For Body and Light - Combining the Unique & Beautiful

For Body and Light combines spoken word, dance, and music. Set on a dimly lit stage, the performance enacts a sea voyage along (I think) the Atlantic Coast of the southern Maritimes and the United States.

A light above represents the moon. Ian Ferrier sits stage right illuminated in shadow, playing his guitar, and half-singing, half-reciting. Three women dancers move across the stage. They represent tides and movement.

The effect is hypnotic and trance-inducing. Ferrier's voice is so gentle, so reassuring. You feel the very gentle rocking movement of the boat as it makes its way down. Even when we get to a hurricane, the same gentle voice tells us of love and loss, in a tone that does not really change. Is the ocean indifferent to suffering? Does love survive?

At times, the effect was monotonous. I was not an entirely attentive audience member, as I had moments where I started thinking about tasks to do and so on. But I would snap out, and enjoy the beautiful and lithe dancing, and the lovely if sometimes soporific feeling induced by the music and Ferrier's voice. This is an immersion piece of sorts; a sea voyage is made up of many moments that are not very exciting.

The total combination of the elements is unique and beautiful. I find multidisciplinary productions intriguing, as the division between poetry, music, and song is artificial at best. Certainly all three arose together in humanity's past.

Ferrier mentioned that he and his troupe have made connections to the spoken word scene wherever they go, and they invite different artists to open the production. Sebastian Wen, a spoken-word poet and Jess Tollestrup, a musician, opened on September 4, but the opening artists will vary by performance. Wen's reference to Leonard Cohen as a husk dragged through stadiums seemed like the words of someone very young; he does not get, or perhaps hasn't seen, that Cohen puts on stunning shows despite his near-octogenarian status. I enjoyed seeing these two Vancouver artists, but admittedly was so struck by that statement that the rest of what they had to say passed in a daze.