"One-woman 'docu-dances': humourous, multi-disciplinary, bilingual shows created from documentary-style interviews."
Text From Shows/ Textes
"Oooh! Wind from the Port au Port! Go right through ya! J'étais à St. Jean une fois... 40 years ago ! Avec l'enfant... by train. Two days on the train. (inhales) and 'e was a big youngster. E was big, ay? And me I was only small, I was only a small little kid me! Yien qu'une gamine! J'avais jamais quitté l' Cap! Avec un enfant de deux ans! P'il pesait je pense une cinquantaine de livres! Un gros enfant! I'était gras! Oh! My God. I'était pas petit. Oh oui, oui. Oh oui 'ee was a bad size...
- Angela Chaisson, De Grau, Port-au-Port Peninsula, Newfoundland.
"That's where Smallwood made the mistake for Newfoundland - 'ee should 'ave said alright, give me the coastline from seven islands to Blanc Sablon and you can come acrawss the chummy, bring your iron ore from Schefferville acrawss Newfoundland property to Seven Islands, than they would have been in a good outfit, 'cause it would 'ave been Newfoundland right around. But 'ee didn't put it 'ees meeting at awl - whereas when 'ee thought about it when 'ee was done, after 'ee signed the books - it was too late"
- Sterling Rowsell, Harrington Harbour, Lower North Shore, Québec A community settled by Newfoundlanders in the 1800s.
'Femme de natur' mon mari m'appelle. Pour moi là, c'est l' jus de carottes, céléri, bettraves, ça nettoie le foie, bon pour les intestins... B'en avant ça flottait dans l'gras! Maintenant pour nous aut'es c'est le gâteau aux zucchinis - hé Louis-Philippe?! Lui, ça parle pas... Prenez-vous du thé avec des crottes?! Vous allez finir par me connaître!!"
- Rosée Lapointe, Lac St. Jean, Québec.
"Myself I went off in 1940, all volunteers from Newfoundland, there was very little of anything to do here, so you just went that's all... very little expectations of ever coming back. At least you got fed, if you didn't get shot."
- George Snow, Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland.
"So we brought ashes back 'ere. There was 5 of them altogether 'ay? They put a bomb! They was all sittin' in their boxcars, ready for to go in for to go to work, and the bomb was put on the track. Gold mine strike 1992. Ee was just there workin' one week and a 'alf. Ee didn't belong to the union. We talked to 'im on Father's day, we didn't even know that 'ee was gone even, from where 'ee was livin' Awke's Junction. And then we got the phone call. My good God."
-Martha Rowsell, Mother, Harrington Harbour, Québec.
"Maintenant y raste pu d'monde. Moé j'ai cinq garçons... j'en ai yien qu'un icitte. On avait des grosses familles dans le temps - il' y avait rien pour empêcher la famille. A cet'heure c'est quasiment la guerre faire l'amour! Faut et' toute equiper, les condoms pi toute!"
- Télésphore Monger, Tête à la Baleine, Lower North Shore, Québec.
"Hello,welcome, bienvenue....ah no...thank you for coming. Take off headphones. Quieter Thank you for coming. I just wanted to let you know a few things about the piece...ah Ok it`s around 15 mins. in length and there will be no intermission…. There are no special lighting effects, no gunshots, no lightning bolts, no strobe lights. No. There are no other dancers and no DJ. My family will not be making an appearance. There`s no live audience interaction required. I won`t touch you or ask you to define the meaning of being an audience. You will not have to think. Nothing to worry about or write home about. There`s no text. If I do say something I`m just making it up. Walk to chair, look back. I didn`t rehearse making things up. No."
- ‘A Propos of Nothing’, text and choreography Jo Leslie.
