Vera Polozkova & Alex Manotskov
Meridian Arts Centre, Toronto (14.04.2023)
“Hand luggage” (Poetry and Songs) program
Hand Luggage is a dialogue between two authors, a composer and a poet. It’s like a personal archive of plots and stories that they were eyewitnesses to. Previously, they sounded like an attempt at a summary, a detailed account of what a person says goodbye to and what a person gains when he enters maturity. Now this is a confession about life before the war. About what we actually took with us when we left.
Vera Polozkova: “We sing and read about what a person feels when the world is cracking right under his feet. About war, about loss, about gratitude, about hope, about despair. About memory. About what remains yours when you lose everything. About what cannot be taken away from you as long as you are alive.
Since ancient times, there has been such a form – the alternation of reading the text and, immediately, singing it – the text, as it were, is highlighted from different sides. This song cycle arose quickly and unexpectedly. Just as unexpectedly, an unusual instrumentation was born – electric bass and voice. But, as sometimes happens, what appears unexpectedly has long-term consequences.
All pictures: flic.kr/s/aHBqjAACDa