SLV shows scheduled in Drummondville, Saint-Jrme despite Montreal jazz fest cancellation

Despite being cancelled at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the controversial SLV performance will go on in Saint-Jrmeand Drummondville next year.

The show, performed by lead singer Betty Bonifassi and directed by Robert Lepage, is described as "a theatrical odyssey based on slave songs," but critics are calling it cultural appropriation.

Bonifassi and Lepage are both white, and that's drawn criticism for their project, which brings together "traditional African-American slave and work songs, from cotton field plantations to railroad yards," according to the event listing.

Following protests in Montreal, the show was cancelled due in part to security concerns, the festival said.

But a performance is scheduled to go on in Saint-Jrme, a town about 60 kilometres northwest of Montreal, in January.

According to the Gilles-Vigneault theatre, where the show is being held, there are almost no tickets left.

Another performance of SLV is scheduled in Drummondville, a city in the Centre-du-Qubec region, on January 29.

"For the moment, we are not in cancellation mode," said a spokesperson from the Drummondville theatre.