>>PREVIEW
HOOT HOOT HOOT: A FESTIVAL OF THE OPERAESQUE
Bubonic Tourist
Runs until April 22
Motel (Epcor Centre)
Edgy as ever, Bubonic Tourist prepares to step into the spotlight once more with Hoot Hoot Hoot: A Festival of the Operaesque.
Consisting of four artists of various mediums, Hoot Hoot Hoot challenges the rigid rules surrounding operatic performance, while providing a venue for artists on the fringes of culture.
"We are really interested in looking at marginalized or under-represented artists in our community and finding a context in which to present them," says artistic director Eric Moschopedia.
"It is about building community through performance. In this instance, we started to meet a lot of people who were interested in the notion of opera – though not traditional opera by any stretch of the imagination – but work that was opera-esque. Work that challenged the notion of opera and in some respects, begs, borrows, steals and out and out destroys it. This really fits into Bubonic Tourist’s mandate to present innovative work."
Artists performing in Hoot include David Bateman, a word-based performer; Istvan Kantor, an internationally renowned performance, video and media artist; Delea Shand, a new music vocalist; and Don Simmons, an audio installation artist.
"David Bateman, for instance, is taking Madame Butterfly and is presenting it from a queer white perspective – not an interpretation one would necessarily expect to see on the stage of Calgary Opera’s new venue," says Moschopedia.
This somewhat cocky, optimistic attitude may be the secret to Bubonic Tourist’s continual success, boasting a stellar reputation of innovative and gutsy work.
"I know that one might suspect high art types would think what we are doing is insulting, but in truth, we are really supported by the more traditional presenters, because they realize the importance of the work we are doing," explains Moschopedia.
"Bubonic Tourist has a really wide audience base. Our work speaks to all ages, and because of the festival context – four works in an evening – there is always something there that someone will connect with."
Moschopedia not only hopes a connection will arise from the evening, but open-minded debate as well.
"With David’s work we are really interested in creating a critical context and discourse concerning queer culture in Alberta," he says. "Let’s be honest – our new government is planning on overturning a bill that saw equal rights afforded to Canadian citizens because of sexuality. If it isn’t the artists who are willing to stand up, then who?"
Despite political undertones and the participation of Kantor, a man known for tossing vials of his own blood on gallery and museum walls, the night is not destined for controversy, but rather the opportunity to create.
Shand is performing John Cage’s Aria, a work that’s notated with drawings and colours, rather than traditional notes and staves.
"Delea Shand is a trained opera singer, who is interested in tackling work that she wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity to present," says Moschopedia. "Her voice is really stunning. Seeing her work in a venue like Motel is such an experience. Opera is normally yards away – you see people with brace binoculars in thousand-dollar dresses. In Motel, you’ll be inches from the work." |
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