boum boum pow!
Posted by aaron
A special kind of magic happened at the Edgy Boum on Saturday night! It was an blend that only the Edgy Women Festival could deliver: imaginative performances, intriguing installations, interactive initiatives, right on dj-ing and an incredible crowd of awesome women. I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing that pretty much everybody got laid too. (ahem)
The evening really got started, oddly enough, in the line up for tickets. The crowd was electric! Buzzing with energy and anticipation for the Edgy Boum that was about to begin. In line was a who’s-who of queer artists, dancers, media moguls, personalities and cool crowdsters. It was exciting to see so many members of our community come out to see the Boum and support the Edgy Women Festival.
“What brought you to the Edgy Women tonight?”, I asked a friend in line with her date. “I’ve been before,” Meghan, a modern dancer and student of physiotherapy, replied, “and I’ve been waiting for Edgy all year! Checking out the newspaper for when it came up. I’m so excited!”
Interactive Performances
In the lobby, was a woman wearing a blue hospital gown covered in employee pink slips, attached with collectible pins. Caroline Boiteau, a multi-disciplinary artist, was gathering messages and cries-from-the-heart from Edgy-goers. Caroline is interested in “how we inhabit our bodies and the words we use to talk about the passages of time”. Throughout the evening, Caroline connected with the crowd by releasing the anonymous anecdotes via megaphone. It was a touching exploration of the intersection of personal and public spheres, private and shared experiences.
Back in the crowd, I asked Kathy Kennedy, a Montreal-based composer/arranger, sound artist and Maha Choir director, “Would you consider yourself an Edgy Woman?” She replied with a laugh, “I have more edges than I care to admit!”
Master MCs
The theatre doors opened (on time, thank you!!) and the full-house audience quickly found their seats. MCs Nathalie Claude and Dayna McLeod kicked things off with a religiously edgy ritual, some ridiculously funny karaoke, and amazing costumes. Their easy french and english banter made the evening accessible to both languages… and put us all in the mood for the great show to come!
“What inspired you to come of the Edgy Boum?”, I asked Topper, a member of the Dukes of Drag, Montreal’s drag king collective. “I was at Edgy last year and saw Coral Short’s performance installation… and I wanted to know what she was up to this year,” Topper noted.
Boum Boum Pow
The show was so fun! Each artist worked with their quote, sound effect, villain and prop with such imagination and playfulness! There was an incredible spontaneity to what happened that night… it was utterly charming, challenging and inspiring!
I loved the piece by T.L. Cowan… trying on styles and styles of panties to the audio of her running inner chatter. It was simple but brilliant. The comedic timing was perfect and the theme was so relate-able… the entire audience loved it!
Another stand-out performance was Leslie Baker’s tap-dance around mental illness. The audience gasped when she tar-and-feathered herself… then ate her young! A most memorable moment!
Sophie Castonguay put words in our mouths, literally, with an interactive performance. Line by line, she handed the script to random members in the crowd. The dialogue was spoken above a video using her assigned prop, blue shoes. The effect was engaging and haunting…
I also loved—well, I loved everything!!—but also loved the hip hop clowning of Cookie LaJar & The Flying Monkey. Their high-energy choreography was a high jinx of cute and sexy… and totally entertaining!
Jackie Gallant presented an emotionally charged musical vibration in sound and movement. Jackie communicated a beautiful depth of emotion, bringing an abrasive buzz to life, making a journey out of noise. A true art experience…
Rounding out the evening were performances by Suzanne Miller & Allan Paivio Productions, a large-scale dance work; and, Mariko Tamaki, engaging our imaginations in the execution of a Care Bear!
Fun and Prizes
Fun prizes by JoyToyz were the cherry on top of a great show!
After the performances, I ran into drag king Bo Stallion. “What did you get out the show tonight?”, I asked. Bo thought for a minute and replied with a grin, “It was like a mix of a childhood birthday party and speed dating.” Whatever THAT means! LOL
The Edgy Boum Party
A great tie-in: The interactive art by Coral Short and Lamatilde was a fantastic social experiment and conversation piece! The other interactive installations were wildly popular and kept the crowd engaged throughout the evening…!
This party totally worked. The crowd felt like friends who hadn’t met yet each other. Everybody stuck around and wanted to be there… and talked and introduced people to people. The performances, the crowd and the venue was a great recipe. There was a chemistry at the Edgy Boum, no doubt. Delicious!
DJ Noisy Nora (mwah!) kept the dance floor jumping and the incredible Edgy Festival staff ran the event smoothly into the wee hours…
A standing ovation to all the Edgy Boum performers… and major congratulations to another successful Edgy Women Festival event!
More Edgy to Come!!
I highly recommend you check out the Edgy programming still to come—Jess Dobkin on Wednesday + more, more, more!—and have your say by commenting on the Edgy Blogs at www.edgywomen.ca/blog/ !
~ Aaron for Edgy Women
Hey Aaron, you rock girl!
I have a love-hate thing for the Mainline Space, but I loved the party vibe there too – they have a ginormous living room. I wish I had one. xxx m
I am sad to have missed it! looking forward to seeing the documentation though, and good to meet the fellow bloggers.
Mwah back at ya Aaron! What a fun night!
You tell it like it was Aaron! It was so much fun to take in this event!
Aaron! You were bang-on, it was an amazing evening!