The renowned Billy Waters, Samedi 1er mars | 4 PM
Au / at : 6161, Cambie Street, Vancouver.
Événement gratuit | Free event R.S.V.P. ou consultez la section agenda culturel de alliancefrancaise.ca
The Renowned Billy Waters
PRESENTATION: THE RENOWNED BILLY WATERS c1776-1823
– Musician, Dancer, Sailor, and African American Legend
Billy Waters was the first Black popular performer to gain widespread fame, a vital link in the history of African American music and dance – 100 years before ragtime, jazz, and the blues.
With 40 images + audio and a video clip, this free Powerpoint presentation by Tony Montague tells the moving and compelling story of Waters’ life – how he grew up and learned his art in boomtown New York, joined the Royal Navy at the climax of the Napoleonic Wars, lost his left leg in a fall from the rigging, then went to live in London’s most notorious slum, and became a legendary busker on the city’s streets – only to be cruelly exploited, and destroyed by racism.
Waters emerges from the mists of history as a cultural pioneer, and an inspiration for Black, disabled, immigrant, and impoverished communities everywhere.
THE RENOWNED BILLY WATERS c1776-1823 is the fruit of extensive research over several years by Vancouver journalist Tony Montague M.F.A, who has written articles on Waters for the UK’s Guardian newspaper and Songlines magazine, as well as a chapter in the British Library publication ‘Beyond The Bassline – 500 years of Black British Music’. He advocated for Billy Waters to be acknowledged in the official records of the UK Parliament (2023), and for a plaque to be unveiled in London last November commemorating his extraordinary life.
First presented at the British Library in London, May 2024.
50 minutes
Nous soulignons la collaboration de l’Alliance française à la présentation des 31e RVCQF2025
