The Storm and Taqralik Partridge

The Golden Star Lounge spans From North to South tonight.
Featuring spoken word poetry by The Storm and Taqralik Partridge
And Open Mic Hosted by the nth digri 8:30 PM to 11:30 PM
The East African Restaurant
376 Rideau Street, Ottawa
Admission $7.00

Anthony Bansfield hosted another spectacular show for Ottawa. It's amazing how he can go to Toronto and bring The Storm to Ottawa. It's her first time performing her spoken word poetry in the Capital. When in Toronto be sure to check out her upcoming performances that are listed on her website. It's awesome how he can go to Montreal and bring in Taqralik Partridge back to Ottawa. Taqralik, orginally from Kuujjuaq now lives in Montreal and works at the Avataq Cultural Institute. I originally caught her act at last summer's Westboro Village's Festival of Music, Art & Life. Her WESTFEST bio says,

Taqralik Partridge is a lyric-addicted, melody-smitten artist with an omnivorous appetite for music and poetry. Her body of work often paints a street-level wordscape of the Montreal neighborhoods she so lovingly references. A throat singer as well, Taqralik brings the haunting cadences and northern sensibility of this Inuit form to her spoken word poetry, resulting in a refreshing and fascinating blend of the urban and the tundra.

Even The Storm, stayed up extra-late last evening to pen her own blog entry about last night's performance. I completely agree that it's hard to believe she's just starting the spoken word performances. If you know anything about Taqralik already, it probably her throat singing that you're familiar with.

Yeah, you've probably seen some examples on TV where there's these two young girls in an igloo facing each other, out in the snow with their big parkas doing their throat thing that they do, then giggle their way to a finish. Taqralik performs her poetry in such a very feminine, beguiling way that, I think, blows away these stereotypes especially when she drops the throat singing into her spoken word poetry. I think she has a fine poetic sensability with her poetry and how it's a pleasure to listen to, and more importantly, how it can inform. Her keen lyrical sense is combined with biting satire with a dash of sultriness. Take her poems, "Debbie Does it with the Pow Wow Circuit" for instance, and "Eskimo Vegan". She comments on the stereotypes of southern views of northern natives and their ways of eating (seal) meat. I may come off corny when I say that she's "all that and a bag of cariboo chips" (taken from a line in her poem, "Eskimo Chick"). However, she's a rising star and one to watch for sure.

We are so lucky to have Mr. Bansfield to organize this for us in the The East African Restaurant. You know, I would feel selfish if I didn't share this with the rest of you. I urge you to come out to see what you're missing. Now this is entertainment on so many levels: politics, poetry, music, and food.

The nth digri also thoughtfully reminded us tonight of the late Rosa Parks as he dedicated the evening to her memory. She will be the first woman to lie in honour in the United States Capitol Rotunda - "a tribute formerly reserved for presidents, soldiers and prominent politicians", according to one news source. It's the fiftieth anniversary this December of her refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.


The Storm on stage


Taqralik Partridge with Anthony Bansfield