This video segment evolved out of the Much Music series WORD UP.
The Kavandi is a coming-of-age ritual originating in India and adopted by the body piercing / alternative lifestyle crowd seeking an out-of-body experience, introducing ritual into their lives. The images of me reciting the poem were shot in a studio at City TV in front of a blue screen and then manipulated in post production. I first witnessed the Kavandi dance in Los Angeles at an alternative theater space called HIGHWAYS and it quite transported me. After being in that environment, I felt that the only thing I really wanted to do with my life was to try the Kavandi. Impossible... so I wrote a poem about it.