Culture Cauldron and Art with Attitude

It all started with a simple one-liner. At a focus group hosted by the Ryerson RBC Institute for Disability Studies Research and Education, we asked the question: "How can we best support you, as front-line contributors to Canada’s emerging Deaf and Disability Culture movement? What do you need?"

Jane Field, Toronto-based satirical songwriter, performer and activist was first to answer.

"We need deadlines."

There were chuckles and nods of agreement around the table. Musicians, comics, dancers, visual artists and writers at the vanguard of what historian Paul Longmore has described as a quest for collective identity were doing what creative people do best. They had come to advise how our newly established Ryerson RBC Foundation Institute might fulfill its mandate "to provide a focal point for creativity and innovation in the field of disability culture."

And from that simple one-liner, some big ideas for showcasing artistic products and performance by Deaf and Disabled Canadians began to take shape.

The first of these was Culture Cauldron. The recipe was simple: a deadline and a question - "What can you do in five minutes?" The result was an exciting smorgasbord of 15 five-minute cabaret-style acts, ranging from "in-your-face Crip comedy" to exquisitely artful expressions of grace and beauty. Dramatic monologues, poetry readings, comedy routines, music, theatre and dance blended together for an unforgettable evening on July 3, 2002.

Performing to a full house of enthusiastic students and guests, artists presented authentic, dynamic and non-sentimental images of the Deaf and Disability experience. Established artists shared the stage with first-timers; polished performances were stacked back-to-back with works-in-progress and improvisational experiments; people well known for their activist or academic strengths shared their lesser-known artistic talents, introducing us to new voices and deeper passions.

Pulling together this diversity of moods and creative perspectives was master of ceremonies Alex Bulmer, Culture Cauldron’s secret ingredient. Drawing from all of her talents as a theatre artist, voice instructor, musician, playwright, performer and producer, Alex and her ukulele performed the magic of keeping things moving, keeping spirits high and adding just the right seasoning to a delicious feast of Deaf and Disability-inspired art.

One week later, on July 10, it became clear that the word was out about Deaf and Disability Arts and Culture at Ryerson. Art with Attitude, featuring five somewhat longer, more developed pieces, offered standing room only to an audience primed and ready for a night of cultural surprise and adventure. At the helm of this event was Duncan McKinlay, who served as master of ceremonies with wit, charm and the genius of a natural entertainer. Looking straight laced and professorial, Duncan wasted no time in shattering that stereotype, introducing himself with a rousing round of his own composition, "The Tourette Twitch!", sung to the tune of "Jailhouse Rock."

The evening’s program was a powerful mix. The Friendly Spike Theatre Band, a company of institutional abuse survivors, presented several haunting and riveting scenes from The Girls of Grandview, a play based on the experience of survivors of the infamous Grandview Training School for Girls. Next up, Frank G. Hull, Alan Shain and Kazumi Tsoroko were Three Men Exploring, with three moving and provocative improvisational dance works chronicling the universal search for connectedness, intimacy and meaning. On stage next were Doris Rajan and Spirit Synott, whose performance of an excerpt from Doris’s new play, God I Love You People!, put a comic, edgy spin on the theme of exclusion. Next, a special guest appearance by Angela Petrone Stratiy from Edmonton, whose One-Deaf Woman Comedy Show definitively turned the tables on ableist attitudes with a wry look at the "behaviours" of hearing people. Wrapping up the evening was The Mirror Dance, a multimedia mixed bag of music, video, movement, spoken word, dance and comedy created and performed by none other than Culture Cauldron’s diva/host, Alex Bulmer.

Two memorable nights. And best of all, thanks to the generous funding of our sponsor, the Royal Bank of Canada, and with the expert support of Ryerson’s Theatre and Media Services departments, full video and audio recordings of both events will be available in the Culture Zone of the Institute’s new website.

Visit us at www.ryerson.ca/disabilitystudies - and stay tuned for more dispatches from the frontier of Deaf and Disability Arts and Culture!