Review – Christine Fellows at the St. Boniface Museum, Winnipeg, Sept 11-13 2009

– review by Eugene Osudar

Hi Eugene, Thanks for coming to the show, and very glad you enjoyed it.

Here is the set list:

Sanctuary
Running Flat
Dragonfly
Saturday Night on Utopia Parkway
Traversée
Mlle. Sténo
Un Canadien Errant
Flood, 1861
Outcast
What Makes the Cherry Red
The Spinster’s Almanac
Certainty
The Parlour Rollers

Oh, re: myspace. I don’t have one, but I have a website: www.christinefellows.com

—
Christine Fellows
Artist-in-Residence РLe Mus̩e de Saint-Boniface Museum

I Love Christine’s work,
her songs
sprightly
moving
pictures
of the past
something
gone by
and innocent.
there’s innocence
and joy
in her work.

there’s enthusiasm
too.
not to be curbed.

there’s the Feminine
the magical
and the Feminist
the strength
the solid fabric
the sheer veils
the exquisite dance
and
somewhere
behind a curtain
the masculine

(Laurie Anderson
comes to heart.)

and so very Lovely

mostly,
it’s the word that fits.
best of all.

in the chapel
of the St. Boniface Museum
one of the oldest buildings
in Winnipeg
1846
i believe

(i could be making this up)

(i’m a writer of fiction
disguised
as poetry)

it’s all so beautiful
so lovely
a setting to sit
and let your mind
wander

the pictures

Christine sketches
then paints
and creates
with sounds and words

on her piano
with her voice
and choice
of like-souled fellows
(beautiful musicians)
on cello, Leanne Zacharias
and Alex McMaster
with
their gorgeous voices
in perfect harmony

alex plucking bass parts
on her cello
not all the time

and the show
is (truly) only
their second
rehearsal.

40 minutes

before and after
you’re invited to
visit Louis Riel’s
corner of the museum,

to see the plain coffin
he was transported in,
the coffin
burned in the fire
that destroyed the Cathedral.

the blurry photographs
of Riel
the prisoner
the hated man
the loved man
the persecuted man

the man on trial

the tortured man

(a hero)

now, a founder of Manitoba.

to see the hood that covered
his face when he was
executed

to see a portion of the rope

to read his diary

to read his Love
for his family and people
his faith
so deep
so still

you’re invited
to walk
and feel
the history
and herstory
of Manitoba

the Metis
the French
the English

Sanctuary,

“daughters of the white blue lake
are sisters of the charity
how do you plead…
find sanctuary
we’ll be playing at the riverbank.”

sweeping and uplifting
celebratory melody
and the bell
resounds
the old bell
above us
on the second floor

Running Flat,

a tumbling hurtling piece
move,
meant
dashing/darting
“running flat out
sideways…
no one here can see us
they fumble through their magazines”

care,less,ly (running) flat/out
invisible movement

“we are stranded by the urgent need…
keep moving, just keep moving”

and here Christine stumbles
over her own
words and melody
an invisible fault line
and regains her balance
headlong running
into
Dragonfly

“left at night with a garbage bag
full of dirty clothes…
left for dead by a man who said
i’ll take good care of you…
fell asleep in a doorway
on a dead end street…
now i’m swimming
in a pool
at a nice hotel”

Saturday Night on Utopia Parkway

“night
there’s a lantern in your window…
your kitchen is a movie
set
and you’re the heroine…”

i love the feminine innocence
of this carefree song

“the next batch (of songs)
are all very new.”

Mille Steno
inspired by a photo
in the museum,
strolling and stridently
structured melody
alex plucks her cello
strings
leanne’s bow flows
over her strings

Un Canadien Errant
christine plays the ukulele
ah those four strings
pleasing
whimsical
inviting
song

Flood, 1861
dark, brooding
rising
river
“one parting request
please
could you make
one little grey dress for me…
we sing the last hymn.”

two of my favorite songs,

What Makes the Cherry Red

rolling and rollicking song

“wait for it,
the fruit within the fruit…
to make the cherry red…”

and

The Spinster’s Almanac

from a wonderful
CD/album.

“we’ll leave you with this
weird little number
that makes no sense
but makes sense to me.”

Certainty/
there is a certainty
that this won’t be
The Last number
and (yes) there is an encore,

The Parlour Rollers

“a song about my favorite street
in Winnipeg…
Valour Road”

don’t miss
this
the
**********
FINAL EVENT:
Reliquary/Reliquaire

The premiere of the commissioned work created for the Museum by Christine Fellows
with
Shary Boyle (overhead projections)
Leanne Zacharias (cello)
Alex McMaster (cello)
Caelum Vatnsdal (film)
September 11, 12 and 13, 2009
at the St. Boniface Museum
494 Taché Avenue
showtimes TBA
Free admission by reservation
This event is presented by Winnipeg Arts Council and the St. Boniface Museum
To reserve seating, please email your request to: st.bseating@gmail.com