Local & Long Distance

Description:

Local & Long Distance was a live multimedia performance Roberto Paci Dalò developed while in residence at Western Front. 

Dalò’s interest in American transcendentalism and Emily Dickinson's life and work culminated during his residency when he discovered an out-of-use phone booth onsite. Its door bore a logo that read, "B.C. TELEPHONE CO. – LOCAL & LONG DISTANCE." This forgotten relic, representing a physical connection to an abstract flow of communication, crystallized his thoughts and sparked the inspiration for a performance of the same name.

Dalò devised a score that incorporated text fragments from Dickinson’s poems and letters along with semi-improvised music performed by Dalò (clarinets/electronics/sampler), Joëlle Léandre (bass), Bic Hoang (dan bau), and Giorgio Magnanensi (electronics/sampler).

A projected video cast surveillance-style footage of the street outside Western Front over a live feed of the performers.

An accompanying website was created after the performance to document the sounds, images, and texts collected during the preparation of the piece. 

Local & Long Distance was programmed as part of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. It was co-produced with Giardini Pensili and supported by Regione Emilia-Romagna e Provincia di Rimini.

Video documentation is available upon request.