Every year I look forward to new surprises, risks, experiments and community at the Bridge Songs music and arts night, and every year, my expectations are exceeded.

There is something so beautiful about art in community. The risks and rewards, the last minute mad-dashes and finishing touches. The revelations of how the world looks through the eyes of another. The talents and gifts you never saw until now. The blur-speed pace and the connection between a room full of living breathing souls. And then it’s all done.

Bridge Songs 09 felt like my wedding day. Months worth of planning and anticipation poured into a few hours that moved too quickly to be captured. But after a few weeks, we can look back, break it down and in our remembrance, savor it.

There were many highlights to savor.

First, the process of getting there. Our theme, Be Not Afraid, played itself out in our lives as the artists involved took many risks, some performing, showing and recording for the first time. And it poured out onto our canvases and lyrics as well. Through our exploration of fear, we discovered it’s antidotes. Honesty, openness, courage and community. Faith and perfect love. The individual stories of such discoveries will be what I remember most.

And then there was the event itself.

Lewis Lavoie’s involvement broadened the live arts aspect as he created a picture of a dragon slayer while Andy Mulcair and others performed a live electronic soundscape. TJ McLachlan and my own adventures into the realm of Camera Obscura proved fruitful indeed. There were 60 odd minutes of irreproducible magic that night as our actresses (thanks Stephanie and Sarah) portrayed the destruction and recreation of self image, projected upside down into an 8 foot blackened cube. It was a combination of video, performance, nature and construction that’s hard to explain – you’ll have to check the photos. The art gallery brought many new talents into the light and challenged old ones to bring forth new works. Edward Van Vliet’s figure drawings inviting the audience into the creation process as dozens approached a table and created their own mini-pieces reflecting on the theme, Be Not Afraid. Joseph Gurba, “The Joe”, passionately recited verse and rhyme. Poet Michelle Earle added her own words to the frenzy. And for the final chapter, 9 songwriters performed 10 songs, written and honed in community, on instruments and genres ranging from hard rock to banjo to timpani (thanks to Dan Sabo!).

All of this took place in a venue that we will likely call our new Bridge Songs home; the Avenue Theatre. Jonny and his crew were more than accommodating and the feel of the old theater was a perfect fit. It helps that it is in the heart of Edmonton’s newest arts district, Alberta Avenue, a place fast becoming one of Urban Bridge’s many homes.

There were things we learned and things we will do better next time out. For one, we are looking to create a more immersive gallery space. But overall, this was a fantastic, magical night. I can’t thank enough all of the people who pulled together to make this happen. Beth, Kristin, Dave, TJ, Tim, Jonny, Aaron, Cheryl, and by mentioning some I’m in danger of forgetting some, and certainly I have, so I apologize. The scope of an event like this is huge, yet not one of us felt overwhelmed or stressed when June 6 rolled around. This truly is a picture of what can happen when Christ’s Creative Body moves in step with Him, creating a light bright enough to draw in the waiting, watching world. For 180 brave moments, we created hope in the face of fear.

Watch for more information on Bridge Songs: Faerie, next year’s not-to-miss event next year. It’s shaping up to be pretty darn exciting.

View photos from Bridge Songs 09 here

Tags: arts, bridge songs, review

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 8:26 am and is filed under Creativity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.