Monday, February 14, 2005

How do poets working in jazzoetry, dub, lit-hop, and other west-african-griot-descended traditions de- and re-construct the English language?
Roundtable discussion with artists from the Poetry Riddim Memory show.

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The performers in the show Poetry Riddim Memory discuss their relationship to language. How English is treated by these poets, working within the “griot” tradition; how dub, jazzoetry, and lit-hop allow for wordplay and rhythm while still carrying a strong message. With Lilian Allen (Toronto), Steven Thomas, BLU Rva, Jason Selman, and Josephine Watson.

in poem and song, Chloé enters her plea
on behalf of those who are in need
on behalf of those she loves
on behalf of the caregivers
in a show like none other
with courage, sincerity, compassion
with steely determination and conviction…
and soft sweet songs

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A platform for our guest of honour. In French.

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An original show by this year’s guest of honour Chloé Sainte-Marie, accompanied by three musicians and a chorus of caregivers.

Chloé Sainte-Marie will offer a uniquely moving show, a gift from the heart to mark Valentine’s Day. She will speak about her life and sings songs and poems by Gaston Miron, accompanied by her musicians-guitarist Réjean Bouchard, the versatile Gilles Tessier (guitars and other instruments) and Gilles Bélanger who plays the accordion and harmonica and composes most of Chloé’s songs. A chorus of caregivers will join her on stage as the poetic voice of a reality we have too long ignored.

For love and because it is also her reality, Chloé Sainte-Marie is making common cause with caregivers (those who care for a loved one, former partner, or parent), seeking to help pass legislation to get assistance for them from society. It was in 1991 that the first symptoms of Parkinson disease appeared in Gilles Carle. This illness attacks the motor skills with devastating effect. Gilles Carle currently requires assistance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year-yet the existing services offer no help. This is the situation for 2.5 million caregivers in Canada. It would cost the government $170,000 per patient per year to give hospital care to these patients. It would cost about $140,000 to care for them in a home setting. But at present, there are no programs to help caregivers.

Chloé Sainte-Marie grew up in rural Quebec and had a difficult childhood, far from the artistic milieu. Her meeting with filmmaker Gilles Carle, her life partner for the past 22 years, brought a profound change to her life. In 2000, Chloé released the CD Je pleure tu pleures which caught the public and the artistic milieu by surprise. The album earned seven ADISQ nominations and the world discovered that behind the actress was a singer with a magnificent voice and great sensitivity. On her second album, Je marche à toi, Chloé Sainte-Marie brought together her authentic creativity and poetic texts with great lucidity, to public and critical acclaim.