HAVOC

From the artist: Over the course of my chemical transition, retaining my ability to sing has been very important to me as an artist as well as a factor in my career. This past year, my residency with Aluna has allowed me to explore my voice in an entirely new way. Most of my work requires me to calibrate my voice to a certain gender, whereas I now had to opportunity to ask: What does my non-binary voice sound like? Due to the pandemic, I was simultaneously in the process of developing a visual poetry album which incorporated original sound design. I fell in love with it and began building a library of sounds that were evocative for me of significant moments in my life. For the CAMINOS Festival, I’ll be sharing an album-in-process. It’s been kindof like making up my own secret language. I get to decide what it sounds like and how it makes me feel, and then I get to whisper it into someone’s ear. Maybe that person will find that they speak the same language I do, maybe we’ll just stare at each other and giggle. Either way, the memories these songs are made of get to come back to life while they’re played. This album is an honoring of the moments I never realized would shape me into the person I’ve become and wink towards the mess that’s on its way.

October 23, 2021 at 7:00 PM

About the artist

Heath V. Salazar (they/them) is a Latinx award-winning multidisciplinary performer and writer. Named a ‘prolific trans artist’ by CBC Arts, their work has been covered internationally by media outlets including OUTtv, The Dance Current (Canada’s Dance Magazine), VICE, and more. Throughout their career, they’ve worked with a focus on projects that center intersectional forms of queer and trans representation. As an actor, their body of work spans the gender spectrum. Through writing residencies with the Banff Centre of the Arts, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and Aluna Theatre, Heath uses poetry as a diving board to invite audiences into lush new perspectives. In the drag world, Heath is known as Gay Jesus and is best known for their multidisciplinary protest pieces and is featured on Season 1 of CBC Arts’ Canada’s A Drag.

Heath has gone on to impart elements of their artistic practice as a guest lecturer at a number of colleges and universities across Canada. In 2019, they were honored by the Inspire Awards with a nomination for LGBTQ Person of the Year. Currently, Heath is developing new work as an Artist in Residence at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre as well as Aluna Theatre.

Instagram/Twitter @theirholiness

Photo by Sly Pereira