Mile Zero Dance Goes Punk in SNFU Tribute Show
To mash together punk rock with modern dance seems like an insane idea.
You know how punks “dance” – they mosh, crowd surf, stage dive, slam together, elbows akimbo, mohawks flailing, running madly in a circle (always counter-clockwise. Why? Short answer: The right foot goes a little further. Long answer in this highly scientific study).
Longtime punk fan and professional dancer Gerry Morita was a big fan of area legends SNFU and its colourful frontman Chi Pig.
“I saw them at the Town Pump in Vancouver about 100 years ago,” Morita says, “At the time the thing that stuck with me was the jumping. Chi had phenomenal skateboard jumping skills. It was crazy. The music was fun punk, active. You might get kicked in the head, but you’re going to thank the world for being there to experience it.”
Morita now happens to be the artistic director of the Edmonton Mile Zero Dance company – which is presenting a special punk-dance combo show at the Hilltop Pub Friday and Saturday: Second-hand Dances for the Crude, Crude City. Nice touch putting this in a neighbourhood bar. Playing the songs of SNFU live during the choreography will be the band Rebuild/Repair, along with other musical guests and opening acts. There’s also artwork – Chi-inspired (he drew most of the band’s album covers) – and a Chi pre-recorded video.
Like, why not? There have been ballets set to the music of Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, and Leonard Cohen. Why not SNFU – one of the heaviest hardcore bands that ever came out of Western Canada?
Audience participation is encouraged, Morita says, adding that the impression one usually gets from punk dancers is “people who would like to kill other dancers. That said, I have some tough dancers. And Rebuild/Repair holds their own. We want people to mosh. Normally you try to avoid getting messed us up as dancers, but in this one it’s challenging. I think it’s unpredictable and dangerous and funny.”
But it’s the deeper story that inspired Morita to create the piece, named after the SNFU song Crude Crude City, an anti-ode to Chi’s old hometown.
Morita says, “Chi is a real survivor and has kept his true artistic voice. He stands out to me as being ahead of his time. Here was a queer Asian guy fronting a band in Edmonton, which was probably one of the best bands in the world. He was just really ahead of his time. I’m interested in stories that show the true face of Edmonton.”
Top photo by Mat Simpson
