a wonderful eclectic evening in the Oak Room of The Park Town -- eVOCative Performance Cabaret ... the program reads:

"The eVOCative cabaret brings to our stage five innovative, politically-engaged & dynamic writers and performers. These artists are influenced by, and follow in, a broad range of traditions from sound poetics and dub to feminist performance art, dramatic monologue, and experimental language poetics - all to remarkable effect. There is no way to encounter the surprising and fluid relationships between oral and written poetries than by experiencing the work of artists like bill bissett, Adeena Karasick, Catherine Kidd, Kaie Kellough and d'bi.young.anitaafrika, and I am so thrilled they are all part of this festival and conference. It's going to be a fabulous , fun night!"(T.L. Cowan, curator)

Cowan, an international writer/performer herself, served up this delectable feast. Cheekily in a blond wig like something hot off an Entertainment Tonight clip she introduced each artist with grace, awe and enthusiasm.

bill bissett stomped, rattled & breathlessly intoned his works ... the lively trickster/fool bissett disarms even the most closed heart with streams of playpun ... dissolving into radiant sound subversion ... enticing an imaginative mystical dance ... we envision polar bears on yonge street & sway mesmerized to the soundings from large print laminated pages of ths is erth thees ar peopul ... a perpetual unfolding of langwage n desire... the splendid wide mythical world incarnate ... listening to a dialogue between the wise man & the simpleton ...

Earlier in the day he and Adeena Karasick had simulated a two person radio show: "SUBLINGUAL BOUCHE". They were a pair of small salivary glands beneath the tongue stimulating a passion sometimes sexually charged other times breath aspirations of innocence but always libidinous - union fusion [Sublingual/ Amuse Bouche: Tasty Treats for the Mouth (Talonbooks 2009)] interplay ...

Alone behind the podium Adeena chewed at the ranula... that cyctic war swelling in our midst ... jubilant concentrated energy ... a miraculous paradoxical voice all rich/nasel/nuanced/spirited ... sharp sharp sharp into brilliance ... language extraordinarily 'HIJACK'ed ... multi-fracturing into a persona myriad ... deftly firing synapses of fable fabrication ... high low popular academic dark beamed into a compact delight ... perhaps only in my vision for a moment a hasidic prophet flickered shrewd Kabalsitic wisdom ...

The evening bubbled through zany zanny zanni Catherine Kidd ... to the slow bopping rhythms of Kaie Kellough ... his smooth hypnotic vibe exploring the gentle aspects of identity ... spoken word on reggae/blues ... generated "to dub out the unconsciousness out of people head, and to dub in consciousness"- Oku Onuora ... a groove Lettricity ... say it again real slow Lettricity (Bop to authors Bop to bottom Bop to Kaie) ...

... at the end ... the riveting word warrior d'bi.young.anitafrika ... a simple spin & we are entwined in blood.claat ... stalking the audience eyes wide ... crouching as if ready to leap we surrender to the blood ferocity ... a magnificent story-teller allowing us to presence the ancient oral tradition ... gender class race oppression violence ... at the end ... a tender smile ...

Yes smile! Five Artists sharing ... inviting us to string it all together ... precious gems beaded to wear on the heart ... a heartlace ... thank you.

If one could have been anywhere that night nowhere would have been more tantalizing out of world than the Oak Room in Saskatoon. Praise the artist and their gifts.

- See: Artists Festival

:: note :: ... so much to explore ... each artist moving inspheres beyond wor(l)ds ... deep gratitude to the organizers ... inaccuracies may exist ...