CONTENT
We are curious about the idea of the “travel” state. Moving from one place to another in the physical sense. And also moving from the past to the present to the future. In between places and time. In a state of transition. The site-specific set, the parking lot, train and senior center represent the past, present and future. The physical caboose is alone stranded, in the parking lot, out of place. It sits on train tracks, stuck out of time yet holding so many memories. A dream of the past. The people of Barry’s Bay are very proud of this physical structure that has big white letters saying CANADIAN PACIFIC on it. It carries memories of the past. Those memories are stored across the parking lot in the minds of the seniors who rode the train. The parking lot represents the present. Our dependency on the present-day mode of transportation in the area, the car. It also buries the
memories of the past and the blueberry fields that once covered the area.
Location:
The site-specific creation will take place in the parking lot between the caboose and water tower on one side and the senior centre on the other. The location links the past with the present. The railway opened up the area in 1894 and stopped running in the 1960’s. During the early 1900’s as many as 20 trains passed through the town each
day. The caboose is a remnant of Canadian National Railway company. Many of the residents of the old age home on the other side of the parking lot still remember the era of the train in Barry’s Bay. The seniors center sits at the heart of Barry’s Bay. The parking lot covers the site of a once large blueberry field, where families would
come from as far away at 20 miles to pick berries. The rope will be suspended from a crane (hidden behind the train)
with the tail of it attached to the end of the track. It will appear as an extension of the track. Reinforcing the image of the train as a time traveler, bringing stories from the past. The train is set in a dreamscape suspended in time. Where is it from? Where is it going?
(Brazil residency 2010)
South of 60 is a nonprofit association administered at arms length under the umbrella of the Township
of Madawaska Valley. They have received a number of grants from the Ontario Arts Council for visual
arts initiatives and in 2009 they hosted an Ontario Craft Council touring exhibition. Barry’s
Bay is a regional hub of the Madawaska Valley and a gateway to Algonquin Park. The
township population swells in the summer months due to the cottagers and tourists that live and travel
through the area. It has an established visual and craft arts community. However performing arts
education, outreach and performance are limited. Over the last 6 years,
the strange stranger collective have partnered with South of 60 Arts Centre (Barry's Bay Ontario)
(http://www.southof60.com/) to bring contemporary dance and aerial arts to the community. Residents
have shown a great interest in contemporary performance arts and have been filling these workshops
annually. In the summer of 2009 Ruth and Kevin in partnership with South of 60 choreographed a site
specific multi- art piece called Rock, Paper Scissors. They have also toured a dance and circus show
and taught in the elementary schools within the valley.
This current creation “Caboose” fits South of 60’s mandate which is to develop and nurture an
arts centre that is dedicated to providing a variety of art experiences, for the residents of and visitors to
the Madawaska Valley.
Their goals are to:
-involve as much of the community as possible in expressing themselves creatively
-provide a venue for both amateur and professional artists to further their developmental goals
-provide arts resources and educational opportunities to the community
-provide a supportive meeting place for the community to share ideas/ experiences
Production notes:
Opening:
1. Projection onto caboose (3-5min.)
a video of the large clicking boards with constantly changing arrival
and departure times (often seen in large train stations)
the last date/ time and destination that will be shown will be the
last day the train left the Barry’s Bay station
Sound: the sound of clicking (what you hear as the letters and
numbers change on the board in the train station)
2. As the video fades a light will come on Theresa sitting on the back
of a caboose singing a song-
like a hobo that rode the rails (5 min.)
(theresa is currently researching old folk songs related to trains and
travelling)
As she sings the “River” will start on the rope
People constantly climbing up and passing through and over each other
as they move up and down the rope. I will work on this during the
week with the students in the rope class
Slowly- in the shadows
like a dreamscape
-the idea of falling out of time
3.As Theresa’s song ends music from Ian Tamblyn comes on
trio piece start (10 minutes)- Kira please watch it- especially Ruth’s
parts she may not be able to do all
4.Leading into possible structured improv -kira- to be explored
5.kevin and ana duet- “wolf” – connecting to pre train- railroad was
built to extract timber
the area is still home to wolf populations
6.video projection- clips of historical video of the life and times in
Barry’s Bay when the train was running will be shown
7.Group choreography- developed from Ruth’s step- seen in the trio-
playing with rythmes – being in time, off time etc.
Grant Description:
Project Description:
Our project, entitled CABOOSE, is a multi-art, site specific creation combining elements of
circus (corde lisse), contemporary dance, contact improvisation, a soundscape composition and a video
installation that takes place on a caboose in Barry's Bay Ontario. The purpose of this project is to
engage the local community in exploring how a defined space is marked by the life and stories of the
people and objects connected to the space. The creative process involved inspiring interviews with the
seniors of Barry's Bay who rode and worked on the rail line. In collaborating with the local community
we toured the family run saw mill in Wilno. We hung Kevin O'Connor's rope off one of the logging
trucks log boom arm, and did an improvised performance in the mill as all the workers came out to
watch. The family agreed to donate their logging boom truck to our set for our work in progress
showing, and for our final production in July 2011 . The collision of inspired conversations, viewings
of historical video footage and archival photos and historical books, and chance meetings with local
people whose current lives and family stories were intertwined with the railroad, dictated how the
work was constructed and ultimately how it will be shared with the public audience.
This project received an initial creation grant from the Ontario Arts Council ($9000
multidisciplinary arts) along with $1400 creation grant from the Municipality of Barry's Bay. We
completed a residency for a four week period at the Morningstar Centre for the Arts
( www.morningstararts.com/ ) in Barry's Bay Ontario, in August 2010. This project was part of a eight
day festival of dance in Barry's Bay Ontario. As part of our residency, we offered classes to both the
local community and professional performing artists coming from outside the valley, in aerial dance ,
contact improvisation and contemporary dance. We showed a “work in progress” performance to the
local community(Aug.27, 2010).
FORM
This piece will combine elements of contemporary dance, circus arts, video, voice and a
soundscape by renowned Canadian folk singer Ian Tamblyn. Kevin, Ruth, Kira and Ana have trained
for the past 8 years in the study of the Axis Syllabus and contact improvisation. This is our common
movement language. The Axis Syllabus is a contemporary dance technique that explores weight
distribution on all axes and planes as well as anatomical parameters in movement patterns
(www.axissyllabus.com). Within our development of choreography, the Axis Syllabus has informed
our ability to channel potential kinetic energy and momentum while maintaining the anatomical
integrity of our physical body. We will utilize this movement technique as a basis for creating
movement sequences with dynamic potential and in situations with shared weight dynamics on both the
ground and on the vertical rope.
We are interested in further developing the melding of movement on the vertical and horizontal
plane. Kevin has trained in aerial acrobatics (graduate of the National Circus School of Montreal).
Ruth, Kira and Ana have trained in aerial rope the last three years. Kevin's unique movement on the
corde lisse melds his acrobatic training with contact improvisation. In contact improvisation we study
efficient lifting mechanics, appropriate weight distribution, counterweight, and sensory integration.
One partner can create a platform with their body to allow for lifts and movement of another body on
them and through space. Rope work is very similar, only the climber uses the rope to create a platform
and then pours their weight into it. My focus is on the transitions and shifting of weight as one moves
on the vertical plane.
The basis of the work we do in contemporary dance, contact improv and aerial acrobatics
includes the state of imbalance as an integral aspect of the idea of the “voyage”. Our created
movement vocabulary is inspired by the memories, feelings and stories told by the seniors. The
dancers will represent memories of the past, bringing life and meaning to the empty train. As the
dancers move up the rope and around the train they will reinforce the idea of the train suspended in a
“dream scape”. The movement that explores the off balance state will also represent the train's
historical falling out of the past (no longer being used), into the present (sitting in a parking lot) and
the potential revival of train travel in the future. We are also curious about the idea of our “travel” state.
Moving from one place to another in the physical sense. In between places and time. In a state of
transition.
Sound
The soundscape that will be composed for Caboose, will include collected sounds of trains, rail
stations and urban soundscapes, recorded stories of the local elders and live voice. Elements of the
soundscape will include music from the industrial sonics of Ian Tamblyn's album “Machine Works.”
Tamblyn's inspiration comes from his fascination with speed , power and inferno – all things provided
by the industrial age. It looks at the inferno in a romantic and cautionary way. In many ways these
pieces are requiems for an age of terrible beauty.
The music is gathered sounds from blast furnaces,
mines, ice breakers, highways , lumber yards, and trains. Overlayed with Tamblyn's soundtrack will be
stories told by some of the community elders who worked on the train. These stories were collected
during interviews with the elders during our creation period. Live vocals performed by singer Theresa
Douthwright (who collaborated with Kevin O'Connor on his last multidisciplinary piece called The
Sunlight Zone, sponsored by the Ontario and Canada Arts Councils) and Ian Tamblyn will be
integrated into the final production. For the final production both Theresa and Ian will perform live
(both vocals and acoustic sounds) on the Caboose.
Video
In the archives of Barry Bay we found video clips of black and white live footage of the trains coming
into the Barry's Bay station during the middle of the 20 th century.
As part of the creation process we looped the video and experimented with projecting the images onto
our set. For the production we intend to start playing the video as the sun goes down (the start of our
piece). It is projected onto both the caboose and the water tower. Moving images of the train and
people coming and going in Barry's Bay will slowly take shape as the sky becomes darker.
By the last quarter of the piece the shadow images will become clear and crisp as they project off the
caboose and water tower. Many of the locals in the audience may even recognize some of the elders of
the community in the video. The images show the people in action as they interact with the train; the
conductor blowing the whistle, people as they walk across the train tracks and come off and get on the
train in Barry's Bay etc. (see DVD 1 Caboose: click WORK IN PROGRESS SHOWING).
1. Set (see DVD 1 Caboose: click on SET: photo 1 is the set for our show Caboose; photo 2,3,4 are set
inspiration from Gwen Woermke's book)
The site specific set, the parking lot, Caboose and senior centre represent the past, present and
future. The physical caboose is alone stranded, in the parking lot, out of place. It sits on train tracks,
stuck out of time. It sits like a time capsule, holding so many memories and stories of the people that
have developed and shaped the Madawaska valley. A dream of the past. The people of Barry's Bay are
very proud of this physical structure that has big white letters saying CANADIAN PACIFIC on it.
Those memories are stored across the parking lot in the minds of the seniors who rode the train. The
parking lot represents the present. Our dependancy on the present day mode of transportation in the
area, the car. It also buries the memories of the past and the blueberry fields that once covered the area.
The site specific creation will take place in the parking lot between the caboose on one side and
the senior centre on the other. The location links the past with the present. The railway opened up
1894 and stopped in the 1960's. During the early 1900's 20 trains passed through the town each day.
Many of the residents of the old age home (sitting at the heart of BB) on the other side of the parking
lot remember the era of the train in Barry's Bay. The parking lot covers the site of a once large
blueberry field, where families would come to pick berries.
The rope will be suspended from a crane with the tail of it attached to the end of the track. It will
appear as an extension of the track. Reinforcing the image of the train as a time traveller, bringing
stories from the past. The train will be set in a dreamscape suspended in time. Where is it from?
Where is it going?
The physical set was inspired by numerous photos in the book, Lake Traverse Station: A Railroad
Wife's Algonquin Park Memoir by local elder and historian Gwen Woermke. Photo 2 shows a logging
truck loading logs onto the train as it passed through Barry's Bay. Our set will includes a rope,
suspended off the end of the log boom arm. It will hang to the ground and run along the ground and
into the railroad track that the caboose sits on. In doing so it will reinforce the historical connection of
the train and the logging industry as well as allow for the appearance of the caboose being suspended,
in time and place. Cars will sit parked in the outer spots of the parking lot and shine their headlights on
the set. The present (cars) will illuminate the past (the train).