Tanya Tagaq at Winterruption towards ... ceremony
Saskatoon has this event Winterruption "... an effort to give you a great reason to leave your house in the dead of winter." Tanya Tagaq presented by Word on the Street Saskatoon and the Broadway Theatre performed on the Persephone Theatre Stage ... using the word performed is not entirely accurate ... the program notes ...
... there was time for a Q/A ... no-one asked ... who could ask questions ... we were not of this world any more ... i had wanted to ask how she had chosen the sequences of sound/voice/throat singing that interspersed the audio book she had released of Split Tooth ... didn't have the courage... speaking felt silly after listening to her wor(l)ds ...
... break followed ... a drum kit had been set up on stage right and another station of mics and electronic equipment were stage left ... they had embraced Tagaq as she read sitting in her large sofa-like chair during her reading ... my heart leapt entering the theatre earlier seeing the music stations for it meant Tanya was to be accompanied by her faithful collaborators Jean Martin & Jesse Zubot ... the chair was removed replaced with a mic stand ... it was time for the music ... before the lights dimmed a figure crossed the stage down the stairs into the house ... he walked swiftly with intent ... i watched as he positioned himself at the sound board a couple of rows behind me ... he was unassuming though his intense presence could not be denied ...
... they took the stage ... removing her shoes Tagaq shared they were dedicating their presence to Jesse's father Orville ... recently passed away she spoke of him at length recognizing his great love for life nodding to Jesse who nodded back in thanks ... a calm reverence took hold ... the violin vibrated ever so softly, sustaining, nurturing ... the sound relentlessly crescendoes soaring hymn-like upwards, upwards into the beyond ...
... it was then i realized we were entering the quality of a ceremony - a sonic ceremony...
... for a brief moment Tanya's dress transformed into snake-skin shedding over and over and over again passing through rings of fire journeying towards the after ... out of the world of actuality into ...
... three artists pulsating together an experimental honour song ... for Orville, for grandmother for us all ... the song ceremony gnashed through rings of existence carving a way of survival beyond the world into the outwith ... Tagaq writes announcing her to be released Toothsayer: "Teeth represent protection and hunting in nature. We are going to have to get our fists up and our teeth out to carve our way to survival in this world."
... we need that same determination so the good survive wherever they travel especially in our memories ... one moment i felt a passing through the rings in the Fourteenth Century Italian narrative poem Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri ... the next traversing the seven valleys of Twelfth Century Persian poet Farid Ud-Din Attar's epic poem The Conference of the Birds ... then on a small island in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the Korean peninsula moving along in a funeral custom referenced in Grass Tomb by Oh, Tae-Sok ... whatever i felt the (song/music/sound/vibration/breath)scape was a highly sophisticated yet clear rendering of insight into the universe and society based on time honoured traditions ... it was an incarnation of the last words in the reading before the break ... i share:
... i want to share with you now my partner's song ... at the moment she teaches in Paris but she is an artist ... she will deny it but she is a sonic singer mixing/experimenting in traditional Korean Pansori/Minyo and drumming ... on my visit at Christmas i recorded her singing ... enjoy ...
::Note:: ... sorry couldn't track down Peter's full name & Jesse, know you're busy, but how about updating you web-page ... & Tanya please no need to apologize for reading your words ... they are beautiful, strong and true ... as are your reflections ...
Tanya Tagaq is an improvisational singer, avant-garde composer and bestselling novelist. A member of the Order of Canada, Polaris Music Prize and JUNO Award winner, Giller Prize Long Listed author and recipient of multiple honorary doctorates, Tagaq is one of the country's most original and celebrated artists.
Tagaq’s improvisational approach lends itself to collaboration across genres and forms. Her work includes numerous guest vocal appearances (Buffy Sainte-Marie, Weaves, A Tribe Called Red, Fucked Up), original avant-garde classical compositions (Kronos Quartet, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra), commissions (National Maritime Museum in London, UK) and more. In its many forms, from novel Split Tooth to most recent album Retribution, Tanya Tagaq’s art challenges static ideas of genre and culture, and contends with themes of environmentalism, human rights and post-colonial issues.
Tagaq will bring these worlds together on the Persephone Theatre stage with a program that includes a Q&A and reading from Split Tooth, followed by a musical performance with full band.
... i need to elaborate on the aspect "perform" ... having witnessed a few Tagaq evenings in Saskatoon: once at the University of Saskatchewan Convocation Hall and a couple of Broadway Theatre nights Nanook of the North & Retribution ... each event had a specific & purposeful quality ... the evening of Jan. 24 was no different ... she began with readings from her book Split Tooth ... a few passages including from what she described as retelling a true story of her childhood, a story of young love, an early poem, an erotic passage and then a final reading ... the last reading was (have a kindle e-copy allowing me to locate) from a section near the end of Split Tooth ... Tagaq introduced it as a dream ...
... her voice, at times almost a whispering and other times soft, precisely articulated with calm silences alternating between quiet breath and sharp focused strength into the mic, transfixed us ... we heard as she read to us her grandmother telling her she was going to hell but not to be afraid for there was a reason ... the vivd images of the journey were spell-binding ..."After my grandmother died, my mother would pray to her, asking if I was going to heaven or hell. She prayed so hard, she needed to know. She needed to know because she had always questioned my origins. Concerned for my soul, she wrung her hands and worried. Fear made her pray.Bypassing my mother, Ananak came to me in a winter dream."(Split Tooth)
... she concluded the reading ..."It was dark in hell, except for this wall of fire that resembled a row of large flowers dancing. Beside each of these fire flowers were people. They were souls that held on to their physical likenesses. The souls were screaming, suffering with unthinkable pain. ... I recoiled in horror as I saw myself. I had no form. I was a floating white spectre. I was posing as a guard. I had to convince Evil that I was kin."(Split Tooth)
... there was time for a Q/A ... no-one asked ... who could ask questions ... we were not of this world any more ... i had wanted to ask how she had chosen the sequences of sound/voice/throat singing that interspersed the audio book she had released of Split Tooth ... didn't have the courage... speaking felt silly after listening to her wor(l)ds ...
... break followed ... a drum kit had been set up on stage right and another station of mics and electronic equipment were stage left ... they had embraced Tagaq as she read sitting in her large sofa-like chair during her reading ... my heart leapt entering the theatre earlier seeing the music stations for it meant Tanya was to be accompanied by her faithful collaborators Jean Martin & Jesse Zubot ... the chair was removed replaced with a mic stand ... it was time for the music ... before the lights dimmed a figure crossed the stage down the stairs into the house ... he walked swiftly with intent ... i watched as he positioned himself at the sound board a couple of rows behind me ... he was unassuming though his intense presence could not be denied ...
... they took the stage ... removing her shoes Tagaq shared they were dedicating their presence to Jesse's father Orville ... recently passed away she spoke of him at length recognizing his great love for life nodding to Jesse who nodded back in thanks ... a calm reverence took hold ... the violin vibrated ever so softly, sustaining, nurturing ... the sound relentlessly crescendoes soaring hymn-like upwards, upwards into the beyond ...
... it was then i realized we were entering the quality of a ceremony - a sonic ceremony...
... for a brief moment Tanya's dress transformed into snake-skin shedding over and over and over again passing through rings of fire journeying towards the after ... out of the world of actuality into ...
... three artists pulsating together an experimental honour song ... for Orville, for grandmother for us all ... the song ceremony gnashed through rings of existence carving a way of survival beyond the world into the outwith ... Tagaq writes announcing her to be released Toothsayer: "Teeth represent protection and hunting in nature. We are going to have to get our fists up and our teeth out to carve our way to survival in this world."
... we need that same determination so the good survive wherever they travel especially in our memories ... one moment i felt a passing through the rings in the Fourteenth Century Italian narrative poem Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri ... the next traversing the seven valleys of Twelfth Century Persian poet Farid Ud-Din Attar's epic poem The Conference of the Birds ... then on a small island in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the Korean peninsula moving along in a funeral custom referenced in Grass Tomb by Oh, Tae-Sok ... whatever i felt the (song/music/sound/vibration/breath)scape was a highly sophisticated yet clear rendering of insight into the universe and society based on time honoured traditions ... it was an incarnation of the last words in the reading before the break ... i share:
"I was trying to stop hell from growing stronger. It was why I was made. I am to spend eternity hurting more than could possibly be comprehended, to work for heaven, for benevolence and love. My grandmother said only a few of us were ever allowed the glory and sacrifice of saving these souls. Only the strongest could survive the pain and the wrath of hell. Only the ones tainted with sin and evil could fool the devil at the gates of hell. Only the ones with the brightest hearts would not succumb to the agony. I was to be proud of the honour." (Split Tooth)
.., i wrote a response to retribution ... at the time it felt retribution was the necessary inevitable healing surgical act... somehow through the retribution process a way has been carved by these artist/soothsayers ... they have gifted us a sonic ceremony of reconciliation ... a path for all of us to follow ... i recalled listening to Jeremy Dutcher and the song of his grandmother archived ... Wolastoqiyik reverberating from the past revealing a future ...
... the greatest surprise was meeting the fourth hidden artist of this collaboration ... the persona behind the soundboard ... had wondered who was mixing all the sound? ... marvelled ... at the end turned back to the sound board and thanked him ... we talked briefly ... he was a generous soul ... thank you Peter & Jean & Jesse & Tanya ... one of the best reasons for living in Saskatoon is that you come here often ... you seem to like coming here and i love that you visit ...
... the greatest surprise was meeting the fourth hidden artist of this collaboration ... the persona behind the soundboard ... had wondered who was mixing all the sound? ... marvelled ... at the end turned back to the sound board and thanked him ... we talked briefly ... he was a generous soul ... thank you Peter & Jean & Jesse & Tanya ... one of the best reasons for living in Saskatoon is that you come here often ... you seem to like coming here and i love that you visit ...
::Note:: ... sorry couldn't track down Peter's full name & Jesse, know you're busy, but how about updating you web-page ... & Tanya please no need to apologize for reading your words ... they are beautiful, strong and true ... as are your reflections ...
