Join the Victoria Downtown Residents Association for a dream-like multi-sensory experience featuring poetry, spatialized soundscapes, and immersive analogue projections. The evening will include sets by spoken word poets Marie Metaphor Specht (who will perform as part of multi-disciplinary arts collective The Soft Storm) and Shauntelle Dick-Charleson.
There will be two presentations of the same show, one starting at 6:30 pm and the other at 8:30 pm. Attendees will be asked to wear masks to the 6:30 performance. Please avoid wearing perfume, cologne or other scented products.
Tickets are free, but registration is required. Click here to reserve your spot today!
This project is proudly supported by the City of Victoria through the Our DWTN Ideas Fund.
About the performers:
A rising star in the spoken word community, Shauntelle Dick-Charleson is a poet from the Hesquiaht and Songhees First Nations whose work shines a light on Indigenous resilience, intergenerational trauma, and the experiences of Indigenous women. She began writing in Grade 10 and quickly found her voice on the stage. In 2019, she competed with the Vic Slam Team at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, where they placed 8th at nationals. Her poetry has been featured in Aboriginal Voices 2, and she dreams of publishing her own book one day.
Marie Metaphor Specht is a multi-disciplinary visual artist, spoken word artist and the 6th Poet Laureate Emeritus of Victoria.
Sarah Thiessen specializes in interactive installations and analogue light art/shadow puppetry.
Gabrielle Odowichuk is a multi-instrumental musician and artist-engineer developing sound-reactive lighting technologies.
Together, these three artists make up The Soft Storm, a multi-disciplinary collective that creates dream-like spaces and time-based works featuring poetry, vocals and spatialized soundscapes layered with immersive light art. Whether in performance, installation, or film, The Soft Storm elicits an emotional response while inspiring contemplation and a sense of magic in their audience. These lyrically-driven, visually engaging, poetic-soundscape experiences are a conversation between the artists and their audience as they explore our human struggle to simultaneously hold the soft and the hard; the love and the mess.
Accessibility details:
Masks will be required for the 6:30 pm performance, but not for the 8:30 pm performance. Captions for poems and song lyrics will be projected on a screen to the side of the performers during both performances. The event will take place in Kirk Hall, which is fully wheelchair accessible. There is a passenger drop-off zone beside the entrance to the venue and paid on-street parking is available on Courtney Street, directly in front of the building. Additional parking is available on neighbouring streets and in the Broughton Square Parkade. If you have questions about accessibility at the event, please email engage@victoriadra.ca.
We encourage those who are able to walk, cycle or take public transit to the event. The closest bus stops are just south of Courtney on both sides of Douglas Street. There are a number of bike racks close by, including on both Courtney and Douglas.
Marie Metaphor Specht and Gabrielle Odowichuk of The Soft Storm Collective.