[Reellife] SPIN on over to the Cultch...

[dave olsen]

I'm so excited.

Evalyn Parry <http://evalynparry.com>'s SPIN, which I've been loving listening 
to, is opening at the East Vancouver Cultural Centre (the Cultch 
<http://www.thecultch.com/content/view/374/538/>) on Tuesday, April 9th and runs 
until the 20th.

This show not only stars a bicycle as musical instrument, it will take us back 
into time when the bike was king and a woman caused a sensation by riding around 
the world in record time, helping bring the vote to white women in North America.

And the show is even deeper than that, weaving numerous layers between and 
within the songs that you can listen to and download. SPIN, chain, and numerous 
other words provide the mechanism for this weaving and frankly, I'm impressed.

I had the chance to speak with Evalyn this week, in anticipation of SPIN's 
Vancouver debut...

Reellife: What came first: album or play?
Evalyn Parry: Both started at the same time...the show was a longer process of 
workshops using monologues to tie the story together, which isn't on the album.  
The show also has a visual component with archival images and historical 
layers.  I used the wheel as a guiding image, where the whole is bigger than the 
sum of the parts.

RL: When did the show debut?
EP: March 2011 in Toronto.  It has travelled to Halifax, Newfoundland, 
throughout Ontario and North Carolina.  A Fringier version appeared in Minneapolis.

RL: How long was the show in the making and what inspired it?
EP: I started writing in 2008.  A few different ideas converged.  My first 
impulse was cycling since I have a strong emotional attachment to the bicycle: 
it's powerful and joyful.  Cyclists understand this.

Then I heard that there was a connection between cycling and the women's 
emancipation movement.

And the force of advertising in our society is immense; it drives me crazy but 
is also intriguing.

Until I started the research, I didn't realize how profoundly these themes came 
together.

RL: How was the Bicycle as instrument born?
EP: It was a process of experimenting.  I investigated with my band's 
percussionist, Brad Hart; he was storing his old bike in my basement so we 
pulled it out.  The first time we used it, it was simply acoustic on all 
different songs.  Contact microphones on the bike, which was an old 1970's 
cruiser, were added and suddenly we had a bass drum and reverb from springs.  
Brad the bikist.  It's impressive to see what he can do.

RL: How would you describe your work.

EP: It's motivated by politics and social change...artfully, thoughtfully and 
humorously.  I mix the personal with the political to create an emotional 
engagement to find the way into somebody's heart.

RL: What's up after SPIN?

EP: My next project has more to do with the future.  I expect it to be ready 
next year and it's called, "To live in the age of Melting."  It'll involve the 
NW Passage, Global Warming, ice, people, land.

RL: Would you like to add anything about your upcoming show at the Cultch 
<http://www.thecultch.com/content/view/374/538/>?
EP: Yes.  After we released the record, I received a letter from Annie 
Londonderry's granddaughter.  It was such a surprise and pleasure and I turned 
it into a song that is now part of the show.

*Evalyn Parry's SPIN*: starring the Bicycle as Muse, Musical Instrument and 
Instrument of Social Change from April 9 -- 20, 2013

Apr 9, 8PM: Opening night
Apr 10 - 14, 16 - 20: 8PM
Apr 20: 2PM matinee.

See you at the Show!
-- 

Warmly,
dave/
//
Parenting with an Open Heart: a seminar series for all Parents, Caregivers, and 
Parents-to-be: for info and session dates, please visit/ 
/http://humanpowered.wordpress.com <http://humanpowered.wordpress.com/>

Movie and Theatre lovers who know a saner world is possible may enjoying reading 
and sharing their thoughts on Reel Life, Real Ideas: Movies and more... 
<http://reellife.wordpress.com/>

Hit by a car at 60 km/h (40mph), a pedestrian has an 85 per cent chance of being 
killed; at 50 km/h (30mph) s/he has a 45 per cent chance of being killed, while 
at 30 km/h (20mph) the risk falls to 5 per cent. Source: British Parliamentary 
Advisory Council on Transport Safety (1996) //_Taking Action on Speeding_//

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Did you know that in Scandinavia...
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