eleventh.transmission
SLAM REPORT
Slam City:
Slam Olympics at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word
by correspondent Kirk Ramdath, member of the first ever Calgary Slam Team.
The team comes together…
When the first three were announced at the Calgary Slam finals at Beatnik, it was no surprise that they were
Wakefield Brewster, Sabo, and Jordan Dack. The performances and scores of that trio for both rounds of
poetry were outstanding. Check out some videos of their performances.
However unless you were keeping close tabs on the scores from both rounds of poetry, it would have been
difficult to know for certain which poet would complete the team of four. Shone Abet, Melanie Haywood, and
myself did fairly well, and added to that there was a bit of drama concerning the judging that pretty much made
it a toss up. I for one had resigned myself quite contentedly to the notion that one of the two fine lady-poets
would be chosen for the team, and was quite contentedly polishing off another pint of beer (or two). Then to
my absolute shock and amazement, my name was called.
Preparations…?
The first meeting was held at Sheri-D’s house. Wakefield, being from Barbados, was on island time, and
therefore was about two hours late. However in the Caribbean this is still considered early.
The plan was to go over some strategy and then take photos of the slam team. Sheri-D told us of her
experience as a spectator at previous Slam Olympics, and of her experience defeating the incredible Andrei
Codrescu at Bumbershoot in 2003. Sheri-D is very methodical and strategic and I fear for anyone who is
pitted against her for anything. For her bout with Codrescu she incorporated elements of his poetry into his
own and walked away with the title, Heavyweight of Poetry. She also advised us members of the Calgary
Slam Team to have upwards of 10 poems prepared so that we could engage in a “call and response.”
Meaning that, if the preceding poet throws a certain kind of poem at the audience, creating a certain kind of
energy, we must respond with the kind of poem that will turn that energy to our favour, and amplify it, erasing
all memory of the previous performance and establishing ourselves as Poet Gods.
There was much talk of regular meetings and practices and getting to know each other’s poems and team
pieces. Then it was off to various locations throughout the city for a Calgary Slam Team Photo Shoot. It is fun
to be treated like a rock star. See some of the best photos here.
The festival… (Thursday Night)
Round 1 of the Slam competition was an introduction to the national slam poetry scene for three of the four
members of the Calgary team. Wakefield had competed on this level a year before, representing the city of
Toronto in the 2005 Slam Olympics that were held in Vancouver. He had told Jordan, Sabo, and I of the
intensity the other poets would bring to the stage.
What I imagined as intense was nothing compared to the actual energy that some of the poets exhibited
during the performances of their poem. This energy was expressed in a variety of ways that included
increased volume, pace, pitch, and gesticulation. Vancouver and Toronto showcased well polished group
pieces, and many scores were astronomical. The change in energy levels for me was a bit disconcerting,
and when my turn came in the third round I felt confident but with a sense of not knowing how the audience
would receive the poems. This sense of confusion was not unfounded as there were moments in my first
poem that had went over well in Calgary, but when performed them in Toronto the reaction was very different
(i.e. nonexistent).
In truth all four Calgary performers were a bit off during the first night of performance. Thinking about what it
was that was “off” about the performance for me, I realized it was in trying to adjust my performance style to fit
an audience I had no connection with. What had earned me a place on the Calgary team was doing my
performance my way. Realizing this was when I realized that it did not matter what the audience thought or
what the score was. The most and best you can do as a poet is to be completely honest to your poem and to
yourself.
The festival…(Friday Night)
Perhaps all members of the Calgary team did some soul searching to find their own response to the events
of the first night. For all of us there was a great sense of honour to be the first team to represent Calgary and
Alberta at the Slam Olympics, and we wanted to come home knowing that we had done our best to represent
our home city. The poem I planned to perform was called, “Switzerland.” It was the poem that won me my
first poetry slam and a good poem to be my last of the competition, since we were unlikely to make the finals
on Saturday night. The poem contains a significant literary element, and I had no idea how it would be
received because none of the previous poems of the competition had included a major literary component.
However this was merely consideration of a fact and not evidence of self doubt. If you cut open my heart you
would find this poem and my intent with the performance was more to wow myself than the crowd. I was
confident that the result would be good, because of my realization that the most important thing to bring to a
poetry slam is yourself. Realizing this gained me a new perspective on my competitors as well as an
increased level of admiration and respect. The one thing slam poets bring no matter what is their heart, and
that deserves all kinds of respect. Carrying this vibe to the stage worked in my favour as “Switzerland” went
over exceedingly well, with oohs and aahs and giggles all in the right places.
The story was the same for the other three members of the Calgary team, all of us providing stellar
performances, including Sabo who managed to garner a few 10s to have one of the highest scored poems of
the evening. Calgary rebounded form a shaky performance the previous day to finish as the 3rd place city that
night. More importantly, Calgary demonstrated that their power is in their uniqueness. The six other cities
never knew what we were going to bring to the stage and if the question was asked of all seven competing
teams, “What is their poetry about?” the answer regarding Calgary might be a somewhat confused stare. We
even surprised them again a few hours later, leading a crowded bar in a loud drunken rendition of “O
Canada.”
Conclusion
The energy in Calgary spoken word poetry that is different than what we felt in Toronto is not one of differing
stages of development but of priorities. While connection with the national community in events like the
Canadian Festival of Spoken Word will influence Calgary’s development, there are characteristics of the
Calgary scene that make it unique and that should be preserved. When you come to a poetry slam in Calgary,
you experience more diversity of content and poetic form in one night than was on the stage for three whole
days in Toronto. Definitely something to be proud of, and let us hope Calgary can continue to make its own
definition of, “What is slam poetry?” Next year for Calgary will be much the same at the Slam Olympics: The
nation won’t know what hit them.
Make sure you check out the local talent, last Thursday of every month at Beat Niq.
www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com/slam.html for more information.
A special thank you to Sheri-D Wilson, Mark Hopkins, and the Calgary Spoken Word Festival for making this
happen.
All pictures property of the Calgary Spoken Word Festival.
Kirk Ramdath is Editor-in-Chief of Eleventh Transmission.
Slam City:
Slam Olympics at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word
by correspondent Kirk Ramdath, member of the first ever Calgary Slam Team.
The team comes together…
When the first three were announced at the Calgary Slam finals at Beatnik, it was no surprise that they were
Wakefield Brewster, Sabo, and Jordan Dack. The performances and scores of that trio for both rounds of
poetry were outstanding. Check out some videos of their performances.
However unless you were keeping close tabs on the scores from both rounds of poetry, it would have been
difficult to know for certain which poet would complete the team of four. Shone Abet, Melanie Haywood, and
myself did fairly well, and added to that there was a bit of drama concerning the judging that pretty much made
it a toss up. I for one had resigned myself quite contentedly to the notion that one of the two fine lady-poets
would be chosen for the team, and was quite contentedly polishing off another pint of beer (or two). Then to
my absolute shock and amazement, my name was called.
Preparations…?
The first meeting was held at Sheri-D’s house. Wakefield, being from Barbados, was on island time, and
therefore was about two hours late. However in the Caribbean this is still considered early.
The plan was to go over some strategy and then take photos of the slam team. Sheri-D told us of her
experience as a spectator at previous Slam Olympics, and of her experience defeating the incredible Andrei
Codrescu at Bumbershoot in 2003. Sheri-D is very methodical and strategic and I fear for anyone who is
pitted against her for anything. For her bout with Codrescu she incorporated elements of his poetry into his
own and walked away with the title, Heavyweight of Poetry. She also advised us members of the Calgary
Slam Team to have upwards of 10 poems prepared so that we could engage in a “call and response.”
Meaning that, if the preceding poet throws a certain kind of poem at the audience, creating a certain kind of
energy, we must respond with the kind of poem that will turn that energy to our favour, and amplify it, erasing
all memory of the previous performance and establishing ourselves as Poet Gods.
There was much talk of regular meetings and practices and getting to know each other’s poems and team
pieces. Then it was off to various locations throughout the city for a Calgary Slam Team Photo Shoot. It is fun
to be treated like a rock star. See some of the best photos here.
The festival… (Thursday Night)
Round 1 of the Slam competition was an introduction to the national slam poetry scene for three of the four
members of the Calgary team. Wakefield had competed on this level a year before, representing the city of
Toronto in the 2005 Slam Olympics that were held in Vancouver. He had told Jordan, Sabo, and I of the
intensity the other poets would bring to the stage.
What I imagined as intense was nothing compared to the actual energy that some of the poets exhibited
during the performances of their poem. This energy was expressed in a variety of ways that included
increased volume, pace, pitch, and gesticulation. Vancouver and Toronto showcased well polished group
pieces, and many scores were astronomical. The change in energy levels for me was a bit disconcerting,
and when my turn came in the third round I felt confident but with a sense of not knowing how the audience
would receive the poems. This sense of confusion was not unfounded as there were moments in my first
poem that had went over well in Calgary, but when performed them in Toronto the reaction was very different
(i.e. nonexistent).
In truth all four Calgary performers were a bit off during the first night of performance. Thinking about what it
was that was “off” about the performance for me, I realized it was in trying to adjust my performance style to fit
an audience I had no connection with. What had earned me a place on the Calgary team was doing my
performance my way. Realizing this was when I realized that it did not matter what the audience thought or
what the score was. The most and best you can do as a poet is to be completely honest to your poem and to
yourself.
The festival…(Friday Night)
Perhaps all members of the Calgary team did some soul searching to find their own response to the events
of the first night. For all of us there was a great sense of honour to be the first team to represent Calgary and
Alberta at the Slam Olympics, and we wanted to come home knowing that we had done our best to represent
our home city. The poem I planned to perform was called, “Switzerland.” It was the poem that won me my
first poetry slam and a good poem to be my last of the competition, since we were unlikely to make the finals
on Saturday night. The poem contains a significant literary element, and I had no idea how it would be
received because none of the previous poems of the competition had included a major literary component.
However this was merely consideration of a fact and not evidence of self doubt. If you cut open my heart you
would find this poem and my intent with the performance was more to wow myself than the crowd. I was
confident that the result would be good, because of my realization that the most important thing to bring to a
poetry slam is yourself. Realizing this gained me a new perspective on my competitors as well as an
increased level of admiration and respect. The one thing slam poets bring no matter what is their heart, and
that deserves all kinds of respect. Carrying this vibe to the stage worked in my favour as “Switzerland” went
over exceedingly well, with oohs and aahs and giggles all in the right places.
The story was the same for the other three members of the Calgary team, all of us providing stellar
performances, including Sabo who managed to garner a few 10s to have one of the highest scored poems of
the evening. Calgary rebounded form a shaky performance the previous day to finish as the 3rd place city that
night. More importantly, Calgary demonstrated that their power is in their uniqueness. The six other cities
never knew what we were going to bring to the stage and if the question was asked of all seven competing
teams, “What is their poetry about?” the answer regarding Calgary might be a somewhat confused stare. We
even surprised them again a few hours later, leading a crowded bar in a loud drunken rendition of “O
Canada.”
Conclusion
The energy in Calgary spoken word poetry that is different than what we felt in Toronto is not one of differing
stages of development but of priorities. While connection with the national community in events like the
Canadian Festival of Spoken Word will influence Calgary’s development, there are characteristics of the
Calgary scene that make it unique and that should be preserved. When you come to a poetry slam in Calgary,
you experience more diversity of content and poetic form in one night than was on the stage for three whole
days in Toronto. Definitely something to be proud of, and let us hope Calgary can continue to make its own
definition of, “What is slam poetry?” Next year for Calgary will be much the same at the Slam Olympics: The
nation won’t know what hit them.
Make sure you check out the local talent, last Thursday of every month at Beat Niq.
www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com/slam.html for more information.
A special thank you to Sheri-D Wilson, Mark Hopkins, and the Calgary Spoken Word Festival for making this
happen.
All pictures property of the Calgary Spoken Word Festival.
Kirk Ramdath is Editor-in-Chief of Eleventh Transmission.
Arts, Culture, Media, Activism
| November 2006 - Issue 8 |
| Wakefield, Kirk, Jordan, Sabo |
Magpie (left) and R.C.,
members of the
Vancouver slam team,
eventual winners and
now the 3-time
defending champs.
members of the
Vancouver slam team,
eventual winners and
now the 3-time
defending champs.
| Kirk, notorious chair defender. |
| Wakefield and Lindsay |
| Jordan and his momma. |