Jan. 18, 2012 - Issue #848: City of champions

Unplugged

The well-loved Mile Zero Salon series has undergone big changes over the past couple seasons; not only have the multi-disciplinary parties grown in terms of venue and performance space, they've also begun to employ a cast of diverse curators that pushed the salon concept into the realms of true Edmontonia, much thanks to the long-term plans of MZD artistic director, Gerry Morita.

Last season's salons, titled Boom and Bust respectively, studied the economies we Albertans tend to find ourselves in. This season's salons, The Wired Body and this weekend's finale, Unplugged, ruminate on ideas of the human relationship to technology. At least in some form or another.

The challenge for the artists participating in Unplugged? Try to "unplug" not only from the theatre's power supply, but also from any techno-habits employed in creating their art.

Unplugged's emcee, the irresistible and hilarious Jill Pollock—perhaps best-known for her plucky ukulele humour—is quite excited to test out her hosting skills on the swath of artists lined up for the salon.

"I'm a fan of everyone performing, it's a rad lineup," says Pollock. "Gerry contacted me after seeing a show of mine and asked me to perform in MZD's 2008 Salon, Fall Back. I was so honoured to be part of such a multi-media show with dance, spoken word, film and, of course, ukulele. I'm stoked to be a part of this show, too—the integrity and quality of MZD, the talent of the performers [and] also the concept.

"I am very much an active member of our green community and think their 'unplugged' concept of going off the grid is wonderful. Beautifully artistic, yet conscious and proactive," Pollock says, elaborating on a few of the bits she's most interested to see.

"I am partial to Simon Glassman and his puppets. I saw a short film he did at Mostly Water Theatre's Metro Shorts last year, and it won over my heart and my giggles. Also, Man Dance [Richard Lee] is intensely soothing to watch, if I can put those two qualities together."

Other pieces in the lineup include an excerpt from Azimuth Theatre's Apocalypse Prairie, a promisingly horrifying clown bit from Michael Kennard (sometimes known as Mump, of Mump & Smoot), Edmonton's poet laureate Anna Marie Sewell, MZD regulars Katrina Smy and Theresa Dextrase with Jeff Carpenter and Izumi Kuribayashi in a new dance work, Shawn Pinchbeck's Polyphonic Photo Booth (which sounds like fun, whatever it is), plus an acoustic set by Souljah Fyah and, finally, Music is A Weapon's bike-generated smoothies—they're also going to be helping to power whatever they can throughout the evening, pedal-style.

As for what Pollock plans to bring of her own to the foray, she coyly hints that she does have a plan—but isn't giving it all up—that's the bonus for ticket holders.

"I haven't played a gig in a long time, so, yes, I will be playing my Uke a wee bit," she says. "I haven't decided which songs to play, it might be an act of randomness as to what comes out of the hat, but you can sure bet it'll be a barrel full of monkeys."

Sat, Jan 21 (8 pm)
Presented by Mile Zero Dance
Westbury Theatre, TransAlta Arts Barns, $10 – $15 vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus