortunately, the groups were divided by experience (those
who had been running spoken word events and programs, and new comers to the
scene). Both groups began speaking in another round table of sharing where we
“were” how we were doing, what we were feeling. That unfortunately took up the
rest of the workshop.
Was it beneficial? Absolutely.
Ryan and Janice were fantastic at listening, mediating, and facilitating.
Unfortunately we never got INTO the discussion- and much of the session was
spent on story telling of traumatic experiences. So why am I talking about this
sessions so much. Because the core of this workshop strikes the heart of what I
want to talk about. The point where catharsis meets art, and focusing on the
artform of spoken word. Spoken Word is a style and practice that, quite
frankly, CELEBRATES struggle/difference/trauma. In a later workshop,
Poet/Facilitator/Elder/Saskatoonian- Louise Halfe spoke on writing past fear,
and beautifully summed up that the act of Spoken Word and Writing can be a
beautiful process of release but it is NOT the same as healing. Because if we
do NOT reframe, transform, and change our behavior/patterns/situation- it will
be a continual cycle of catharsis and repetition of trauma.
I voiced my frustration, anger,
and essential intolerance of the Safe(r) Space workshop when it was my turn to
speak- saying that I believe this is an artform, and that what we seemed to be
talking about was how to reframe and communicate feedback and manage tough
situations- which was not the same thing. This was met with positive feedback,
and also some… stiff spines.
When it comes to safe space and
inclusivity- with my experience working with social advocacy groups etc. I am
very opinionated. I began my work- deeply aware of my ‘otherness’ and my sense
of displacement and came from a place of discrimination and intolerance. My
goal for this week was to not speak, to listen, and take time to learn and hear
what other people had to say- and I left… thirsty- wanting more.
And then I found it. In the form
of epid DADA poet, and Spoken Word BIG LEAGUE- Sheri D. Wilson. I hit the
street screaming, indignant at my experience, voicing it to my team mates and
colleagues as we strode away…. Only to run into Sheri-D. I had no idea who this
person was. But her first words were “I couldn’t go into that workshop because…
I don’t believe in safe spaces. I think poetry and Spoken Word is inherently
UNSAFE. We push the boundaries, we speak what needs to be said.” Sheri-D. and I
hit it off- sort of. I was on a tirade, and vehemently agreed with her, but
also staunchly struggled with the ideas that THIS WAS ART, this is performance-
my years of theatre pedagogy came spewing- demanding for presence, integrity,
transformation, as opposed to catharsis and validation for traumas that did not
need to be Relived, but recognizing that they needed to be (re)told.
She dragged me to a listening
party- where, as the living icon that she was, was impromptu-ly asked to sit on
the panel- where the artists SPOKE about the word and the performance, and
recording, and viability of the craft. This was so satisfying and refreshing.
It was my first taste of the ROOTS of this craft, and the vitality and the
legacy that we come from.
For the first time- I realized
what it means to choose your history. I don’t know if I was meant to be a
poetry slammer, but I do know that I was meant to write, speak and more than
anything else- perform. I clued into the reality that this artform that I have
fallen into holds a legacy that I am now a part of. My supervisor, prof,
mentor, and ass-kicking-whereisyourhomework-teacher said to me “Johnny- you are
indeed a spoken word artist, and of COURSE you need to incorporate this into
your thesis and final product.” This terrified the Heck out of me because I
felt like I had NO idea where I came from. Now I know more. Now I’m ready to do
more.
In the listening party workshop,
artists commented on the difference between live performance vs studio
recording. Of course- I chimed in- what I wanted to say, and was trying to say,
because of all my grad school crit and theory was backing me up- what if- we
recognized that our studio persona, and recorded work represented- simply-
another narrative, that it was a persona unto itself- and if we just GOT out of
our own way, and stopped trying to recreate or force the sense of live
performance aesthetic we could create something.
I was slightly misheard- and got
into a relatively intense discussion with- non other than- TANYA EVANS. Like a
bull in a china shop, that’s what I am. It took a few seconds of discussion to
realize that we were saying the same thing differently. She bee-lined to me
after the workshop- while Sheri-D dragged me to her. Because… what I didn’t
realize was: Sheri-D founded- FOUNDED- the SPOKEN WORD INTENSIVE at the BANFF
CENTRE FOR THE ARTS- the program that I am APPLYING TO for a week of study in
Spoken Word………. And Tanya Evans… just happens to be the current director.
My personal performances that
week- well received. I was devastated by the arbitrary and subjective point
systems which lead to my team losing our bouts, and realized how during the
day- outside of performance- artists were just trying to be HEARD. My vocal
outcries and opinions on the work garnered VERY MODEST attention, but lead to
key figures wanting to hear me spit. This was humbling, and encouraging. In the
evenings- I was terrified because some of the artists were screaming, shouting,
and ripping out their bare, broken, shredded souls on stage to have anonymous
judges validate with random number scores. AWKWARD. I understand better now.
But I can’t help the part of me that is competitive and still wants to WIN.
Ugh.
I finish off this LONG post with
something that inspired me, and is driving me to engage more in this community.
The conference was lovely. BUT there was such an Emphasis on the WRITING. But
Spoken Word is an artform that unifies both Speaking and Writing. Frankly- the
word “Spoken” comes first. After my year of study and practice as an artist-
I’ve had numerous opportunities and engagements to coach and develop the
performance aspect, which I love. I coached my team, and some of the pieces I
was able to work on even scored an arbitrary/subjective 10/10. All the pieces I
worked on within my team however… received great feedback from my team. It
meant a lot that I was able to help them, and they valued my input. 13 years of
‘formal’ post-secondary performance training has to be useful for something
right?
Here is a post of a video of a
highlight from CFSW 2013. By poet and new friend Aaron Sim- about his discovery
of Disney producing an amusement park in Baghdad. OMG.
