Hi Friends!
I mentioned I'll be putting up articles and whatnot in the journal. Just before les Demimondes, I was interviewed by Sandra Alland at Xtra magazine. She didn't have a ton of space for the piece, but she asked some really thought provoking questions (Kristine McKenna-style) and I wanted to post the unexpurgated interview here. If you ever have a chance to be interviewed by Sandra, jump at it. You'll see, she asks some great questions. Also, have a look at the latest Broken Pencil (issue #29). There's an interview with both me and Seska in it!
Sasha


1. Who are the members of the Scandelles? I have you, . Is there someone I'm missing?
There are jillions of Scandelles, actually. Including me, Kitty Neptune, Otto Erotic, and Trixie and Beever, there are Venus Lakes, The Professor, Deb "Dirk" Pearce, Flare, Christopher Noel, Chad Logan, Project Sugar (a modern dance troupe), Cooter Nipplestein, Seska Lee, Fifi... the list goes on and on. I would include the Cliks, Hunter Valentine and Rocket Tits too, bands we've had the great privilege of sharing a stage and our ideas with. We also work consistently with some amazing designers like Brenda Mozel and make-up artists like Christopher Selvam.



2. I read that you wrote Demimondes based on a concept by Otto. Did you write a full script, or a general narrative concept? Did you study playwriting at Concordia? Or is writing monologue and dialogue fairly new to you?
I would say it's more narrative concept--a series of monologues with relating dance, song and skits. We were in the middle of an accidental orgy one night and Otto said to me, "We should do a show like Under the Mink, but with prostitution as the theme." The idea immediately intrigued me, as I'm so aware of the cultural pariah status/fascination of sex workers. I'm perpetually annoyed at how people get away with making films and songs and photographs and on and on about sex workers (please don't get me started on Atom Egoyan and the bloody Exotica film), but sex workers themselves can't do their job in a safe and respected manner. It's fully, positively, enragingly stupid. Given my own history thinking and writing about this, as well as my love for film, art and music, the monologues came quite naturally. I needed to develop a character to convey them because I required someone with an intimate knowledge of some of the characters involved (Jeff Koons and Cicciolina for example) to guide us through the periods and feelings she has had about these works, the people, and her connection to them. David Oiye suggested a grande dame, phoenix-like character to me. She is the oldest whore alive. She has been worker, muse and critic throughout many periods in the trade.
I did not study playwriting specifically, I studied creative writing. Monologue and dialogue is not at all new to me. My sex column is rooted in this kind of writing. I have always had a very colloquial style.



3. Did one or more of the Scandelles direct the show, or do you work as a collective? What's your rehearsal process?
Oh it's just a ridiculous, perfect mess. We have this collective vibe, but I do most of the writing, Kitty does most of choreography, outside of the modern dancers, and we both direct. People will come up with their own ideas here and there and we try to take them all into account. There is no doubt though, that the two of us are in charge of this and we are very very lucky to be working with smart, sexy and motivated people. I cannot get over these people and their limitless talents and energy. People are forever pulling satellite skills out of their asses (for example, Trixie does all our flyer and related design, Christopher Noel is now doing our web stuff and the Beevers do all kinds of arty installations and special collection jewellery). Some of us are more skilled performers than others, but everyone gives it their all. We are an art collective in a very pure sense, abusing and using everyone's skills and contacts to their fullest.
We rehearse like any other group, I suppose.Several times a week for a month when we have a show upcoming, with the modern dancers and band rehearsing on their own. We also spend lots of time drinking and dancing and having fun together. I expect we'll all be vacationing like a bunch of fat old swingers in no time. I look forward to growing old with the Scandelles.



4. Can you briefly outline the evolution of the Scandelles in the past four years? What were your reasons/catalysts for moving from burlesque to multidisciplinary cabaret?
The evolution of the Scandelles is as follows: I was in a troupe called the Dangerettes, Kitty came and performed with us, the Dangerettes folded, and we began the Scandelles. I cannot even remember how we organized this transition for our first few shows, all I know is that Kitty and I worked well together from the outset. I feel really lucky that though we are very different people, we have similar work ethics and our ideas meld together like butter and a hot pan. I had begun writing scripts for more theatrical shows, and Kitty, with her dance and theatre background, really encouraged this because it seems she outgrew burlesque almost immediately (the fact that she had to wear pasties and keep her underpants on was always a bone of contention). Along the way we picked up some talented perverts in a beautiful, sloppy, wonderful way and it evolved from there. It feels like we have a guetto studio system, where we come up with ideas and cast them from our stable of misfits. Brenda Mozel is our Edith Head and Christopher Selvam our Max Factor.

As for the movement to multidisciplinary cabaret, it's simple: I have a lot of shit to say about some things and wiggling around on stage in themed costuming making blinky blink faces is not the most compelling way to do it. It's not enough to me just challenging people's concepts of beauty by being a large and in charge bitch. I need to be up there for more than just that. And besides all that, we simply want to be more entertaining, more interesting, if only to challenge ourselves as artists.



5. What's new, if anything, in the remount?
We've finessed the numbers and their intention, we've changed a few, there's a new short Monty Python-style animated film made by Christopher Noel, and finally, the appearance of Heidi Fleiss, albeit briefly. So it's even better than the first (if you can believe it! ;-) )



6. What do you have in common with Dada, or how has it influenced your work?
We have so much in common with Dada. We are, at the risk of sounding hilariously collegiate, consciously anti-bourgeois, and anti-totalitarian politics and religion. Like Duchamp, we nick exisiting work and make it our own. In the case of les Demimondes we steal from other artists who, for the most part, have profited from sex worker cachet. To me, it was simply a smart, sexy and engaging way to push the decriminalization agenda, to make people rethink their ideas about all this. Dada did this to art, too: made it look at itself and its hypocrisies.
To me, the rebirth of Dada is inevitable in our current political climate. It's time to stir shit up again, tits, asses and balls to the wall.



7. How is burlesque or “burlesque-fusion” changing theatre and performance art? In Toronto, burlesque has moved, to a certain extent, out of the clubs and (back) into the theatres. How do you think this is affecting general audience conceptions of what art is/was/will be?
In my experience, it's bringing common people back to the theatre, which is a tough gig, given the amount of truly interesting television out there at the moment (honestly, have you seen Arrested Development?). We also see ourselves impacting "legitimate" theatre. I believe there was actually a play about Gypsy Rose Lee at the Shaw Festival this year. The Shaw Festival! Well, excuuuuuuse me!
As for it affecting conceptions, we'll see. We're fairly new to this current form, and it's all we can do to escape the burlesque label which, given its uneven representation, has been a monumental achievement in itself.
It's important to me to keep art and sexuality alive and thinking in our culture, and one way to do this is to keep referencing it in your own work.



8. I'm excited to see your manifesto. What are some of its tenets? If you were to write a numbered Sasha manifesto, what would be your number-one proclamation?
"If you're not part of the party, you're part of the problem" is our number one tenet, as written by Beever. The rest, I'm afraid, are not quite so clever, but that's good, I think. The film is very raw and silly, just like us sometimes. The idea was for us to make our own porn, to really actively be part of the critique. It was truly shot on the fly by Aerlyn, who was in town for Hot Docs, and our friend Safiya jazzed it up in editing.
As for my own number one proclamation, I'm afraid my thinking is too fluid to make any solid proclamations (read: fuzzily hungover from DJing at the Gladstone last night), but get me when I've had a few drinks and I'll sure let you know how I feel about this and that.




9. What’s your utopic decriminalization of the sex trade? What do you think of Amsterdam? Do you feel Canada is moving any closer, socially or politically, to acknowledging the needs and contributions of sex trade workers?
My utopic decriminalization of sex work...well let me dream aloud for a minute, and I'll quote from Les Demimondes. I dream that one day, the women and men who work in the sex industry will be treated with as much respect as those who paint them, and photograph them and sing about them and write about them. Put simply, I want to live in a world where people are free to sell their bodies in a directly sexual manner. This does not seem idealistic to me, merely, given all the other ways we buy and sell sex, fair. From a very practical perspective, I feel that somewhere between decriminalization and legalization lies the answer.
As for Canada, ha! I was at a friend's a few months ago and we watched this staggeringly articulate hooker debate decriminalization in Parliament via a live feed. It was infuriating to see how little credibility they gave her perspective. I've said it before: it doesn't matter how many brilliant, willing and happy sex workers you trot out in front of our lawmakers, they will never acquiesce. I guess it's because for the most part, they are passive aggressive middle class snobs who in their hearts and souls believe sex work is wrong and they must "draw the line somewhere". Why they choose to draw the line on the bodies of consenting adults is beyond me.
From what I understand from my politically active working friends, Amsterdam is not the best thing.Legalization has its own problems. I think you can read about this on Valerie Scott's website, The Sex Professionals of Canada.



10. In Broken Pencil, you spoke about the resourcefulness of sex workers and how they adapt to technology. What are some of the ways you've seen this happen? How did the Scandelles hook up with Seska Lee?
The best example I can think of in a contemporary sense when it comes to sex workers adapting to technology is the Internet, but let's not forget latex condoms, cell phones, and caller ID. When you need to be perpetually aware of your physical safety, you are on top of all the most current tools.
I absolutely love the freedom the Internet has provided to people to do their job in relative safety. We were at a rehearsal the other day and we all logged onto Seska's live show. I'm so glad she can do explicit work in the safety of her home and feel in control and confident. Every sex worker deserves to feel this way in their job.
Seska I met several years ago when was writing a story about the hooker conference that happens each year in Montreal. She was giving a lecture about online sex work. I appreciate having her in this show because I wanted some unmitigated "working" content, and I also loved playing with that boundary of privacy people have with Internet sex, I mean really, how do you know the person you're jerking off to isn't right next door? Initially, I wanted Seska in the booth right beside the one you log onto, but we felt people would burst in and interrupt her, so we put her up on one of the catwalks. I also just love the idea of a modernized live peepshow and Seska is of course, irresistably beautiful.



11. Historically, who is your least favourite famous artist and why?
There is so little art I can think of that I don't have some appreciation for, though frankly, I've always felt a little uneasy about Balthus. People who profit from such blatant misogyny piss me off. I guess that's why I hate Lars Von Trier, too. So Balthus and Lars Von Trier then. It's hard to like artists who seem to hate women so much, since I love women and I love being a woman.



12. What's the most surprising response you've had to the show?
The most surprising response? The wildly diverse cross section of people who have enjoyed it, actually. It is thrilling to have women who at one point or another may have had misgivings about sex workers and prostitution (as I have in my own life) come up and say they really loved it. As well, people I respect so much in the arts scene, like Miriam Ginestier of Boudoir, thought it was great too, so that's exciting. Changing peoples' understanding of this work and its place in the world is so important. Bringing feminists and sex workers and artists and plain old perverts together is the perfect party to me.
- posted @ 9:32 AM