While Tapestry Opera routinely pushes boundaries with their work, they took their company in an entirely different direction with their one-night-only art experience Tap:EX Versus. Featuring a piano and two blank canvases, audiences were treated to truly once in a lifetime, completely unrepeatable performance. Featuring visual artists Julie Amlin and Enrique Bravo and pianists Morgan-Piage and Robi Botos, I truly hope that events like Tap:EX Versus will become a regular occurrence.

Versus was held in the Great Hall at OCAD U; I was thrilled to finally get to go into such an iconic building on the downtown Toronto skyline. The playing space featured a grand piano in the centre of the room, flanked on either side by a raised platform with a canvas and supplies on each one. The audience was sat in a horseshoe around the room, ensuring you could see at least one canvas. The use of projection for this performance was perfect; having set up a camera over the shoulder of both visual artists as well as over the piano, you could look up onto the wall and see all three artists creating simultaneously. It was awesome to be able to go back and forth between watching the easel immediately in front of you to seeing how everything was developing together.

I attended the 8pm performance, so the piano player for that evening was Robi Botos. His soulful improvisational jazz brought me right back to Frenchman Street in New Orleans; the only thing missing was the warm summer air awaiting me when I left. I can’t imagine trying to improvise a small piece, let alone a full hour of playing non-stop. Similarly the visual artists who were performing astounded me; to see them complete a full work in 60 minutes is mind-boggling, and on top of that they were responding to the music being played so they were coming into the piece with nothing specifically planned for their work. I loved how totally different their styles were from one another! It made it fascinating to be able to watch them work side by side. I was sitting close to Enrique Bravo’s canvas, and I was enthralled as I watched him build up his work. His impressionist style spoke to me, and his depiction of a diaspora to a distant shore is a poignant and powerful expression of the plight of so many people right now and throughout history. In total contrast to this was Julie Amlin’s piece, full of bright colour and abstract shapes, Amlin’s piece evoked strong feelings of joy and life. My partner and I both thought it looked like an orchid, definitely some type of flower. Her thick impasto and unique brushes made the piece a marvel. At the end of the evening, there was a silent auction to bid on the two paintings; it certainly would be quite the story to tell when you have guests over!

Truly, I hope that Tapestry Opera will be able to host more events like Versus. It was an intriguing, relaxing, and inspirational evening which I won’t soon forget. Make sure to keep an eye out for more events through Tapestry Opera at their website: https://tapestryopera.com

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Cover Photo by Dahlia Katz

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