Award-winning theatre artist and songwriter Evalyn Parry presents her theatrical, spoken-word musical performance SPIN: A Theatrical Song Cycle starring the Bicycle as Muse, Musical Instrument, and Instrument of Social Change at the 2017 Kitty Lundy Memorial Lecture.
The performance takes place Feb. 28 at 12:30pm. All are welcome to this Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) signature event; however, registration online is required.
“I saw her performance of SPIN several years ago, and was captivated by the combination of such important political questions explored through a really entertaining musical and spoken word performance, said Sandra Whitworth, associate dean Graduate Studies and Research, LA&PS. “It’s such a compelling presentation, bridging disparate disciplines and idioms, that I knew the mandate of Kitty Lundy’s memorial lecture would be a perfect fit.”
Parry’s interest in the history of the bicycle was piqued after she came across a 1896 quote from Susan B. Anthony who said, “The bicycle has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”
In SPIN, Parry, who has been a lifelong cyclist, explores what Anthony meant, asking if the bicycle really is an instrument and agent of social change. The performance examines and compares 19th Century women’s emancipation to 21st Century consumer culture, and unpacks some of the complexities of what liberation has meant and what might one day mean.
Parry is a multi-award-winning Canadian artist whose genre-blurring work is inspired by the intersections of history, autobiography and contemporary social activism. Her unique combination of spoken word poetry and music has been performed internationally, including as an educational tool where performance, creative writing, music and theatre are used to empower students of all ages. She is the artistic director of Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
The Kitty Lundy Memorial Lecture honours the late sociology Professor Kitty Lundy, who worked with York’s former Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies from 1986 to 1989. Committed to engaged learning, equity and social justice, and interdisciplinary exchange, Lundy also felt particular concern for the fields of education, occupations and women’s studies.
For more information and to register, visit laps.yorku.ca/lundy.