Saskatchewan wordsmith Dash Reimer paid a visit to Humboldt with a couple of projects organized by the Humboldt and District Newcomer Centre. Reimer paid a visit to a group of young poets at Homebase in its new Main Street location, and then he travelled a few blocks later in the evening to the Gallery where he performed his own work and hosted an open mike night on Friday, March 21.
Reimer’s travels and time living in locales like north Africa have given him a broad world view. His parents immersed his family in music and reading, and through his own explorations with poets and spoken word and hip-hop artists, he found his own style of expression and need to convey his thoughts and experiences emerging.
Discover Humboldt caught up with Dash Reimer between his two appearances to talk about his work and influences.
“In my family, my parents really did encourage us to try and express ourselves as best we can because it was a really useful tool. Then growing up I grew up Iin North Africa for a number of years when I was a teenager, the country at that time was a dictatorship and there was a lot of information control. So, the way that that ties in to me getting into spoken word. I remember coming back to Canada, and in grades 11 and 12, I was at Watler Murray High School. The librarian there, Shannon Welch, was incredible. She invited in some spoken word poets that helped run the scene in Saskatoon at that time, and it was Isaac Bond, Ahmad Majid and Khodi Dill. I just remember seeing them come up and they spoke and sometimes they were just sharing just really incredible poems, beautiful writing,”
Khodi Dill has been a visitor to Humboldt as a performer and speaker about racial discrimination. With mentors such as these, Dash gained the inspiration and confidence to begin blazing his own trail. He entered a Saskatoon based youth poetry community, “Write Out Loud,” which focused on community sharing of the written word.
When it comes to his writing and performance, Dash cuts a wide swath, incorporating music, hip-stylings, page poetry, rhythmic chant, and that’s just part of his repertoire.
“When I was younger, I didn’t have as much of an emotional sense when starting. I honestly started with phrases and words that sounded musically interesting together, and I thought about how I could develop that.”
His work with youth and poetry writing extends those creative muscles and it makes him part of the next generation of artists, like his formative mentors to foster interest in the art. He talks about the benefits he sees for people who willingly test their own creativity and enter into the world of poetry and spoken performance.
“When you’re on stage and you see these faces, and people are snapping along and making sounds to let you know know they feel, it’s about this responsiveness. As a performer, you know the performance is not just about you; it’s about how an audience perceives it – how it changes them or doesn’t.”
It’s an invitation into a conversation, says Reimer, who demonstrated those feedback snaps and hums during the open mike session. He particularly revels in youth poetry as a vehicle for them to share big emotions that everyone has, even though their words, level of language and emotional regulation might be different from an adult.
“When youth are given permission and the tools to share, not only does that produce a type of wellness in their being heard, seen and appreciated, it creates community. It’s a very human thing.”
Reimer feels you can never underestimate the capacity of a young writer and speaker to bring change to the world. He cites Amanda Gorman, whose poem “The Hill We Climb” garnered massive attention following her reading at American President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“Her vision, her idea of what freedom could look like speaks to the wellness of our community, not just our individual wellness.”
The sharing and learning fostered by the Homebase environment continued with the open mike session at the Gallery on Friday. His hip-hop styled opening invited a call and response from the audience, immediately engaging them and immersing them in a collective world.
Reimer proceeded with a piece interchanged English and Arabic with an infectious syncopated beat that showed his unbridled love of language. From observations on growing up overseas, to hopeful relationships, to a commentary on gentrification in his urban neighbourhood, Reimer used music, rhythm, audience feedback all as instruments in his eclectic presentation.
Youth from the area, including a group of Englefeld students took to the stage, along with staff members from the Newcomer Centre all stepped up to the mike to share their offerings.
The presentation was sponsored by the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild with support from various agencies.