Zazalie Z. - Nathalie Dion

Some know me as Zazalie Z., others as Nathalie Dion. I've been a playful participant in the arts for several years now. I maintain a strictly undisciplined artistic diet; in other words, a multidisciplinary approach. I explore the art of singing, play with experimental chords, and distract myself (and others) with unusual sounds and words, presenting my sonic poetry at Montreal venues like Festival international de la littérature, Société des arts technologiques (SAT), Casa Del Popolo, Café Ludik, and Cégep du Vieux-Montréal (part of a debate on excess consumption). I've also performed abroad at venues like Mi Bar (Barcelona), Galerie 3000 (Berlin), Festival international C.R.A.N.E. (Quincerot, France), and the "Festival 72 StundenZweiter Berliner Kongress fur Performance und Visual Art" in Berlin, November 1998.

I fuse poetry, photography and sound into virtual worlds like "Civilities," a project presented at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma et des Nouveaux Médias, at the Computer Space Festival and the Goethe Institut-Internaiones (Sofia, Bulgaria) in the fall of 2003, and at Studio XX as part of "Projet femmes écrivaines - Fictions Interactives," held in May 2001.

I transform my voice into a machine, bend sounds at different speeds, mix words and acoustic slices together, and trip the light electronic: check out "Travaux pour voix et électroniques," produced by Éric Létourneau for Radio-Canada in October 2000. I took part as a singer and experimental musician in the Metamkine Collective (Grenoble), and performed with the musicians Martin Tétreault and Jean-Pierre Gauthier for "Projet CUBE" at Montreal's Darling Foundry in August 2002. I also contributed experimental voices and poetry to the following documentaries: "Chroniques de Palestine" (Pierre Bastien, 2002), broadcast on RDI, and "Décapence," an art video by Florent Veilleux presented at the Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois 2001. As a writer and performer with the groups Nitroglycérine and Pois Z'ont Rouges, I have toured festivals like Montréal Musique Actuelle, Festival de l'humour belge (Brussels), and Festival de musiciennes innovatrices (Montreal). I am also an engraver, painter and photographer.

Links:
www.agencetopo.qc.ca/civilites
www.studioxx.org/coprods/fictions/zazaliez.html
www.muzikacktiv.com/zazaliez.html
www.xylon-quebec.com/dion-n.html