Spoken word, poetry, performance, music… and a sense of history!
Montreal, Tuesday, January 15, 2008 - Winter has been a little crazy the last seven
years, and Les Filles électriques is definitely responsible for a few degrees of
intensity! Since 2002, Montreal has been plugged into the Festival Voix d’Amériques
(FVA) celebrating performance text, spoken word and the risk of language. This year,
the FVA runs February 1 to 8, the seventh edition of this electrifying
production by Les Filles électriques.
Moving between the Sala Rossa and the Casa del Popolo, with one incursion to Ex
Centris, this 7th FVA brings together more than 100 artists, in English and French, to
perform for playful audiences in a relaxed and festive atmosphere. We have a special
treat for Montreal this year in our guest of honour, New York poet John Giorno, who has been a leading figure in performance poetry for more
than 50 years! John Giorno will perform on three consecutive nights - solo, with
francophone poets, and with anglophone poets.
As you all know, the FVA headquarters are at the Sala Rossa and the Casa del Popolo,
but we also like alliances - especially if they're risky. Thanks to an invitation from
Ex Centris, we are finally able to give Montreal audiences the chance to see
La Salle des pas perdus, a multidisciplinary show we’ve
presented only once before, at the Berlin Poetry Festival last June. Meanwhile, the
tradition of mainstage shows at the Sala continues all
week. And the FVA favourites are back! Well on its way to becoming a cult classic, the
Combat contre la langue de bois returns for Round Four, giving a
dozen well known guests a chance to say what’s on their minds (in French). And
Body and Soul 5 will carry on its mission of presenting
outrageous women likely to cause a commotion.
Along with the classics, the FVA is always about the new! Jérôme
Minière in an intimate and unexpected show where he will finally tell us… the
truth about trees! And to cap it all off, a Dada Cabaret -
hysteric queer whacky insolent unbelievable. Our ticket prices are unbelievable too, at
$12 to $15. Down with reason, up with extravagance!
And of course the FVA always makes room for new voices. Besides the daily 5 à 7 shows (free!), we are once again hosting the Night Shift, our popular late-night cabaret with an open Mic. Every
evening, starting at 11 pm at the Casa, the statuesque Michel
Vézina and his musical partners Philippe Brault and
Guido del Fabbro will welcome established performers (the
opening act) before turning the mic over to emerging artists.
