CELEBRATING LIFE’S IMPERFECTIONS
In Perfect Imperfections: The Art of a Messy Life, local educator/performer Celeste Snowber, jazz bassist Jodi Proznick, and harp player Alexa Reimer team up for a mix of dance, comedy and spoken word. Lynn Fels, who directed Snowber and Proznick in their 2013 collaboration Woman Giving Birth to a Red Pepper, directs, and singer/songwriter Katherine Penfold guests on a couple of songs. We talked to Snowber about the show.
Q: In press materials, Messy Life is described as offering “a poignant reflection of the many ironies faced by all women today.” Can you explain?
A: I don’t think it’s just women, I think it’s women and men. One of the themes is that we all have multiples roles in our lives. How do we live and create out of this? A big theme is, what does it mean to live in our bodies that are imperfect and wonderful and joyous, and how do we connect to our bodies from the inside out? Oftentimes we feel we have bodies more than that we are bodies. There is so much emphasis on the outer body that we haven’t
been able to inhabit the fullness of sensuality and embrace the wisdom of our bodies.
It’s like using only one part of our brain. I believe there is a body intelligence. We’re trained and we walk around the world from the head up. A lot is stored in our bodies that we don’t access. In some ways, the show is a celebration. There’s humour in it as well. There’s a piece called The Roll, which explores the roll that many of us have. In this belly is this incredible energy that connects to wisdom, to sexuality, to power.
Q: What is the format of the show?
A: We have everything from a harp solo to several pieces from Jodi’s new album to a fake TED Talk on creating a mess in your life.
There’s a piece called Not Enough — Too Much, which explores those dichotomies of being human where we think we’re not enough but we’re too much. And I do dance, so sometimes there’s poetry and dance, sometimes it’s comedy and dance. The show brings together a lot of performative forms. And it has an arc in it.
Q: You’re the mother of three adult sons. What do they think of their mom’s performance art?
A: I only wanted one thing from my sons, to follow their passions, and they have. They are the real performers. I have one son who’s an opera singer. His twin brother is a tattoo artist and a heavy metal singer, another’s a yoga teacher. I think they’re thrilled in the same ways I’m thrilled for them.
Q: The ages of the performers in this show range from early 20s to early 60s. Who is this show for?
A: Whether you’re 20 or 40 or 60, we never realize how magnificent we truly are in the middle of our own imperfections. I would hope that 20-year-olds would see how absolutely beautiful they are from the inside out, and to celebrate their imperfections and not waste a lot of energy on having to have it exactly right. There’s so much more available to us. I think often we look back and we think, Oh my goodness, I was amazing, I was so handsome, I was so beautiful. And then we get older and we only see it in hindsight. And I don’t mean just physically. So I think what’s interesting to me that the show speaks to all ages. Some of these messages and themes are universal.