WESTERN FRONT – Unfit for Paradise

Description:

Based on the 1981 book by Susan Swan, Unfit for Paradise was a performance conceived, choreographed, and directed by Margaret Dragu; with text adapted for performance by Jim Burt. The work takes place between heaven and hell in a fabulous lounge run by the Luscious Limbo Dancers (Dragu, Elizabeth Chitty, and Jane Ellison).

Unfit for Paradise featured sound by Enrico Campa, and Super-8 film and slides by six photographers.

Three unorthodox women in 50s-style bathing suits stand in a line. At the front, a woman in pigtails jumps, her entire body blurred by movement. In the middle, a woman in a floral one-piece and a zebra-print sun hat screams, her arms blurring as she waves them. At the back, a dark-haired woman wearing white sunglasses holds her hands up in the air.

A dark-haired woman and a light-haired woman wear heels and bathing suits as they stand with their backs to each other and their hands on their knees. Their backs create a table for another woman, also wearing a bathing suit, to place a suitcase on. An additional suitcase is placed at the foot of each girl, one dark and one light, matching their respective hair colors.

Two women wear heels and bathing suits, bending over at the waist with their backs to each other. Their backs create a table for a third woman, who wears a bathing suit and sunglasses, to place a suitcase on. The woman on the left places her hands on a suitcase for balance, while the one on the right has her hands on her knees and a suitcase by her side.

Two women wearing heels and bathing suits bend over at the waist, back-to-back. They create a makeshift table for a third woman, wearing a zebra-print sunhat, to place a white suitcase on. The two women each use a suitcase for balance.

Three women wearing 50s-era bathing suits and kitten heels stand in a row with one leg up, cabaret-style. The women on each side have their arms outstretched, framing the one in the center, who wears a large zebra-print hat. They smile as they embody the pinup-girl performance.

Three women stand on a stage, lit by a spotlight. One woman appears to be wrapping – or perhaps unwrapping – another woman in a scroll of newspaper. At the far edge of the spotlight, the third woman stands with her back to the camera.

Low-angle shot of a woman with her arms raised, caught mid-motion. The lower half of her body is engulfed in darkness, while the upper part is illuminated by a stark spotlight. She wears balloons on her chest (perhaps imitating breasts) beneath a translucent top.

A blonde woman dressed in a long-sleeve business jumpsuit and heels stands in the center of a stage with one arm raised. She is illuminated by a bright spotlight, creating a dark, imposing companion of a shadow on the screen behind her.

Two women stand on a spotlight-lit stage, wearing trousers, dress shirts and heels. They each hold a magazine up in front of their faces, replacing their heads with those of glammed-up models. Each woman raises one leg up as if in a choreographed dance.

A woman wearing dark heels and a short white dress stands beneath a spotlight with one leg forward and both arms waving high up in the air. Two balloons are stuffed beneath her dress, imitating breasts. A large, imposing shadow is cast on the white screen behind her.

A blonde woman wearing an off the shoulder top looks down at a set of papers as she speaks into a microphone. Besides her, another woman with disheveled hair dances with two balloons stuffed beneath her white translucent top, imitating breasts. The figures are positioned waist-up against a black background.

Captions:

Margaret Dragu, Elizabeth Chitty, and Jane Ellison in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Margaret Dragu (back), Elizabeth Chitty, and Jane Ellison in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Jane Ellison (back), Margaret Dragu, and Elizabeth Chitty in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Elizabeth Chitty (back), Margaret Dragu, and Jane Ellison in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Margaret Dragu, Elizabeth Chitty, and Jane Ellison in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Margaret Dragu, Jane Ellison, and Elizabeth Chitty in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Margaret Dragu in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Elizabeth Chitty in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Jane Ellison and Margaret Dragu in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Margaret Dragu in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.
Elizabeth Chitty and Margaret Dragu in Unfit for Paradise (1981), photo documentation, Oct 21, 1981.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.