Memorial’s artists-in-residence, along with students and faculty from Memorial’s School of Music, were part of a live performance at the Queen Elizabeth II Library on Oct. 18.
Below are some highlights from the latest offering of Memorial University Libraries’ event series, Check It Out!: Celebrating Culture in the QEII Library, with Julia Taffe, dancer-in-residence, and Sara Tilley, writer-in-residence.
1/ Suspension of disbelief
Julia Taffe, dancer-in-residence, begins her vertical dance while Sara Tilley, writer-in-residence, reads from her novel Duke, winner of the 2015 BMO Winterset Award.
2/ Mid-air
Julia Taffe holds the audience captive as she gracefully dangles from a rope in the lobby of the QEII Library.
3/ Inch-by-inch
Julia Taffe climbs the main pillar in the QEII Library double-height foyer with ropes and pulleys.
4/ Improvisational musical score
A group of students and faculty from the School of Music perform, including members of the improvisational drumming group The Scruncheons.
5/ Musical cues
Dr. Ellen Waterman, School of Music, leads the improvising musicians, while Julia Taffe dances through the space.
Check It Out! brings together creative and inventive collaborations between Memorial University, in particular the libraries, and innovative community thinkers and doers to inspire new ways of thinking about performance, culture, history, art, research and learning.
Ms. Taffe combines art, the environment and adventure by dancing on buildings and mountains. She is the founder and artistic director of Aeriosa, a vertical dance company based in Vancouver, B.C.
Ms. Tilley has written 11 plays and two novels. Her 2015 novel Duke received the 2015 BMO Winterset Award.
