Some Luminaria 2015 performances postponed for a later date.
By Roberto Martinez
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
A visual arts adjunct’s performance at Luminaria 2015 Oct. 23-24 was postponed because of inclement weather that weekend.
Organizers of Luminaria, an annual arts, culture and music festival, canceled some event because of flood warnings.
Sarah Fisch, media manager, said events will be rescheduled for a later date, but it has not been announced.
The adjunct, Jess Decuir, has a band Hyperbubble, an international visual arts and performing electropop duo, which had planned to perform at Luminaria this year for the fifth time.
This year’s performance called “Bionic Hoedown” features covers of western music hits with all electronic instruments featuring a vintage synthesizers and Decuir’s most notable instrument, a vintage theremin.
Theremins are an early electronic musical instrument known for producing an iconic sci-fi sound.
She described the piece as a multi-media package performance with costumes and videos of desert landscapes.
While the festival calls on artists to create new works, she and her husband/band mate, Jeff Decuir, a communication design professor at UTSA, came up with a concept that combines new and retro, or modern and vintage.
“It’s new in that sense that it’s never been performed in this way before,” Decuir said in an interview.
Hyperbubble typically performs original music, but this performance is intended to be a sort of homage to Texas roots with a “new retro” takes on country standards, she said.
“We usually perform our own music but for this set, we are drawing from these old quirky country songs that we like,” Decuir said.
“My husband is my collaborative partner,” she said. “Living in the same household, it’s hard getting around not collaborating. We operate as a unit and always make time for rehearsals, performances or projects. I do my own work, but a lot of what I do is collaborate with him.”
The goal for their performance is to create a shared connection between people and the music.
“This will create a deeper connection with the audience because we’ll be playing some very recognizable tunes,” Decuir said.
The group will be playing their own renditions of noticeable country western hits such as Porter Wagoner’s “Rubber Room,” Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” and an instrumental piece inspired by Willie Nelson’s music in the film “The Electric Horseman.”