RE-ENVISIONING FRINGE FEST
Show will go on for theatre lovers
Of all provocative composers of the last century, John Cage (1912-92) may well be the most talked about and the least programmed.
Dory Hayley, of the ever-inventive Blueridge Chamber Music Festival, plans to change that with a Cage extravaganza that turns the whole city of Vancouver into a performance space.
Born in Los Angeles, Cage studied with Arnold Schoenberg in the 1930s. He spent a few years in Seattle (where he met his life partner, dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham), then drifted to New York. It was there that his astonishing catalogue of work began to accrue.
Pieces like the Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (a sort of ad hoc percussion ensemble created by putting this and that between the strings of the piano), Imaginary Landscapes for a dozen radios, or the notorious 4’ 33” — in which no notes are actually sounded — challenged every possible assumption about the nature of music and performance.
Quite understandably, this means you won’t hear much Cage on the playlist of orchestras, opera companies and traditional chamber ensembles.
More’s the pity, says Hayley, who has been profoundly interested in and seriously influenced by the American master, especially his commitment to chance as a means of creating content.
“I perform a lot of contemporary music myself, and I am drawn to atonal, extremely complex music. Yet every time I do John Cage I have a really profound musical experience,” she told me in a recent chat. “There is something really exciting about having to give up control and give the reins to chance. Cage argued that self-expression was very difficult in our times. Introducing chance into the operation removes the egos of the performers.”
Making the most of — or is it taking advantage of? — our current condition with most traditional performances on hiatus, Hayley came up with a plan.
“19 Waltzes for the Distanced is an ideal work for this moment, because it unites a large number of people in a massive, shared artistic experience without encouraging crowds to congregate at the same place and time,” she said.
So how will it work? “Using chance operations, we’ve selected 3 x 19 = 57 random locations across Vancouver, including parks, residential street corners and industrial spots. On Sept. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m., participants (including professional and amateur musicians, dancers, writers and members of the community at large) are invited to go to one or more of these randomly generated addresses.”
On site there are three “tasks” to be undertaken, which blur or even erase the conventional roles of composer, performer and audience. Participants — and that includes everyone, even those who happen into the picture by chance — may choose to perform (music, dance, act or some other deliberate action); to listen and observe any performance they find, or simply take in the ambient sounds of the location; and/or to make a record (take a photo, video, or audio recording, draw a picture, write an account of their experience, etc.).
Interested in how you could fit in on this project? A Random Experience Generator at 19waltzes. com lets people use chance to determine how they can participate.
“Various musicians, dancers, actors, writers, artists, photographers will create micro-events around the city, all combining into one big project,” said Hayley. “Our website will indicate who will be where, but there will be no given times, so that we don’t encourage crowds. Chance will determine whether you hear a performance by a well-known musician, or just the sounds at that particular location at that particular moment.”
Featured artists scheduled to appear include musicians Adrian Verdejo (guitar), Alejandro Ochoa (piano), Dory Hayley (voice), Elisa Thorne (harp), Gordon Grdina (oud), Jeff Younger (guitar), John Korsrud (trumpet), John “ADID AM” Littlejohn (violin), Mark McGregor (flute), Melanie Adams (voice), Parmela Attariwala (violin), Russell Wallace (singer), and Vi Levitt/KERUB (voice/electronics), dancers Olivia C. Davies and Ziyian Kwan, writer Carleigh Baker, plus Colin MacDonald reading Cage’s Lecture on Nothing.
It’s not just the small-scale particular moments on Sept. 19 that make this project so intriguing. It’s also about rethinking the idea of public performance in the extended particular moment we collectively find ourselves in.
“Over the last month there have been many fantastic performances online,” said Hayley. “This project encourages everyone to participate in a same-time environment that puts them into a new relationship with the city we occupy.”