Arts East

Warm, Well-Woven and Wonderful!

2012-03-01T06:07:00.000-08:00

From February 28 until March 25, Neptune Theatre in Halifax presents Intimate Apparel, the story of a young seamstress coming of age in New York City at the turn of the 20^th century. AE's Stephen Patrick Clare and Michelle Brunet share their respective perspectives on last night's pay-what-you-can performance.

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Like both The Colour Purple and The Help, Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel weaves together threads of identity, belonging and dignity amidst racial and social division.

Making her Neptune debut, Raven Dauda is simply sublime as the thirty-something seamstress Esther Mills. Neither understated nor overwhelming, Dauda stitches bits of soul into a soft quilt of character.

Her courtship by mail with George (Kevin Hanchard) leads to a marriage that unravels as their truer selves emerge. The couple’s connection is alchemical, with each bringing out the base elements in one another. Audience acknowledgement – by way of nods and hmmms – affirmed the actors’ authenticity.

Strong support from Bridgey Ogundipe (Mayme), Satori Shakoor (Mrs. Dickson) and Lesley Smith (Mrs. Van Buren) sews the storyline together with sure strands of dialogue. A swathe of comic relief from the Hassidic Mr. Marks (Jeff Schwager) is welcome and well-woven into the script.

Kudos go to director Philip Akin for assembling a solid cast, and a special shout-out to Sean Mulcahy and crew for embroidering a spectacular set design.

Like the gentle fleece of a favourite fabric, Intimate Apparel is certain to keep theatre-lovers warm through these cold winter soirees. ~ SPC

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Last night, Neptune presented its second preview of Intimate Apparel by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage. A strong cast and compelling storyline made for an impressive and engaging performance.

Set in New York City, circa 1905, the story centers on Esther Mills, an African-American woman who sews lingerie. Her clients pay for her talent, but also her discretion. What results are a series of intimate conversations and relationships, with Mills struggling to decipher which ones are genuine.

The actors blossomed into their roles over the two-hour drama. Raven Dauda (playing Esther) seamlessly switched emotional gears, and Bridget Ogundipe’s (Mayme) sweet songbird vocals soared across an attentive audience. Jeff Schwager did well to create a loveable character out of Mr. Marks.

All told, Intimate Apparel’s multi-climactic storyline, its intriguing, four-room set and above-average acting makes for a wonderful night of theatre. ~ MB

www.neptunetheatre.com

Getting Intimate with Lesley Smith

2012-02-28T05:54:00.001-08:00

Halifax-based actor Lesley Smith is excited about her role in Neptune Theatre’s production of Intimate Apparel, the story of an African American seamstress living in a New York City boarding house for women who sews elegant undergarments for socialites and prostitutes. On the eve of the play, AE spoke with Smith, who plays the role of Mrs. Van Buren, about her passion and her profession.

AE: What inspired you to start acting?

LS: When I was quite young I saw my first play, Les Miserables at Neptune, and I remember seeing young Cossette and Eponine and thinking, "I want to be up there too!" I started taking classes at Neptune and fell in love. It was make-believe and storytelling, it was imagination let loose.

AE: Are they the same reasons you still act today?

LS: Yes.

AE: What are the greatest challenges of the profession?

LS: You've got to be adaptable because you only have so much control over how much work you get, when it will come, where it will happen and what it will be.

AE: What are the rewards?

LS: When you open a show and get to experience it with an audience there. It's hard to articulate it, but the audience adds so much. Their energy changes the chemistry of the piece and then the play really begins. I also love finding a real connection to the character, that's when it becomes a joy to be onstage, there's a beautiful sense of freedom.

AE: How did you get involved with Intimate Apparel?

LS: I auditioned for (director) Philip Akin in the spring of last year and was offered the role shortly after that. And I said yes.

AE: What do you enjoy about the role?

LS: The first time I read through the script I remember thinking how badly I wanted the part, but of course chances are slim and so after the audition I sort of put it out of my mind. All of the roles in this play are written so well, they are fully fleshed out and so heart breakingly human, there is so much to connect to, so much to play. I'm also in love with the design for Mrs. Van Buren, she is very upper-class, and Sean (the designer) has created a beautiful set and stunning costumes that suit the period and her standing.

AE: What can audiences expect during its run at Neptune?

LS: It is certainly a very moving, beautiful and elegant piece of theatre. It is such an exquisite story and has such heart. I think they will fall in love with it.

AE: What's next for you on the stage?

LS: I'll be working with Once Upon a Theatre Collective on our next Evening of Short Plays.

Intimate Apparel, until March 28.

www.neptunetheatre.com

Pelley does Proust!

2012-02-27T07:17:00.001-08:00

Chad Pelley is a multi-award-winning writer from St. John’s, Newfoundland. His debut novel, Away from Everywhere, was a Coles bestseller, won the NLAC’s CBC Emerging Artist of the Year award, and was shortlisted for the for 2010 ReLit award, as well as the Canadian Authors Association Emerging Writer of the Year award. It has been adopted by multiple university English courses, and a film adaptation is in the works. Recently he took AE’s Proust Questionnaire.

AE: What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

CP: Can you imagine if we lived in a world where we willfully woke up, Monday to Friday, and went to work on another person’s dream … making that person rich off the fruits of our labour? Just because we had bills to pay? That would seem like a global-scale recipe for misery. Your time not being your own, I mean.

AE: Where would you like to live?

CP: The 1800s. I’ve always felt I was born in the wrong century. Those people were dapper, loved a good old-fashioned courtship, and had values. They were riveting conversationalists, whereas people these days: you’d swear the real world was in their cell phones. A few nights ago, I sat at a table in a pub, looking at the tops of my friends’ heads as they clicked their Facebook statuses into their phones.

AE: What is your idea of earthly happiness?

CP: I’m quite sure those who make art or even play an instrument are tuned into something more meaningful than anything else this life can grant you. I’ve not once heard an artist say, “I’m bored.” Not once.

AE: To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

CP: Idealism, mainly. I put women on pedestals, for example, and it’s hard to date someone you’ve put out of reach. Or, I expect the world to behave better, but apparently there’s no money ethical business, etc - Hence all this war and environmental degradation. I expect publishers to publish a novel because they loved it, not because they can sell it, or the writer. Aside from idealism - baked goods. They keep me 15 pounds overweight, but so be it.

AE: Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

CP: Michael Winter’s fictional alter-ego, in his earlier work, Gabriel English. I owe that man. He converted me from a semi-happy scientist into the damn happy writer I am now. His musings on the every day for a year showed me how to turn 300 blank pages into a novel – capture something, and say it like no one else has. And the book also showed me all you can learn about yourself and your world in writing fiction.

AE: Who are your favorite characters in history?

CP: Basically, anyone who’s done exactly what they wanted to do be doing with their time. So, Henry David Thoreau, to me, is a deity. And proof I’m not crazy. That quote of his, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” it’s why I have far more respect for those kids downtown with their runny noses and out-of-tune guitars, playing rock star for a day, and loving it, than I do for a rich but outrageously unhappy CEO, with three bathrooms and no time to shit in them. It’s a short life, and only the Buddhists get a refund for a life poorly spent.

AE: Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

CP: Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Smith; two writers from the 1800s. Stronger willed and better writers than the men they were with, and just exploding with life in a way most people read as despair instead of boundless passion (quashed by reality as it may have been). They were such big, bold, honest thinkers. And, what Lisa Moore can do with language in her fiction verges on super powers.

AE: Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

CP: I like that wack-job, Audrey Flowers, from Come, Thou Tortoise, for being so damn full of life and amazed by it. I wish I could find this world as miraculous as she did. That goes for the characters in Jessica’s short fiction, too. I also loved Helen from Lisa Moore’s February: a strong-willed woman with a boundless capacity to love.

AE: Your favorite painter?

CP: My ex-girlfriend, Peggy Lynn Tremblett. There’s something so unencumbered by formality in her style. It makes the ladies she paints so candid, vulnerable and evocative in the subtlest of ways, and builds and an emotional bridge between your eye and the canvas. But more-so than that: they look quite catching on a wall.

AE: Your favorite musician?

CP: Any of the five modern folk super-heroes: Joe Pug, Josh Ritter, Damien Jurado, and the Avett Brothers.

AE: The quality you most admire in a man?

CP: A lack of awkward caveman manliness.

AE: The quality you most admire in a woman?

CP: Female grace: it’s like a soft blade to the guts.

AE: Your favorite virtue?

CP: Passion. Whether it’s for a person, a cause, or a hobby: it’s the only path to happiness and meaning in this life.

AE: Your favorite occupation?

CP: Fiction doesn’t count, right? We make 2 dollars a book. That’s like calling pan-handling a profession. I once read an article about a New York City Beggar who earned more than a bestselling author in 2010. Last year, I found a happy medium, writing ad and PR campaigns at a great marketing firm. There are moments when nailing the right campaign for the right client, is as hard and satisfactory as writing a solid piece of fiction. Moments, I said. And truthfully, the right climate change awareness campaign has a better shot at saving the world than my stories of relationship pessimism. Owning a vineyard, though, minus all the hard work, would be ideal. But Newfoundland’s terrain is terrible. Zookeeper: also ideal.

AE: Who would you have liked to be?

CP: Anyone who answers this as anyone other than themselves is doing something wrong, aren’t they? And you don’t know another person’s baggage until you’re in their shoe

www.chadpelley.wordpress.com

sudddenlyListen!

2012-02-26T04:38:00.000-08:00

In Halifax tonight, suddenlyListen Music presents “The Sum of Its Parts,” featuring off the cuff music from two duos: Norm Adams (cello) & Tim Crofts (piano) and Rob Power (percussion) & Paul Bendzsa (woodwinds). Adams is the Founder of sL which organizes improvised music concerts and bi-weekly workshops open to anyone. Arts East recently spoke to Adams about tonight’s concert and his double life: as principal cellist for Symphony NS and as Artistic Director of an organization with no musical restraints.

AE: What inspired you to start suddenlyListen?

NA: This is our 11^th season and it sort of came out of being a classical musician. When I was a student, I was searching for something more current. Somehow, improvised music became a part of that. Over the last few years, I’ve swung further out to free improvised music, which is music with very little or no structure – so maximum expression, minimal structure; maximum exploration, minimal framework. It’s sort of the opposite of classical music. In classical music, we are bound by history, by hierarchy in the orchestra, by these notes that have been written in ink for hundreds of years and played thousands of times everywhere. We’re comparing ourselves to these performances by really good players. There’s all this baggage attached to it. Improvisation has none of that. It has all the music and all the expression and none of the baggage for me. That’s what I was searching for.

AE: Do you still take comfort in a structured musical environment?

NA: I don’t take comfort in it, but I do value it. I mean first of all, there’s some great music we get to play that speaks to me and speaks to many people. Classical music requires that we play a note in a certain manner and it’s very clear what that manner is. So we develop a great control over our instruments and a great ear for different sounds. Whereas, in improvised music, we are expected to have this broad palette of sounds without anyone telling us that’s what we have. The more I can work on these specifics, the more it broadens my palette of sounds for improvised music. Being only an improviser wouldn’t make me a better classical cello player, but being a classical cello player makes me a better improviser. Some aspects of improvisation makes me a better classical player - I listen better and can find freedom within restraint more than some people. Also [classical music] pays me money. For me to live in Halifax and be a full time musician, it would be hard without the orchestra. I have thought about being a freaky music person, but I have not yet taken that plunge.

AE: Can anyone just show up to sL workshops with instruments?

NA: Yes … or with no instruments! The wonderful thing about improvised music is that a professional musician can play with a beginner. If that quality of listening and cooperation is there, free music can happen! You don’t have to be technically adept to make music. You get these people that share maybe nothing more in common than a sense of curiosity and adventure, and then they can have something really deep in common by making music together. You can bring in people from India and from a rock band and from a string quartet and they come together and they can make music. And if they’re listening, something beautiful will happen.

AE: What instruments have been incorporated?

NA: Darcy Spidle just brought in a jaw harp…There are guitars, percussion, saxophones and electronic sounds. One person uses plastics with microphones and makes sounds with them or manipulates them without electronics. And people will make sounds with their voices. So, there’s a whole broad range.

AE: What’s in store for the February 26^th performance?

NA: Tim and I and another duo from Newfoundland are playing. This duo [Rob Power and Paul Bendzsa] is quite wonderful because they get together on a regular basis. When they play, they record each time and then they listen to it. I find that very interesting: you don’t often see that kind of discipline applied to improvised music. What better way to learn about what you’re doing? Tim and I have played together for years in various combinations. Plus we’ve co-led this workshop together, so we share a deep understanding of each other’s music. So, I’m really anxious to see what happens when these two tight units join together and mash up.

AE: Are you more passionate about music since you began to improvise?

NA: Yes. I don’t feel the same kind of pressure or fear. When you play in a professional orchestra, you’re expected to play all the notes correctly, be completely prepared; you’re expected to be on the ball every second of every rehearsal. And then you play for 1,000 people and you do NOT want to play a B flat where there’s supposed to be a B natural. For me playing an improvised music concert, I still might be nervous a little bit, but the way I come back from those feelings is thinking “I’m just going to be myself”. For me it’s a physical feeling of my insides relaxing, my ears opening up and beginning. And once you’ve begun, the music has its own path it follows and you just follow along. For me it’s almost a visual experience, or a physical sensation. When it comes together, it’s pretty wonderful. Just being present is the ultimate mindset. And when we’re truly listening, we’re in the moment.

The Sum of Its Parts ♪ TONIGHT 8PM ♪ Church of Saint David (1544 Grafton St.) ♪

Improv Workshops ♪ Every 2^nd Monday 7:30 PM (next March 5^th) ♪ 1313 Hollis St. ♪
http://www.suddenlylisten.com

Nu Visions!

2012-02-25T05:45:00.002-08:00

On Saturday from 12-2pm, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is hosting a dual book launch. Fredericton-based Goose Lane Editions has published both books that visually and literarily delve into the lives of two celebrated Nova Scotian artists: Jacques Hurtubise, edited by Sarah Fillmore (AGNS’ Chief Curator) and David Askevold, edited by David Diviney (AGNS’ Curator of Exhibitions). Arts East caught up with Diviney a couple days before the February 25^th launch.

AE: What inspired you to create David Askevold: Once Upon a Time in the East?

DD: The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia had a long association with David Askevold, beginning in the late 1980s with his inclusion in the group exhibition Eighty/Twenty: One Hundred Years of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and with the acquisition of Kepler’s Music of the Spheres Played by Six Snakes (1971-1974) alongside other early works. To date, David is represented in the permanent collection by 21 works that together characterize the broad scope of his strategies and approaches to production. In 1999, he was the inaugural artist-in-residence at AGNS, where, over three months, he developed one of his first digital works, Harbour Ghosts, Halifax (1999), a triptych subsequently purchased by the gallery. In conjunction with his residency, the gallery was pleased to host Cultural Geographies, a solo exhibition organized by the Confederation Centre Art Gallery & Museum (Charlottetown). More recently, film and video works by David were included in the group exhibitions Into the Wild at the Western Branch in Yarmouth in 2010 and The Last Frontier and Framed in 2011 at our main gallery in Halifax.
Steadfast today, as it has been for some time, in the conviction that David was one of the most influential artists of his generation, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia has furthered its commitment to his work with David Askevold: Once Upon a Time in the East. This project is aimed at celebrating David’s life and accomplishments. It is also the hope that this platform will focus new attention in Canada and abroad on David’s significant contributions to the world of art.

AE: How is the variety of Askevold’s conceptual art forms portrayed in the book?

DD: David is recognized as one of the most important contributors to the development and pedagogy of conceptual art. His film and videos from the late 1960s and early 1970s were some of the first of the art form the world ever saw. His famous Projects Class at NSCAD brought the likes of Sol LeWitt, Vito Acconci, John Baldessari, Dan Graham, and Lawrence Weiner to work with his students, focusing critical attention on Halifax, the school and on his own unorthodox approach to making art. This early professional history had a profound influence on the direction of his practice in the decades to follow. The various strains of his exploratory journey – sculpture and installation, film and video, photo-text works and photography, and computer-generated imagery – are explored in the publication and attendant exhibition.

AE: How long did it take to put the whole book together?

DD: This project was initiated in late 2005 by Ray Cronin, Director/CEO of AGNS, then Chief Curator, in concert with David himself. Notes from their initial conversations have faithfully guided this project to fruition over the course of its development and production between 2010 and 2011.

AE: How did you decide which images and contributors to include?

DD: As the publication accompanies an exhibition of the same title, it was important, of course, to have some correlation between the two, in terms of the imagery in the book and the 40 artworks included in the retrospective. At the same time, it was equally important to treat the book as a stand-alone document that surveyed David’s career in greater depth than the exhibition possibly could. David often worked collaboratively so it seemed fitting to ask many of his long-time colleagues and friends to lend their voices to the project. On this note, particular appreciation is extended to the writers: Aaron Brewer, Ray Cronin, Peggy Gale, Mario Garcia Torres, Richard Hertz, Tony Oursler, and Irene Tsatsos, each of whom bring a decidedly personal perspective to an examination of David’s eclectic practice. Norma Ready, David’s partner, offered invaluable input on this front.

AE: How has the response been since the book was released in the fall 2011?

DD: The feedback has been more than positive. Since its release – the English edition was finished in October 2011 and the French edition in December 2011 – I’ve been in dialogue with people across Canada and around the globe, from Germany to Los Angeles. In fact, the buzz around this project has led to confirmation of a new venue for the touring exhibition. In July 2012, Once Upon a Time in the East will open at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, California. David has a rich history and strong following in the Los Angeles area. It is exciting to see the book and show heading there.

AE: What is your own artistic background?

DD: I obtained my BFA degree in 1995 from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University (Philadelphia) and graduated in 1998 from the MFA program of NSCAD University (Halifax).

I’ve worked for nearly 15 years in the cultural sector as a curator, educator and artist. I was the Director of Eye Level Gallery (Halifax) until 2002 when I moved to Lethbridge, Alberta, then Kamloops, British Columbia, to pursue curatorial and teaching positions. I’ve held the position of Assistant Curator, Southern Alberta Art Gallery (Lethbridge) and have taught courses in the areas of sculpture, drawing and gallery studies at Alberta College of Art and Design (Calgary), University of Lethbridge, Thompson Rivers University (Kamloops) and Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (Oakville). I’ve been with the AGNS as Curator of Exhibitions for two years or so.

Kinky Kitten Club!

2012-02-24T04:56:00.000-08:00

From the creative team that brought you Short Skirt Butch comes Kinky Kitten Club - an exploration of the perverse and private fantasies of a phone sex-line, starring Stephanie MacDonald. AE spoke with the play’s Halifax-based writer Lee-Anne Poole.

AE: How long have you been involved in theatre?

LAP: Since I was a kid, in one way or another.

AE: What are the biggest challenges of the gig?

LAP: As a writer, the biggest challenge is getting my piece to a place I'm happy with it.

AE: What are the rewards?

LAP: Hearing an audience laugh.

AE: How long have you been involved with The Sex Festival?

LAP: This is just The Sex Festivals second year. We are a young festival. But I have been involved since the get go.

AE: How has the festival evolved since its inception?

LAP: Too early to say, but hopefully we'll be around long enough to do some major evolving!

AE: What inspired you to produce Kinky Kitten Club?

LAP: I wrote and produced this piece. As it stands Kinky Kitten Club is a reading. The original inspiration to write about the phone sex industry came from personal life experience. I worked as a phone sex operator for over half a year. I took notes on almost all of my calls, and I found it really fascinating.

AE: Are there any unique challenges in putting this piece together?

LAP: It's always hard for me to come at a piece that I feel so personal to - as if the character is me and the story is mine. Once you get a little ways along in writing I realize that I am not THAT interesting and I need to start creating some truths for the character and not just giving her mine. It was hard to do that with this piece. I think I have. But it took a long time to be able to separate myself from it and see the whole picture.

AE: What can the audience expect to experience during the run?

LAP: I think they can expect some laughs and some insights into the industry. For better or worse, there is something very special about getting being that anonymous person at the other end of the phone. You get to know a side of a person in an extremely distant but strangely intimate way. Hearing the secrets no one else gets to.

Until Feb 26, Plutonium Playhouse, Halifax

http://www.kinkykittenclub.eventbrite.com/

Pageant!

2012-02-23T04:07:00.000-08:00

Pamela Halstead has been a part of Canada’s evolving theatre scene for over 20 years. The now Artistic Director ofLunchbox Theatre in Calgary returns to Halifax to direct DMV Theatre’s production of Pageant. Recently, AE caught up with Halstead to discuss Daniel MacDonald’s play, her eclectic experiences and her views on Atlantic Canada’s theatre scene.

AE: How long have you been involved in theatre?

PH: I studied theatre at Dalhousie in the 80's and have worked professionally most years since then - as an actor, director, teacher and arts administrator.

AE: What are the biggest challenges of your profession?

PH: The biggest challenge always remains financial - whether as an individual artist or if you are running a production company. Theatre, in most instances, cannot generate enough revenue from ticket sales to cover expenses so you rely on government, sponsorships and donors to make up the difference. And as an artist you are always looking for work and hoping that the producing theatres generate enough revenues that the shows continue to happen and that you can piece together enough gigs to make ends meet.

AE: What are the rewards?

PH: When you create theatre that moves or inspires people it is very satisfying. To know that the work you are doing makes a difference. And with DMV Theatre, where we purposely choose challenging topics, it is amazing to be part of something that generates such interesting dialogue about the society in which we live.

AE: How long have you been involved with DMV?

PH: Since its inception in late 2006. Our first production was “How I Learned to Drive” in early 2007 and I have been involved in all five of the productions we have produced thus far.

AE: What made you choose “Pageant”?

PH: I had worked on the original production of “Pageant” as Production Dramaturg in 2003 at Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary. Danny Macdonald's writing is sharp and funny and it takes a subject matter - our obsession with beauty - and deals with it in a much unexpected way. I have always kept the script in the back of my mind and knew that at some point I would direct it. And it is a great fit for DMV and an excellent compliment to last year's “The Ugly One”.

AE: Are there any unique challenges in putting this particular piece together?

PH: There are two big challenges - there is a good chunk of a Chevy Malibu dismantled on stage in Act Two and it can be challenging to find the specific parts, in the right make and model that are needed. There is also a lot of physical action that has to be very specifically timed in order to work and all this stage business is combined with the text, so it has to be very carefully choreographed.

AE: What can audiences expect to experience during the run?

PH: Audiences can expect a very dark, funny, thought provoking piece of theatre written by a fantastic Canadian playwright, Daniel Macdonald, featuring amazing performances from Marty Burt, Brian Heighton, Kate Lavender and Matthew Thomas Walker.

AE: What are your thoughts on the current state of theatre in Halifax?

PH: I have been very excited to see the growth of the independent theatre scene in Halifax over the last ten years. There is so much interesting stuff happening with companies like Zuppa Circus, OneLight, 2b Theatre, Forerunner Playwrights Co-op and now with what has been happening at the Plutonium Playhouse. It is a very exciting time for theatre in Halifax.

AE: What are your thoughts on the current state of theatre in Atlantic Canada?

PH: I think there are four very distinctive theatrical communities in Atlantic Canada. The Newfoundland community has really flourished and come into its proper place of recognition nationally in the last decade. And Prince Edward Island always amazes me with its balance between the Confederation Centre for the Arts and the amazing number of other theatrical offerings available there especially in the summer - on the professional, semi professional and community theatre level. Nova Scotia has for many, many years had a very busy summer season, and now with the addition of the numerous independent theatre companies complimenting what is happening at Neptune Theatre, we are seeing very dynamic offerings available all year round. My experience in New Brunswick is that Francophone theatre has its own vibrant community and English theatre can feel a little left behind at times. It is a small community and more isolated. You have Live Bait Theatre in Sackville which often seems more a part of the Nova Scotia community as it is so close geographically. The only other professional English company in NB is Theatre New Brunswick which has gone through a number of significant changes in the last ten years. It has had to reinvent its place in the ecology of the provincial arts scene since eliminating its province-wide touring that for some many decades was the mainstay of its identity. Overall, for the size of our population and the resources available we have a very vibrant theatre scene in Atlantic Canada. I have a friend though whose artistic dream is that there is enough resources here and work being created and produced that all the incredible artists from this region who have felt they had to leave to pursue careers elsewhere could come back to Atlantic Canada. He figures the pressure cooker of talent, if we were all together here and creating would be something to behold! Perhaps with all this ship building money coming...!!

Pageant runs February 23 - March 4, 2012, at the North Street Church in Halifax.

www.eventful.com/halifax/events/dmv-theatre-presents-pageant-daniel-macdonald-/E0-001-045955993-6

The Art of the Circus!

2012-02-22T03:19:00.000-08:00

Atlantic Cirque is celebrating its 10^th anniversary with 30 professional and amateur circus artists wowing Dunn Theatre audiences from February 23-26. Three Sheet (2011’s Music Nova Scotia's Entertainers of the Year) will also be performing. Arts East spoke with President and Founder Anaïs Guimond, to find out about her school/company and her passion for circus arts.

AE: What was the inspiration behind starting Atlantic Cirque 10 years ago?

AG: I had been a professional acrobat for a few years and after visiting Halifax and discovering that there was a performing arts/buskers festival with no circus component, and no circus school east of Montreal, I thought it would be a perfect place to start a Circus school.

AE: Describe Atlantic Cirque’s role as a school and performance company.

AG: We provide lessons to children and adults of all ages, birthday parties, corporate entertainment, Summer/Winter/March camps, workshops, private classes, professional programs and entertainment services.

AE: What types of things do you teach?

AG: Aerial silks, trapeze, cerceau, diamond, flying rope, silks, acrobatics, contortion, trampoline, human pyramids, handstand, juggling, unicycle, stilt walking and much more.

AE: At the 10^th anniversary show, what can audience members expect to see (without giving away too many surprises)?

AG: The show features acts like high-flying aerial trapeze, silks, hoop dazzling acrobatics and dance.

AE: What do you have planned for the next 10 years for Atlantic Cirque?

AG: To build and grow the school to its maximum potential. To focus on our pre-professional program, expand into other areas in the East and within Nova Scotia.

AE: How is circus performance an art?

AG: Traditionally “Art” is used to describe skill and/or mastery, the process of influencing the senses and emotions. We at Atlantic Cirque deliver the mastery and skill of circus arts and affect the senses and emotions with movement.

AE: How do circus arts play an important role in your life?

AG: Circus arts are my life. I have devoted and dedicated all of my life to mastering and sharing my experiences with the students and staff at Atlantic Cirque.

Atlantic Cirque Anniversary Circus Show ~ February 23-26, 2012 ~ Dunn Theatre

http://www.atlanticcirque.com

Style & Substance!

2012-02-20T05:20:00.000-08:00

Halifax-based model and actress Sarah Ainsley Harrison is more than just another pretty face. A sure blend of style and substance, Sarah is pursuing her life-long dream of becoming Miss Universe Canada. Recently she took time from her busy schedule to take our Proust Questionnaire.

AE: What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

SAH: To have no companionship. If you think about all the things we work for in this life – be it money, power, possessions, or otherwise – the end goal almost always comes around to having loved ones. With the love and support of friends and family, we can endure almost anything and enjoy more of everything.

AE: Where would you like to live?

SAH: I love living in here and will always come back to a home base in Canada. I appreciate the quality of life and cultural mosaic here. Sure the winter weather can be cold but we have beautiful spring, summer and fall, and we can’t have it all. A perfect example of that is that in warmer weather there are more arachnids and larger insects; one of the hardest parts of my international development work term in Central America was dealing with scary spiders and insects – which is one of my biggest fears (“irrational” in Canada, practical in when in the rainforest!).

AE: What is your idea of earthly happiness?

SAH: To feel a sense of accomplishment, be in good health, and have the love and appreciation of family and friends.

AE: To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

SAH: I love food. Cuisine is was one of my favourite aspects of travel and experiencing new cultures. It has always been a point of comfort in times of distress and celebration in times of happiness – luckily I am also highly indulgent in my fitness.

AE: Who are your favourite heroes of fiction?

SAH: Batman is pretty suave with his gadgets and dark mystery.

AE: Who are your favourite characters in history?

SAH: Tomoe Gozen was a rare female samurai warrior in the twelfth century, known for her bravery and strength. “Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot. She handled unbroken horses with superb skill and rode unscathed down perilous descents.” – The Tale of the Heike

AE: Who are your favourite heroines in real life?

SAH: Coco Chanel revolutionized the world of fashion. One of the most innovative fashion designers, Chanel was instrumental in defining feminine style and dress during the 20th Century. In particular she often took traditionally male clothes and redesigned them for the benefit of women.

AE: Who are your favourite heroines of fiction?

SAH: My favourite hero of fiction is Wonder Woman. She’s based on Amazons of Greek Mythology and I feel like as an actor I should get to play her at some point in my career!

AE: Your favourite painter?

SAH: My favourite painter is Salvador Dali. I am a fan of Surrealism as I think arts greatest beauty is its subjectivity. It is unique to each person’s experience. I find his extensive use of symbolism fascinating and his expressions imaginative. I’m also intrigued by his passion for luxury and excess, and his struggle with desire and guilt.

AE: Your favourite musician?

SAH: John Legend – I saw him perform with Sade at Montreal Jazz Fest last summer. I’d really love to see him perform with The Roots sometime!

AE: The quality you most admire in a man?

SAH: Confidence and self-awareness.

AE: The quality you most admire in a woman?

SAH: Confidence and self-assurance.

AE: Your favourite virtue?

SAH: It’s hard to say one virtue is most important but if I had to narrow down my favourite would be between curiosity and perseverance.

AE: Your favourite occupation?

SAH: I get bored easily and have always moved on quickly from jobs that are monotonous, but modeling and acting make me really happy because each job is different in some way. I’m a well-travelled, multi-experienced person with a lot of random trivial knowledge, so I find that helps me adapt with the ever-changing nature of this industry; I can model a range of styles and play a variety of roles.

AE: Who would you have liked to be?

SAH: I would like to be a younger version of myself, while knowing what I know now. I’m a true Sagittarius – I think it’s important to think outside the box and explore. When you find your passion, go after it with every bit of enthusiasm you have. I’ve always had an adventurous spirit but for a few years I followed the beaten path out of assumption that it was the right life to live; however I feel that a Masters degree and 2.5 children is not “the dream” for everyone. I have a college diploma and am in my third year of a degree but I’m taking time off so that I can pursue my passion full-time. I’ve modeled for years as additional income to pay for university but I’ve had to turn down many opportunities because I was tied down by my courses. I will resume my degree when I rejoin the Tourism Industry in the future but for now I’m seizing the day and jumping in with both feet to acting, modeling, fitness, and Miss Universe Canada in May.

www.facebook.com/#!/groups/12382157425/

The Lion!

2012-02-19T14:35:00.001-08:00

Bruce Cockburn

The Playhouse, Fredericton

February 17, 2012

By Mark Loggie

There’s really no better way to start your Friday night than by having your mind blown by folk music icon Bruce Cockburn. Playing to a sold out Fredericton Playhouse, the Canadian Music Hall of Famer put on a one man show that seamlessly mixed jazz, folk, rock and well-aged hippy wisdom.

Despite the tired cynical attitude heard in his curt anecdotes, there’s a passion in his songs that bring his low gruff voice alive. Age has done nothing to stop classic hits like Lovers in a Dangerous Time from sounding just as powerful as they did back in the day. His poetry is a torrent of imagery and metaphor, delivered deliberately as he stands there dressed in combat boots and a black duster like some long retired gunslinger. His guitar ability deserves to be called virtuosic. The man really is a living legend.

Seeing him once has made me a fan, and I’d urge anyone with even a slight appreciation for acoustic guitar music to see him live.

Barnaby's Buccaneers!

2012-02-18T04:19:00.000-08:00

After imagining a fictional summer camp with his young niece, Josh Longley began to write a YA novel featuring Madeleine as the main character. With two months of intense composing and three months of editing, Barnaby’s Buccaneers was published just in time for a Christmas surprise. Last night, Longley and niece Madeleine hosted a book launch at Local Jo Café. Arts East caught up with the new, Halifax author a few days before the event.

AE: What is Barnaby’s Buccaneers about?

JL: It’s a book that follows four 10-year-olds at Camp Barnaby in south-western Nova Scotia. They quickly learn that the evil McGlargle group is trying to take over the island on which the camp sits to build a resort. The official categorization [reading level] is 9-14 year olds, but my niece who’s eight had no trouble with it.

AE: Where did the idea for Barnaby’s come from?

JL: I was in the car with my niece Madeleine, while my sister was driving, and we just started making up a story in the back seat. It involved Backyard Lake and the McGlargle group came out of that. Then, a week or so later I sent Madeleine an e-mail where I had written down some of the stuff we’d talked about and fleshed it out a bit. And that became a book.

AE: What was Madeleine’s reaction when you surprised her with the book for Christmas?

JL: She seemed pretty stunned. I also gave her the original artwork from the cover of the book [created by local artist Nicole Moore]. When she opened that, she asked, “Is this really, really the cover? Is this really, really the original?” So she seemed pretty pleased with that. I suppose Part Three of the present was getting to be on the radio with Don Connolly who she listens to every single day. I was excited for her.

AE: How did you adjust to writing almost every day while maintaining your day job?

JL: It coincided with me starting a walking regiment. So, I would go for a walk and think about what I was going to write. Then, I would stop off at the end of my walk, mostly at Uncommon Grounds on South Park Street or sometimes Durty Nelly’s, and write anywhere from six to 20 pages, depending on how much my muse was flowing.

AE: What were your literary experiences before writing Barnaby’s Buccaneers?

JL: Well, I’m an avid reader with absolutely no writing experience whatsoever.

AE: Do any of the book’s characters reflect your personality?

JL: Not to sound pretentious at all, but it’s been said by many people that, for any writer, you’re always writing about yourself. I’m sure there are parts of myself in the Madeleine character. There’s the bookish, technology geek, Oliver; Sam the kayaker (I did quite a bit of kayaking and canoeing when I was younger); I effectively put all the whimsy and silliness into Emma…

AE: What made you pursue this hybrid form of publishing?

JL: It’s published through a company called iUniverse. So it was publishing for a fee, but at the same time, the book was required to be accepted. It’s not like CreateSpace for Amazon where you just write something and send it to them and they publish it. There’s line editing involved, content editing, marketing editing… If I had to do it all over again, and had the time, I might have pursued traditional publishing. But my understanding is traditional publishing can take anywhere from eight months to a year to go from manuscript to finished product. I had a time constraint due to Christmas.

AE: Was it hard to write this novel?

JL: The writing was surprisingly easy. The editing process was pretty horrendous – it was very boring.

AE: For those who have dreamt of writing their first book, what advice do you give?

JL: Sit down and write it! Seriously, I do know a lot of people who have tried to write books and I almost get the feeling, based on my experience, that they’re possibly over-thinking it. Whereas, when I decided to write this book, I just literally sat down and wrote it. I had no outline…I had nothing other than a setting.

http://www.barnabysbuccaneers.com/

Stripped Bare!

2012-02-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

Time will tell if Halifax is ready to unwind and undress for The Sex Festival. Still, the month-long series of titillating theatrical performances should bring some much-needed heat to our cold winter nights. In the first in a series of our He Said/She Said reviews, Stephen Patrick Clare and Robyn McNeil share their impressions.

Pluto’s Playthings

February 16, Plutonium Playhouse, Halifax

Set against soft and plush red velvet, Pluto’s Playthings is a sensual exploration of excess that evokes the dance-hall debauchery and bold burlesque of 1930’s Berlin.

Stewart Legere is delicious as the decadent Max, sarcastic and sensitive, whose moving musical melenge underscores over-the-top performances by the exquisite Tatiana (Annie Valentina), the stoic Gunther (?), and the exotic Josephine (Naomi-Joy Blackhall-Butler).

While raunchy, racy and risqué, the campy, vampy vignettes are more evocative than erotic, baring more than mere skin and begging us to reconcile our humanity and divinity – suggesting Rimbaud’s avowal that one “becomes visionary via the systematic derangement of the senses” and that it is within the weakness of flesh where the spirit shines brightest.

In particular, the stirring and soulful duet between Max and Josephine reminds us that we conceal ourselves to reveal ourselves, and that beneath our brash veneer, each of us merely aches “to love and be loved.”

Ultimately, Pluto’s Playhouse invites us to overcome our moderation, undertake a new temptation, and sin our way into salvation. ~ SPC

----------

Berlin in the 1930s: lurid, racy, and explicit - a perfect backdrop for Pluto’s Playthings, the new cabaret-style show from Plutonium Playhouse. Part of this year’s Sex Festival, the play is a raunchy, humorous production inspired by Weimar Cabaret, featuring music, burlesque, scandalous banter, and very sexy performers.

Light-hearted sensuality intermingles with darkness and vulnerability in the relationships between the characters in PP, and it’s in those spaces between smiles and sorrow that the characters suddenly became real. Although the entire cast give sassy, inspired performances it was Legere’s Max that drew me in the deepest; his cockney accent, risqué humour and barely masked vulnerability left me wanting to wrap him (MAX) up tightly in the love he seeks.

Strong musical performances from Legere (piano and voice), Blackhall-Butler (voice) and Lola (voice) make Pluto Playthings a campy, ear-pleasing delight. Definitely a show worth checking out. ~ RM

Pluto’s Playthings until February 19

http://www.plutoniumplayhouse.com/

Behind the Mind of Joel Plaskett!

2012-02-16T05:41:00.000-08:00

A few spins of any Joel Plaskett recording is enough to provide deeper insight into the Nova Scotia singer-songwriter’s creative genius. Our Proust Questionnaire might shed a little more light on the multi-award winning mind behind Down at the Khyber, Ashtray Rock, Three and his newest work, Scrappy Happiness, scheduled for release on March 27.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Living in a country at war, and thankfully I've never experienced it

Where would you like to live?

Krakow, Poland

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

Food on the table, my family and a nice summer night

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

Red wine is pretty awesome

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

Magnum, PI was my favorite show as a kid

Who are your favorite characters in history?

King Tut seems pretty legendary. So do Jesus, Albert Einstein, Mississippi

John Hurt and Bill Putnam

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

Irma Thomas

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

Jackie Brown

Your favorite painter?

Rebecca Kraatz

Your favorite musician?

Changes daily. Today it's Lee Dorsey

The quality you most admire in a man?

Compassion

The quality you most admire in a woman?

Grace

Your favorite virtue?

A good sense of humour

Your favorite occupation?

Private investigator's secretary

Who would you have liked to be?

Max Ferguson

The Return of Rose Cousins!

2012-02-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

Singer-songwriter Rose Cousins, with personal and musical connections to PEI, Halifax and now Boston, will release her third album We Have Made a Spark February 28th. Cousins has also produced a short film, If I Should Fall Behind, featuring the Boston community of musicians and friends she recorded her album with. Arts East recently spoke with the ECMA/Music PEI/Canadian Folk Music Award winner about her collaboration with place, people and passion to create Spark.

AE: Congratulations on your upcoming album We Have Made a Spark! What does this album mean to you?

RC: Thanks! This album was made with good friends in Boston. I feel really connected to this project because I know and chose everyone who sings and plays on it. It’s a great reflection of this great community I’ve become a part of in Boston. It’s the sound of what it’s like to make music with this gang.

AE: How is this album different from your other two?

RC: Each record carries something from the last but introduces new elements. My first record I was really into bluegrass instrumentation. My second, Luke Doucet’s guitar playing created the moodiness I was into in the music I was influenced by at the time. This record has got a bit of an Americana feel in parts, and feels cinematic in others. It’s different simply because the cast is different and because I keep growing . I think it’s really musical.

AE: I’m intrigued by your song writing locations – especially the cabin on a New Hampshire Island! What were the living and creative conditions like?

RC: There is a main cabin where we eat and gather each night to share songs but I slept and wrote in a very small cabin, with a small deck, rickety rocking chair & kerosene lamp. The lack of cell and internet service is so relieving. Allows my creative brain to kick in and the details part to take a nap. I spent time at my cabin writing, reading. I would walk around the island or go swimming. The main cabin has 2 pianos and we all usually bring misc instruments which we share and pass around. It’s a truly inspiring place to be. The same gang I made my record with, we’re all going back again this June.

AE: Is there a defining theme to this latest album?

RC: It’s about facing demons. The years after making my last record were tough and I realized I was creating/perpetuating some difficult situations. My attempt at a journey through the junk and facing the demons is the gravel on this record. It has dark, light, hope, struggle, insight.

AE: What inspired you to make the short film If I Should Fall Behind?

RC: It was a last minute decision. I had wanted to make a record with these friends for a while and without knowing exactly what would happen with the footage after, just went for it. As we were filming, the story sort of revealed itself - just how special the community is. It’s something I feel each time I go to Boston and play. I have learned so much from my friends there. It truly is unique and incredibly collaborative.

AE: What were some of the highlights from 2011 (besides recording your album)?

RC: I got to open for one of my heroes – Shawn Colvin in December in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was a great night. Yes and of course making the record and the film, which kicked my ass. I don’t know if I’ve ever worked so hard. Also my sister had a baby boy!

AE: Are you psyched about performing at the ECMAs?

RC: I’m always happy to be a part of the ECMA’s. I’m mostly excited to showcase the new songs and start my Maritime release tour immediately after!

AE: If you could perform/record/write another genre of music you’ve never done before, what genre would that be?

RC: I’ve always wanted to write a film score. Or at least the theme song to a movie. Something instrumental which is how I started creating musically on piano. I’ve also thought it would be fun to make a dance record, bluegrass record. I mean…too many ideas. I’m up for pretty much anything.

AE: What are your future plans?

RC: Keep playing. To continue to make great music and have inspiring collaborations.

www.rosecousins.com

Wordrhythm!

2012-02-14T05:18:00.000-08:00

On February 14, Jazzeast presents Shauntay Grant’s Wordrhythm as part of African Heritage Month at the Spring Garden Road Library in Halifax. Arts East recently spoke to the multi-talented, award-winning author, musician, spoken word artist, CBC Broadcaster and community mentor about her Valentines Day performance.

AE: How did you come up with the idea for Wordrhythm?

SG: Wordrhythm grew out of a desire to amalgamate two of my primary creative interests -- poetry and music. As an artist, I don't really differentiate between my artistic practices -- my songs are my poems, and vice versa. So Wordrhythm was really about creating a space to explore the connections between poetry and music.

AE: For someone who has never seen a Wordrhythm performance, how would you describe it?

SG: Every performance is different. The last Wordrhythm show was at the Halifax Jazz Festival with a three-piece band and vocal ensemble. Before that there was a show involving dub poetry and beatbox. The upcoming event at the Spring Garden Road library is more of a performance/workshop involving some local singers and spoken word artists. But what is exciting for me with this particular event is that the poets will also be singing, and the singers have written some original poetry as well. So it's really been a space for the artists to explore their talents and try new things.

AE: How is the Feb. 14th performance going to be different from past performances?

SG: It's an intimate performance/workshop-type setting with no real amplification for the voices. So, no mics or speakers - just live and unplugged. The evening features a talented line-up of singers and spoken word artists including Chelsea Nisbett, Tesia Rolle, Suzy Hansen, Dominique Oliver-Dares, and Nicole Brown. And this is the first time we've all worked together as an ensemble.

AE: How is the combination of words/poetry and music a powerful force in your own life?

SG: Words and music has always been central to my life. I grew up with so many songs and stories in my family, my community, my home. And I appreciate every opportunity I've had to continue with this and collaborate with so many talented artists.

www.shauntaygrant.com

Photo: Raul Rincon

Mike Melski takes the Proust Questionnaire!

2012-02-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Mike Melski studied English and Theatre at the University of King’s College in Halifax. A prolific writer, director and playwright, his works include Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad, The Fly Fisher’s Companion, Growing Op and his latest film, Charlie Zone, which won a number of awards at the 2011 Atlantic Film Festival.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Being trapped on the phone with any form of customer 'service'

Where would you like to live?

In the moment

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

Experiencing life to the fullest, with no regrets

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

Naievete in others

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

Yossarian, Michael Corleone, Tom Joad, Atticus Finch, Han Solo

Who are your favorite characters in history?

Fletcher Christian, Henry V, My Dad

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

Joan of Arc, Belle Starr, My Mom

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

Marge Gunderson, Ripley in 'Aliens'

Your favorite painter?

Van Gogh, Tom Tompson

Your favorite musician?

Chopin, Keith Richards

The quality you most admire in a man?

Integrity

The quality you most admire in a woman?

Clarity

Your favorite virtue?

A dead-heat between kindness and diligence

Your favorite occupation?

The one I'm occupying

Who would you have liked to be?

A better version of who I am

Emotion in Motion!

2012-02-12T06:58:00.001-08:00

La La La Human Steps

Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Halifax

February 12, 2012

The lobby of the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium was abuzz with anticipation last night, as local dance-lovers eagerly awaited the Atlantic Canadian debut of La La La Human Steps.

Taking the stage at 8pm, Paul Caskey, Artistic Director of Halifax-based Live Art Dance Productions addressed the capacity crowd, welcoming “one of the world’s most amazing dance companies”, and acknowledging the efforts of the in-house technical team for setting the elaborate stage in just 48 hours.

Inspired by Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice, LLLHS’s founder and director Édouard Lock designed the 85-minute New Work to detail the death of love.

Encouraging the audience “to both reinvent and rediscover the body and its dance”, the troupe’s eleven dancers flung their bodies across the floor in fury and frenzy, only pausing long enough to allow sharp slivers of emotion to emerge from the shadows of sensuality. Like Lock’s past pieces, New Work is an inspired and intense blur of idea, feeling and raw physicality - a sexy, stylish fusion of swayed hips, twirls, leaps, lifts, hand-slaps and toe-taps.

Gavin Bryars’ original score - performed by a live quartet of piano, viola, cello and saxophone - succeeded at setting the work’s mood and tone.

As a viewer, I found myself experiencing the show in three ways; trying to understand the story weaved in Lock’s mind and how he might be encouraging the audience to design their own tale; taking in the intricate choreography (designed to the millisecond); and savouring the sheer physical power and beauty of emotion in motion.

New Work was a spectacular first foray to Halifax for La La La Human Steps - and one that calls for the troupe to perform a sooner-rather-than-later encore.

Fiddler!

2012-02-11T04:55:00.000-08:00

Fiddler on the Roof

The Playhouse Fredericton, NB

February 8, 2012

by Laurie Glenn Norris (Lower Kingsclear, NB)

Fiddler on the Roof, the story of Jewish village life against the backdrop of Tsarist Russia in 1905, is one of the most celebrated musicals in American theatre. Since its long-running Broadway début in 1964, when it garnered nine Tony Awards, Fiddler has played to international sell-out audiences, been made into a motion picture, and has become a favourite with high school and local theatre productions all over the world.

Currently Fiddler is in the midst of a North American tour, with six stops in Atlantic Canada. In Fredericton, it appeared as part of the Playhouse’s Spotlight Series. This production, complete with Jerome Robbins’s original Broadway direction and choreography, is a visual and auditory treat from beginning to end.

The enduring appeal of Fiddler lies in its universal themes of love, family, sacrifice and inevitable change. Tevye, played to loveable perfection by understudy David Springstead, is the hub around which all the action turns. We share his hopes for his daughters, his exasperation with his sharp-tongued wife Golde, his fear for his village and his confusion as the traditions he holds so dear keep crumbling around him.

And the music – it’s the music of Fiddler that we all love the most. The prologue, with the entire cast belting out “Tradition” got toes tapping throughout the Playhouse and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one lip-synching the words to “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Sunrise, Sunset.” Sometimes, just like Tevye, we too like the traditional, and for three hours and forty minutes last night at the Fredericton Playhouse, I had the luxury of indulging in a timeless classic. Some things should never change.

Fiddler on the Roof continues its North American tour with shows in Halifax on February 10 & 11. http://www.fiddlerontour.com/

The Spaces in Between

2012-02-10T05:05:00.000-08:00

Communion

By Daniel MacIvor

Neptune Studio Theatre, Halifax

February 8, 2012

“It’s not the answer we can’t hear, it’s the question we won’t ask.”

So begins Daniel MacIvor’s Communion, running until February 19 at Neptune Studio Theatre in Halifax, a sobering three-act exploration of love, loss, regret and the all-too human quest for certainty and connection.

Jenny Munday carries the day as Leda, a cranky, but loveable recovering alcoholic who is dying of cancer. When she shares that “all of my life I have been waiting”, Leda speaks to the moments between anticipation and event, and to the blur between birth and death.

Her sessions with her lesbian therapist Carolyn, played dutifully by Kathryn MacLellan, also address gender gaps and the changing roles of women over a single generation.

Likewise, Leda’s efforts to reconnect with her estranged daughter Ann (Stephanie MacDonald) testify to both the burned bridges in our lives, and to the breach between the ardent idealism of youth and the malleability of middle-age.

In the final act, Carolyn and Ann meet following Leda’s death in an attempt to find common ground and answers. In a compelling climax, each comes to understand that it is our connections – our human connections - that fill the spaces in between in our lives.

Although often overloaded with idea and emotion, the narrative never mires down in melancholia. Instead, MacIvor is wise to show his Cape Breton roots with tidbits of homespun humour, offsetting the work’s weighty tone.

The production’s true strength, however, sits in the silence between the lines – amidst the tension of things left unsaid.

While Communion is surely not for the faint of soul, it a stirring and satisfying work, and one that serves to remind us that perhaps the reasons we go grey are because things are no longer as black and white as they once were. ~SPC

www.neptunetheatre.com

Love in La Ronde!

2012-02-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

La Ronde

David Mack Murray Theatre

Dalhousie Arts Centre, Halifax

February 7, 2012

by Jen Powley

When Arthur Schnitzler wrote La Ronde in 1897, he didn’t intend for it to be performed. (It was written as a play, but according to Dalhousie German Professor Hans-Gunther Schwarz, the playwright didn’t want it to be performed “until the world was ready for it” which he thought would be at least 200 years). It was written as a series of dialogues leading up to and after sex between 10 interlaced couples. Well we assume it was sex – all Schnitzler put in the script were ellipses… Dal Theatre didn’t leave any ellipses.

Despite Schnitzler’s warning, Dal Theatre has chosen to perform La Ronde only 116 years later. Maybe the producer thinks society is ready for a tale of sex and partner swapping. He isn’t the first to think society is ready for it – La Ronde was performed under the name Reigen in both Austria and Germany in the 1920s.

Introducing each dialogue, the entire cast struts on stage in a theatre dripping in red and black. Dressed in nothing but enticing lingerie or other erotica, the scene drives home Schnitzler’s ultimate point – all humans, regardless of their social position, ultimately want two things – sex and love. The characters getting dressed for their roles in full sight of the audience sharpens this point.

The sex aspect of Schnitzler’s diagnosis of the human condition is fully explored during the performance. There is sex between a prostitute and a soldier, between the soldier and a maid, between the maid and her boss, then between the boss and his mistress, between the mistress and her husband, between the husband and a gigolo, between the gigolo and an artist, between the artist and an actress, between the actress and the Countess and finally between the Countess and that same prostitute. There was sex in every position and between every combination of people. The stage went dark when the sex was about to begin (Schnitzler would have approved) and then a quick flash of red light would reveal the characters in a series of sexual poses (Dan Savage of Savage Love would approve).

The love aspect of Schnitzler’s diagnosis left the audience with questions (which may have been his intent). One is left to wonder: Why do we search for love? How is love related to sex if it is at all?

La Ronde until February 11^th.

www.theatre.dal.ca

La Ronde

2012-02-08T06:12:00.000-08:00

Richie Wilcox returns to Dalhousie University, not as a student, but to direct the theatre department’s production of Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde (1900). An actor, singer and director, Wilcox is the co-founder of Angels & Heroes theatre company and is currently pursuing a PhD in Theatre (York University). AE recently spoke to the young thespian about this week’s performance.

AE: What will audience members experience when they watch La Ronde?

RW: La Ronde features a daisy chain of sexual encounters. The first scene has person A and person B talking and having sex and talking some more. The next scene features person B and person C talking and having sex and talking some more. The third scene features person C and so on and so forth. The audience gets to be transported into a Parisian brothel where the workers are putting on this play that deals with love and the tumultuous relationships that come with it. With ten scenes that revolve around intimate relationships with ten different characters, the play is fast paced and offers a voyeuristic view into these interactions. This play has love affairs, marriages, one night stands ranging from heterosexual to homosexual to bisexual orientations. All in all, it's a pretty funny and sexy play - two things I expect an audience will greatly appreciate.

AE: Is this your first time directing a play for Dal Theatre? What is it like directing at one of your alma maters?

RW: It IS my first time directing a play for Dal and, yes, my first time directing for one of my alma maters. Dalhousie has been trying to get me to come back to direct since 2006 but the timing was always off because of other projects and such that I had on the go. I've been eager to get back to Dalhousie because it really did give me such a great foundation of knowledge and experience. After a decade out of Dal, it seems the timing is great! I've been rehearsing in Studio One all month and I can't help but have flashbacks to my directing class with David Overton (now retired). Dr. O's class opened my eyes to directing and set me on a path. I owe a lot to professors such as David, Roberta Barker and Jure Gantar. When I was in my final year (ten years ago) at Dal, I was assistant director under guest director Marcia Kash. Everything has come full circle as I am now the guest director and have a student assistant director on my team. I told Marcia this past week that I was thinking a lot about that show and what I learned from her. I can only hope that I'm being as great a mentor as she was for me.

AE: Is the cast made up entirely of students? Do you see yourself as a mentor/teacher in addition to being a director?

RW: The majority of the cast of La Ronde is made up of the third year acting students of the Dalhousie Theatre program with one fourth year acting student rounding out the ensemble. My role as director definitely encompasses a mentor/teacher role as well. Throughout the audition process and the rehearsals I'm trying to help prepare them for what it's like as a professional actor out in the real world. I'm also trying to enhance and extend the training they get from the program and encourage them to push themselves further to reach their full potential. I've been teaching theatre courses at York University for the past four years so this mentorship role is second nature to me. I would say being a director involves the mentorship role in different ways for every job. After all, you are 'guiding' the production and the team within it.

AE: What drew you to this play and how does it compare to other plays you've directed?

RW: The playwright of La Ronde, Arthur Schnitzler, said "I write about love and death because what else is there?" If I look at all the plays I've directed I would say the majority of them have to do with love and death in very overt ways most of the time. Funnily enough the last play I directed before this was Pains of Youth which was written shortly after La Ronde and also deals with very sexual beings in Vienna, just like La Ronde. This is my year of doing turn of the century sexy Viennese plays I guess. I've been drawn to La Ronde ever since I read it back in my undergrad days at Dalhousie. This play created a huge scandal in the early 1900s because of how bluntly and frankly it dealt with sex. Schnitzler was a real talent as the script stands up to this day. (Interesting tidbit: Nicole Kidman did a version of La Ronde on Broadway titled The Blue Room in the early 2000s). The relationships we have are pretty much the same as they were back then. There's heartache, there's love, there's lust, there's rejection and everything else. This play is so popular because it's so contemporary. People are always falling in and out of love. People are always having sex for a variety of reasons. And we always want to hear about it. La Ronde taps into all of those indiscretions and intimacies and puts it onstage for us.

AE: What has been one of the highlights of your singing/acting/directing career?

RW: For the past five years Angels & Heroes has put on a Tribute concert for Halifax Pride week. We've done the music of Rufus Wainwright, Queen, Elton John, David Bowie and Annie Lennox featuring some of the best Halifax musicians. This night is always one of the best nights of the year for me. A room full of amazing talent singing amazing songs by celebrated musicians who have made a stand for queer people...it all ends up being quite powerful. This night continues to be a highlight for me.

AE: What have been your favourite acting and directing roles?

RW: I don't know if I can narrow it down to one favourite role and play because most of the work I've done I hold very close to me. I can offer up some highlights though. I directed a crazy play for Angels & Heroes around 2003 called The Pitchfork Disney by Philip Ridley. This play featured dark nightmarish imagery throughout it and, in my mind, some of the best acting seen in Halifax at that point. I was fortunate to have an amazing cast who really dove head first into the gritty material. This play that features a guy in a gimp mask singing, a circus entertainer eating cockroaches, and a guy getting off by having his finger sucked was pretty out there and was definitely a love/hate type of show. I of course loved every minute of it. As for acting, one of the highlights of my career so far has been playing Valene in The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh for Angels & Heroes. This dark Irish comedy has the same type of flavour as Cape Breton humour so it was very easy for me to slip into character and have fun with it. McDonagh is one of my favourite playwrights (he also wrote the film In Bruges) and I would jump at the chance to do this show again. On a completely different wavelength, playing Paul in A Chorus Line for Texas State University was also really rewarding as it required me to really push myself as a dancer and had me telling a pretty emotional 'coming out' story onstage. As I said, that's only a few of the memorable roles and plays that come to mind.

AE: Any last words to encourage patrons to come see La Ronde?

RW: Besides the great script, there are two major reasons not to miss this show. Firstly, the design team for this show rocks. Dalhousie has a new set and costume design team with John Dinning and John Pennoyer at the helm. I'm as giddy as a kid in a candy store thinking about how snazzy and sexy this set and the people on it are going to be! Also, my husband Aaron Collier (part of the band Scientists of Sound) is doing the sound design and it is fantastic music inspired by the French electro scene. It really keeps the play driving and gives it a sensual tone. The other reason not to miss this show is the cast itself. This is the first time most of these students get to be seen on the Dal stage. These are young, eager and talented actors who are pushing themselves in a risky daring piece. I know I'm excited to see all these elements come together!

http://www.theatre.dal.ca/

Communing with Communion!

2012-02-06T12:21:00.001-08:00

“I’m thrilled that Halifax will have a chance to commune with ‘Communion’, shares Daniel MacIvor. The Cape Breton-born playwright has been awarded with numerous accolades, including the Governor General’s Literary Award for his ‘I Still Love You’ collection and the theatrical Siminovitch prize. His “Communion” plans to rivet Neptune in Halifax starting on February 7.

AE: What was your inspiration to write “Communion”?

DM: I had been asked by an actress in New York I admired who had seen my play “Marion Bridge” if I would be interested in writing a play for her. So I went back to some notes I had been making about my experiences in therapy and an idea I had about a tumultuous mother/daughter relationship and did a first draft of a play called “The Communion of Saints” – there was actually a fourth character in that version, the therapist’s partner, this was the part I had written for the New York actress. When I sent the actress the play she said that she felt she wasn’t right for the role and so I had a play but no production planned. Then I took the play to Tarragon Theatre in Toronto where I’m playwright in residence and they were interested in it. After a series of workshops with a wonderful cast, the actress who was to play the therapist’s partner ended up with a conflicting job and had to drop out. So I thought that part was perhaps cursed so I ended up cutting it. In fact losing the fourth character was the best thing I could have done and the play came together in a very simple and cohesive way.

AE: How does “Communion” compare with other plays you have written?

DM: I think “Communion” deals with the same kinds of themes and obsessions that all my plays do; I suppose where it’s different is the gentleness it in. I don’t think I have the reputation of being a “gentle” playwright.

AE: What type of experience will audience members have when they immerse themselves in the story you have penned?

DM: I guess that depends on which character one most identifies with. Mothers have one reaction, daughters with a difficult relationship with their mothers have another kind of reaction, people with some experience with therapy still another. Ultimately though the play is about the fact that sometimes the purpose of our lives is revealed not by what we do but who we are, and I would hope that helps people to consider something about their own purpose in their own lives.

AE: Do you like collaborating with directors, set and costume designers, actors, etc when they are producing and performing one of your plays? If so, were you directly involved with Neptune’s production of Communion?

DM: Collaboration is the very essence of theatre; it’s why I love the theatre. And yes I have been very involved in this production. Linda Moore directed the first production of the play in Calgary after I had directed the Toronto premiere and so we had many conversations about the play and I continued to rework the play for her production. Also I am on the board of Kazan Co-op – who is producing the play with Neptune - and have worked closely with Kathryn and Janet MacLellan for years.

AE: You have had a very successful playwrighting career already. Why do you think you gravitated towards writing theatre/drama as opposed to another genre?

DM: It’s where I feel most at home. I have worked in the film world but I have always felt like a bit of a tourist there. Theatre is the language I speak, it is the climate I’m most comfortable in, it is where I feel most challenged to better myself, not just as an artist but as a person. I am being encouraged though to try my hand at writing a novel. Time will see how that transpires.

AE: Has there been one play you’ve created that you most relate to?

DM: The solo shows are close to me since they are so directly created out of my own experiences and my world view. Of course asking me to choose one play would be like asking a parent to choose a favourite child – impossible. I will say though that I have been moved very much by the reaction of audiences to “Communion” – it is stirring, and as an audience member that’s what I’m most looking for in a theatrical experience.

AE: What are you working on now and what are your future plans?

DM: Currently I’m getting ready to direct my play “Was Spring” at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. It opens in April. And I’m doing some rewrites on my play “The Best Brothers” which stars myself and Halifax’s own John Beale and will run this summer as part of the Stratford Festival in Ontario.

“Communion” runs from February 7-19 at Neptune’s Studio Theatre. http://www.neptunetheatre.com/

Shivering Songs

2012-02-06T03:36:00.000-08:00

It may have been frigid in Fredericton this past weekend, but the 3-day Shivering Songs Festival kept the New Brunswick Capital City warm with the sounds of David Myles, Hot Toddy, Catherine MacLellan, Postdata and David Adams Richards. AE’s Cedric Noel gives us the lowdown on the highlights.

Songwriters and Storytellers

In the grandeur of Wilmot Church in downtown Fredericton, a large crowd sat themselves upon aging pews to take in the songwriters and storytellers matinee. On stage were David Myles, Mike O'Neill, Andrew Sisk, and Catherine MacLellan, accompanied by her right-hand man Chris Gauthier - each of whom told a story, though sometimes unrelated to the piece they were about to perform. Myles, who was his usual chipper self, played three new songs. MacLellan and Gauthier had the most energy of the afternoon, though O'Neill and Sisk were the most entertaining of the four songwriters, amusing the crowd with funny stories before entering into rich melodies. Equally enthralling was renowned New Brunswick writer David Adams Richards, who read to parts of his classic novel Friends of Meager Fortune. The author transported the audience into the deep woods of New Brunswick, and they held on to every word he said. After Adams, the musicians finished up the afternoon with two songs each before exiting the stage to a standing ovation.

Mark Kozelek & Postdata

Paul Murphy is best known as the front-man of Halifax band Wintersleep. But on Saturday night, under an ominous light and before a capacity crowd at Wilmot Church, he took the stage with only keyboards and synthesizers under the guise of his solo project Postdata. From start to finish the crowd was left stunned and speechless by Murphy’s emotion-evoking voice. That, accented by his often gut-wrenching lyrics, made for the most emotional performance of the festival. It was over far-too quickly, before Mark Kozelek (a.k.a. Sun Kil Moon) took the stage as the headlining act. Sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, annoyed that Air Canada had lost his guitar (which was retrieved before the show), Kozelek's stage presence and between-song banter were sub-par, and even rude at times, resulting in a few people parting the venue. He did, however, dazzle the audience with his amazing guitar techniques. Kozelek left the stage after a 50-minute set, and although the crowd cheered for an encore, did not return.

http://www.shiveringsongs.com/

The Divine Jill Barber!

2012-02-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hot on the high-heels of her bestselling and critically-acclaimed release Mischievous Moon, Canadian chanteuse extraordinaire Jill Barber is taking a well-deserved break in the south of France. The darling diva, however, did make some time for AE to take la Proust Questionnaire.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Starvation

Where would you like to live?

Somewhere in the south of France (in winter)

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

Good company and great wine.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

My weakness for drink.

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

Atticus Finch, Tintin

Who are your favorite characters in history?

Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf.

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

Joni Mitchell, Joan Rivers

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

Elizabeth Bennet, Bridget Jones

Your favorite painter?

My friend, Stewart Jones.

Your favorite musician?

My brother, Matthew Barber

The quality you most admire in a man?

Intelligence

The quality you most admire in a woman?

Confidence

Your favorite virtue?

Goodness

Your favorite occupation?

Showbiz.

Who would you have liked to be?

Cole Porter

Art for a Living Earth

2012-02-03T04:04:00.000-08:00

Digital Arts Instructor (Nova Scotia Community College) and Painter Holly Lennox showed up at a Truro Arts Society meeting and suggested an ecological art show. Since her idea was well received, Lennox became the show coordinator and now “Art for Living Earth” begins February 2^nd, 2012. Anyone is welcome to come see the environmental themed pieces at the opening gala (February 7) or any time during the two-month run. Recently, Arts East spoke with Lennox about her intrigue for reusable and how she too will be surprised by what’s included in the exhibit.

AE: How many artists are contributing to the exhibit?

HL: I guess the way the Truro Arts Society works is that the members are notified of what’s happening (they either learn about it at meetings or through e-mail). And I just have to have my fingers crossed that people are going to [contribute]. I’ve had e-mails from a few people letting me know what they’re doing, but I’m just hoping that they’re all going to come through. Wednesday, when they bring the work in, it’s going to be a big surprise for me!

AE: Give us an example of the type of art you expect for the show.

HL: This one artist who has contacted me (Doris Foley), she retired to the Five Islands area, and she is now living on a farm that used to have a blacksmith shop. So, there’s all this iron around. She’s been turning the iron into sculptures and she’s got them all around her garden. People are able to come visit and admire her lawn art. She said she’d like to bring one or two of the pieces and that she could do a collage of photos of the others to give an idea of what it looks like in her garden.

AE: What is one of the unique contributions visitors will see at the exhibit?

HL: Well Peter Labelle will be bringing in a piece that he made years ago when he was living in Ontario. It’s going to be on plywood; he’s going to need help getting it here – it’s very heavy. It has all kinds of materials that he found, including metals. He showed me a picture – it looks very interesting! He’s going to have to get somebody with a truck to help bring it in.

AE: Are you contributing anything to the show?

HL: Mine is going to be more, well, traditional art. I’ve done a drawing of kids: they’re playing video games, but there’s one kid on a bicycle powering all the equipment. The other piece I’m doing is a view of a Truro street where all the front lawns have been replaced by vegetable gardens, so this would be “urban agriculture”.

AE: The show is being held at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC). Will any of the students be contributing to the exhibit?

HL: They are always welcome to join the society. This show is going to be held in the mostly in the library (what’s considered the gallery) but there’s also a space in the hallway outside. So Peter Labelle who teaches Life Drawing in the Digital Animation program is planning on having student work up in the hallway at the same time. It will be drawings that they did of the old Normal College in Truro. It’s an old building, it’s really nice looking – I don’t think there’s really anybody in there at the moment. The Town Council is trying to figure out what to do with the building. The animation students went in there and did a whole lot of architectural drawings. I guess it’s ‘the old and what can we do with it?’

AE: What type of art would you like to create in the future with reused materials?

HL: I think it would be really cool to do a really large piece using bottle tops. You know, you glue those on and they come in many different colours. But, I don’t drink a lot, so if people could come to the art show and drop off their bottle tops, which cannot be recycled anyway. They take the bottles to be recycled, but they don’t take the tops. I’m thinking there’s a common area in Forrester Hall that has some blank walls, where it would be fun to do bottle top art.

AE: Is there anything you’d like to add about the show you’re coordinating?

HL: I hope that people will enjoy the show, but also think about the environment and what they might be able to contribute – any changes they can make to their lifestyle and how to be positive.

Art for Living Earth runs from February 2 – March 27 (8:30 am - 4:30 pm) at the McCarthy Gallery (NSCC Truro Campus). The opening gala is February 7 at 7pm and features entertainment from the North Shore Slow Pickers.

http://www.truroartsociety.ca/

Arkells ace Atlantic Canada!

2012-02-02T05:51:00.000-08:00

The Arkells

UNB Student Union Building, Fredericton

February 1, 2012

The best way to describe the Arkells show would be to call it intimate. In fact, I had to periodically duck so frontman Max Kerman’s guitar didn’t smash into my head. All the band members, except the drummer, were within reach of those in the front row.

The entire band was energetic and at their best. Although there was probably less than 200 people there, the band seem pleased as the majority of the crowd mouthed the lyrics to the songs.

The setlist was solid. The band played a few songs, such as “Tragic Flaw” and “John Lennon” off their debut, Jackson Square. They played every song off new album Michigan Left, except album highlight “Coffee”.

Although the band was in excellent form, the sound wasn’t the greatest. Maybe it’s a limitation of the sound system in the small venue, but the music wasn’t as clear or crisp as it should’ve been. This was especially prominent during the opening band, The Darcys’, set.

The Darcys seemed like nice guys. They greeted fans after the show, but their music translated into a sludgy murk from the amps. This makes it hard to judge whether the band had chops or not. Members of the band later accompanied the Arkells on two songs, “Agent Zero,” and a cover of “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall and Oates.

The lighter songs of the Arkells’ new album benefitted from the live atmosphere, as they had everybody moving. Even though they can’t really be called hits, there was an electric feeling in the air when the band rocketed into songs like “Oh, The Boss Is Coming” and “The Ballad of Hugo Chavez”.

Even though the Arkells might not be able to draw thousands in Fredericton, the Ontario band definitely has a passionate cult following here. ~ Justin Cook

Before leaving Atlantic Canada, the Arkells will perform tonight at The Grawood (Halifax) and tomorrow night at The Wave (Charlottetown). http://arkells.ca/

Raymond Fraser Take the Proust Questionnaire!

2012-01-31T05:37:00.000-08:00

Raymond Fraser has been called “the best literary voice to come belling out of the Maritimes in decades" (Farley Mowat) and “one of the most gifted writers I know” (Alden Nowlen). Fredericton-based author, poet and editor has a bevy of great works under his belt, including The Bannonbridge Musicians, The Fighting Fisherman: The Life of Yvon Durelle, When The Earth Was Flat and his latest works The Madness of Youth and Repentance Vale.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Once when I was in Montreal and trying to keep off the bottle I smoked some marijuana (which never did agree with me; I was strictly a drinking man) and experienced what it was like to be cut off absolutely from man and God. I was in a room with people but it was as if I wasn't, and I was terrified. I felt so disconnected I actually thought I was dead. It wasn't an experience I'd like to repeat, but it was a great lesson, for I knew then that without a linking spirit – without God, in other words, the author of our existence – there is no fellow feeling, no communication, just an intolerable isolation and loneliness. It showed me that we don't own the comfort of companionship – that with a flick of a switch it can disappear, leaving nothing behind but one's abandoned self. A solitary human ego. The closest comparison I can make is how an astronaut would feel when his lifeline broke, setting him adrift in the vast emptiness of outer space, drifting further and further away from his fellows and never coming back. Only in his case the agony would be temporary. What I experienced was to have no end, or wouldn't if I should find myself there for real. I've also known a depth of misery that is described as follows in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous: “Some day [the alcoholic] will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping off point."

Where would you like to live?

When I'm out on the street and it's minus-22 degrees Celsius and a thought comes to me that I have to write down and I take my mitts off and dig out my pen and notepad and start writing and my fingers almost break off like icicles... at times like this I wish my ancestors had been less cunning and had got caught and transported to sunny Australia instead of eluding the law by stowing away on a random ship and ending up in the frozen wastes of Canada. I think, going back further yet, that I must be descended from one of William the Conqueror's men who came from the south of France, or going back further yet, from a Roman soldier... because I really feel the ideal place for me to live would be on the Mediterranean. I have spent several years in southern Spain and France and if I could speak Spanish or French and had sufficient money and a lot of friends in those places I think it would be a fine place to reside. Because of my distant ancestors I'd be at home there, in a sense. It's not just the weather, its being in Europe where there's so much history and so many romantic places within easy reach of wherever you are. However, when all is said and done it's better to live in the cold among friends than be a stranger in paradise. So I'm still here in New Brunswick.

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

Unless you're a child, periods of real happiness are short-lived, in my experience. I don't think life is about earthly happiness so it's better not to search too hard for it. In adult life the kind of bliss I equate the word "happiness" with comes from being passionately in love while at the same time doing useful and satisfying work. My problem has been getting those two conditions to come together. For a number of years I had several wonderful romances but couldn't get my writing off the ground. Since then my writing has gone well but I've had to do without a romantic entanglement (for want of a better word). I've had to content myself with being Canada's most eligible bachelor. The trouble with highs is they're sooner or later balanced by equal or greater lows ("greater" because in some cases interest seems to be charged). As a youth I read all the philosophers of the world and wasn't that impressed with Aristotle, but now I think he was probably right about the middling way being the smartest way to live. Take the days as they come and don't expect too much and when something nice happens treat it as a bonus and enjoy it.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

Any faults that I'm aware of having myself. It's the good thing about having faults – at least when you acknowledge them; you're less likely to be unsympathetic and self-righteous.

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction? The Hardy Boys, the Mercer Boys, Nancy Drew, Huckleberry Finn, Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Maigret, Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, the Mad Hatter, Long John Silver, Sir John Falstaff, Harry Flashman, Percy "Sully" Sullivan, Ralph Ramsay, Tommy Waggoner, Dan Kiley, Walt Macbride, etc.

Who are your favorite characters in history?

History is full of bizarre humans. It would take too long to go back through the ages and list them all. I don't have any few that jump out at me.

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

I don't have heroes and heroines anymore. I used to but I got over it. People are people, not gods or demi-gods, although they sometimes rise above themselves and do heroic deeds.

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

Sonia in Crime and Punishment... there's a touching innocence about her. The scene where when she reads Raskolnikov the story of Lazarus from the Bible is very moving. Alice in Alice in Wonderland (the first real book I had read to me). Becky Thatcher in Tom Sawyer. Estella "who was very pretty and seemed very proud" in Great Expectations. Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind (I never read the book but saw the movie). And some ladies in novels I've written myself.

Your favorite painter?

That would be Van Gogh, though I like the other great Impressionists – Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Renoir. Painting reached its peak with them, and then went into a downhill slide. I like the street scenes of Edward Hopper. My favourite living painter is Gerald Squires.

Your favorite musician?

My favourite classical composers are Brahms, Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Dvorak. My favourite single work of classical music is Brahms's 2^nd Piano Concerto (preferably played by Sviatislav Richter). The songwriters I admire most are Robbie Burns, Woodie Guthrie, Hank Williams, Larry Gorman, Charles Aznavour and Bob Dylan.

The quality you most admire in a man?

I admire talent in men, whether they're athletes, musicians, actors, magicians, acrobats or whatever; the ability to do something exceptional. I can admire their talent but that doesn't mean I'd like them as people. The people I like are good-natured, good-humoured, easy-going, kindly, and generous – and genuine. I don't care for synthetic or imitation people.

The quality you most admire in a woman?

I admire women in their capacity as mothers, the self-sacrifice they're capable of making. As for admirable qualities from a suitor's point of view, I have never gotten involved with a girl because I admired her good character. There is so much illusion involved that character never enters into it until later. In general though, aside from physical and sexual qualities, one would appreciate a bright mind, an affectionate nature, a sense of humour, an abundance of tolerance, and a dash of common sense.

Your favorite virtue?

Probably tolerance, since I have so little of it myself, although I'm always working at it.

Your favorite occupation?

No surprise here. Writing. I'm glad it's not something else because that would mean I missed my calling.

Who would you have liked to be?

I've never had a desire to be anyone but myself. That doesn't mean I haven't envied attributes in others which I felt I lacked, or that I wouldn't have preferred someone else's material circumstances to my own. But if I somehow got what I wished for I'd still have to be me. If I were someone else I'd just disappear as me and couldn't enjoy anything about being someone else anyway.

www.raymondfraser.blogspot.com

Horses of Poetry

2012-01-30T05:05:00.000-08:00

The horses of

poetry sleep

standing up, in

paddocks of ink

Together, they

run down the long-

shadowed morning,

grazing each word

in the mind’s deep

grass, with soft lips

prehensile as

a monkey’s tail

and the teeth of

a beauty queen, long

straight and white, like

the bones they are.

They toss their manes

proudly, and prance

as though there’s a

mirror, somewhere

So gorgeous, such

Rippling beauty,

the muscular,

enchanted flesh

too much for us

in the end. We

take a picture

and leave. They snort

and whinny, their

bodies’ poised for

flight. The horses

of poetry

gleam in our mind’s

hollow, the wind

of humankind

in their nostrils.

~ Anna Quon

Anna Quon lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She writes with compassion and ferocity about the struggle to grow up without a tribe of one's own. Drawing on her own experience as a half-Chinese- Canadian raised on Canada''s East Coast, and her own ambivalence about belonging, Migration Songs is Quon''s first novel.

The Trews Take Fredericton!

2012-01-29T06:31:00.000-08:00

The Trews

The Capital Exhibit Centre, Fredericton

January 28, 2012

Friday morning, the East Coast Music Association (ECMA) revealed its nominations for this year’s annual awards week (Moncton, April 11-15). The Trews received five nominations, including Entertainer of the Year and Song of the Year (“Hope & Run”). Thirty-six hours later, Justin Cook witnessed the Antigonish-based rock band play to a sold-out Fredericton crowd.

The music was loud and the crowd aspired to match it. Once The Trews took the stage, there wasn’t a moment of silence for the rest of the night. Pauses between songs were filled with piercing screams.

“Don’t drink your problems away. Face them, and then drink,” Trews front man Colin MacDonald said near the start of their set. The band must have faced their problems because they showed up with beers in hand and glassy eyes too match. Any alcohol they had in their system didn’t affect their playing though. The band hit every note.

Bassist Jack Syperek seemed comatose, only coming to life when he had to play. He moved lethargically throughout the show, but during the final encore he suddenly went wild and jumped onto the floor. MacDonald certainly knows how to work a crowd. His every gesture accentuated the music’s intensity.

The Trews truly pulled out all the stops, playing a two-hour set with all the hits you’d expect, such as “Not Ready to Go”, “So She’s Leaving” and “Hold Me in Your Arms”. The band rocked a few choice album cuts too, such as a rousing rendition of “Gun Control”. It was the perfect setlist for any ardent Trews fan.

The show surprisingly started on time at 9:00, with the Poor Young Things playing a 45 minute set to half-hearted applause. Still, their catchy riffs and one-liner choruses were a perfect warm-up for the headliners.

The Trews had sold out the Fredericton Playhouse and Nicky Zee’s bar before, but the Capital Exhibit Centre is a much larger venue. However, the band proved their popularity once again. In fact, people were sent away because there were no tickets left – pretty impressive considering there weren’t any posters around the city. ~ Justin Cook

Photo: Lildreamer22

David Adams Richards takes the Proust Questionnaire!

2012-01-27T06:11:00.000-08:00

Multi-award winning author David Adams Richards needs no introduction. The New Brunswick native has layered the Canadian literary landscape with a litany of contemporary classics, including Mercy Among the Children, The Lost Highway and his latest efforts, Incidents in the life of Markus Paul and Facing the Hunter; Reflections on a Misunderstood Way of Life.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

I haven't reached it yet and hope I never will

Where would you like to live?

Canada and Spain are my two favourite countries - cities I like are London and New York

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

The love of my wife and children—surprise, surprise

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

Watching bad movies, trying to buy too many Harley's

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

Pierre in War and Peace, but also Prince Mushkin in The Idiot, and The Mayor of Casterbridge, Phillip in Of Human Bondage (a really fine book), Catherine in Wuthering Heights, Princess Marie in War and Peace, Sonya in Crime and Punishment, and I might say both Lyle and Autumn in Mercy Among the Children

Who are your favorite characters in history?

Winston Churchill, Marshall Zhukov, Joan of Arc, Michelangelo, Hannibal, Rembrandt, Sam Johnson, Vincent Van Gogh, Saint Francis, Stalin (well he is who he is), Rommel, Elizabeth the 1st, Byron, Keats, Mary Shelley, Emile Bronte, Scott Fitzgerald etc---too too many to mention

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

A woman who left a poverty stricken widow at 42 brought up 9 children (that is my mother in law), the Canadian women's hockey team, Lisa from Ice Road Truckers, Mother Theresa, Margaret Thatcher, the widows and mothers of the disappeared, the woman who became the one constable in a Mexican drug town, the Sydney Police Woman who sat beside the girl who had a bomb attached to her, holding her hand for two hours--you don't get much braver than that

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

Catherine in Wuthering Heights, Sonya from Crime and Punishment, Princess Marie from War and Peace, Autumn in Mercy Among the Children

Your favorite painter?

Rembrandt (many others--Vincent too)

Your favorite musician?

Beethoven (many others--right up to and including Fred Eaglesmith)

The quality you most admire in a man?

Integrity

The quality you most admire in a woman?

Integrity

Your favorite virtue?

As above

Your favorite occupation?

The only one I know

Who would you have liked to be?

Whoever it is, I pity them

Better Late Than Never

2012-01-26T06:24:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Neptune Theatre, Halifax

There were lots of laughs at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax last night, as Norm Foster’s mid-life coming-of-age comedy Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out played to an opening-night capacity crowd.

Against a sparse set of sliding panels - swathed in soft blue and gold – TV’s Sheila McCarthy (Little Mosque on the Prairie, Road to Avonlea) took centre-stage as the middle-aged, uber-conservative Canadian housewife Theresa Parliament.

When her blandish husband forgets their 32^nd wedding anniversary, the protagonist experiences an identity crisis of sorts, blindly leaping into an array of new activities, including singing and dance lessons, photography, bowling, boxing, archery and wine-tasting soirees - all in search of a new self.

After inadvertently finding herself at a 12-step meeting, she meets Steve, a recovering addict, and their connection is immediate. Exclaiming “I want to be noticed” – and with Steve’s encouragement - Parliament slowly opens up from her life-long, self-imposed shell, often with side-splitting results.

There is a lot to like here; the storyline is strong, with a smooth and seamless narrative arc that engages the audience from start to finish. And Foster’s dialogue is fresh, fluid, and filled with witty and well-timed one-liners.

Outstanding performances from Wade Lynch and Sherry Smith (Mr. & Mrs. Lewicki), and J.D. Nicholsen (Steve) provide strong support for McCarthy’s leading role. And Bill McFadden as local-grocer Alonso Marx proves priceless as the voice of bittersweet wisdom.

If the production has a soft-spot, it is only with mood and tone. Though billed as a comedy, a little more emotional depth would have stirred the story well. The tender moments were few, and those that did arise were awkwardly whisked away with the wave of a wisecrack.

Still, the performance played-well with the mostly female, baby-boomer crowd - many of who were laughing along while nodding their noggins knowingly. ~SPC

Mrs. Parliament's Night Out until February 19

www.neptunetheatre.com
Photo: Applehead Studios

Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out

2012-01-23T10:19:00.001-08:00

The world premiere of Norm Foster’s Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out (starring Sheila McCarthy) will debut Tuesday at Neptune Theatre in Halifax.

The play’s director, Miles Potter, has been a part of the Canadian theatrical scene for at least 40 years. He has directed productions in almost every major Canadian venue, taught at the National Theatre School, Dalhousie University and other institutions and played various roles for companies like Theatre Passe Muraille and the Stratford Festival. Arts East recently caught up with Potter to get his take on Neptune’s latest play.

AE: What drew you to directing Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out?

MP: I’ve done two Norm Fosters before and this is a new play. I love doing new plays. I love working on scripts. I love helping make them better. It’s always a pleasure to work on a new play. It’s the same reason the theatre wants to put it on. I was attracted to do a comedy in February. It’s a lovely time of year to do a piece like this. And it’s always a pleasure to work on a Norm Foster script.

AE: How does directing Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out compare with the many other plays you’ve directed?

MP: It compares very well. You take the same approach to everything, whether it’s a Norm Foster comedy or a Shakespeare. You figure out what the play is trying to say - what the playwright is trying to transmit to his audience. And then you help the actors do that. Every play has something to say. Just because it’s a very funny comedy doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have something to say. So, what I really enjoy is finding out what that is, finding out what things in the script support that and making it clear to the audience. I do find you can make people laugh, but if they feel there is also something else going on, they feel better about having committed their time and attention, if it’s not just a laugh a minute [laughs].

AE: What can audience members expect from Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out’s?

MP: It is about trying to make sure that we are aware of what we’re doing with our lives and that we’re not running on automatic pilot.

AE: Is this your directorial debut at Neptune Theatre?

MP: It’s the first play in a long time. I was here quite a long time ago, before any of this fancy renovation happened, for “B” Movie – The Play [1988-89 season]. And then I had another show that came through, which was really part of a tour, of Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. So it’s my third play here, but it’s been so long, it’s all brand new to me.

AE: Auditions were held in November, rehearsals started January 3^rd and opening night is this week – is this intense time frame typical in the theatrical world?

MP: Yes that’s very typical. You have to get the actors booked ahead of time, so they can schedule themselves. And we wanted to get the best people we could get, so they wanted me to come out and make sure I could see everybody that needed to be seen in Halifax. Between then and the start of rehearsals, I spent a lot of time with the designer, Patrick Clarke - but not actual time with him because he’s very busy and I was different places – a lot of this is done now via e-mail and the Internet. But we designed the play; he sent different pictures and models. So by the time we arrived at the beginning of rehearsals, we knew exactly what we were going to be doing … Theatre people are excellent schedulers.

AE: When you direct a play, such as this one, does it take over all of your thoughts?

MP: It stays with me when I’m working. Yes, it’s there a lot. It’s sort of like, to use a computer analogy, the program is running in the background all the time. It’s not necessarily up front in my brain when I’m not at work, but you never know what’s going to happen. You might suddenly have an idea and not quite know where it came from, but it was some outside influence that came in. It stays with you because it’s intense – you’re doing three weeks of solid, six-day-a-week work (12 hour days) and then you’re finished. So, you really have to focus on it while you’re doing it.

AE: What are your plans for after Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out’s?

MP: My immediate plan is to go home and get reacquainted with my son and my wife. In March I’m going to go do God of Carnage at the Manitoba Theatre Centre. After that, I’m going to do Macbeth at the Barn on the Beach Shakespeare Festival in Vancouver.

Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out ~ January 24 – February 19, 2012.

www.neptunetheatre.com

2012-01-22T03:56:00.000-08:00

Daniel Ledwell is a Halifax-based musician, producer, painter, and graphic designer. He also plies his trade is a member of the award winning group In-flight Safety and as an acclaimed solo folk artist.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

lack of inspiration

Where would you like to live?

in the country. far from other people. on the water if possible

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

living in the country on the water

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

workoholic, neuroces

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

robin hood. batman.

Who are your favorite characters in history?
winston churchiil. mark twain.

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

emily carr. amelia earhart.

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

wonderwoman. lisa freemont.

Your favorite painter?

marc chagall. though the most amazing painting i have ever seen in real life is caravaggio's "taking of christ"

Your favorite musician?

miles davis

The quality you most admire in a man?

modesty.

The quality you most admire in a woman?

individuality.

Your favorite virtue?

devotion

Your favorite occupation?

musician/artist

Who would you have liked to be?

always wanted to be a firefighter.

All in the Family

2012-01-21T10:30:00.000-08:00

Multi-award winning author Donna Morrissey has teamed up with her daughter, 27 year-old visual artist Bridgette, on a new children’s book called Cross Katie Kross.

The concept is a first for the Halifax-based novelist, whose past works include Kit’s Law, Downhill Chance, Sylvanus Now and What They Wanted.

The scribe says that she was inspired to put the story together from a dream she had almost a decade ago.

“It’s about a cross little old woman who was having a dream about a beautiful place called Love Valley,” she explains. “She was awakened by a rooster crowing and she declared that she hated everything in her life and went off down the road looking for the place in her dream.”

The story’s namesake then arrives at a junction where the path splits into three directions, each guarded by an animal. “The outline of the book was all there,” she adds. “So then I started filling in the spaces.”

The decision to work on the project with her daughter was simply a matter of time and fit. “We had been talking about doing something together for years,” notes the elder Morrissey, “especially something that reflected our mutual interest in dreams. Because this particular vision was so vivid and colourful – it was actually part realism and part animation – it seemed like a perfect opportunity for us to collaborate.”

For her part, Bridgette – whose paintings have typically depicted “the frivolous, unkempt appearance of my fellows; hard working, ambitious young people still littered over with the tell-tale dregs of youth” – was quick to stretch her style.

“This book will contain nothing of the dirt-bags that are dear to my heart and everything of winding paths, talking animals and frolicking children,” laughs the graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. “The character, mood and tone of the work will be whimsical and surreal.”

Morrissey’s longtime publisher, Penguin Books, jumped at the idea. “I knew I had my hands on something special when I first read it,” says Commissioning Editor Jennifer Notman, who oversees the company’s children’s and young adult division.

“The manuscript had a timeless feel to it and I was sure that it would both resonate with today’s young readers and remain a favourite with children 10, 25 or 50 years from now.”

For more information please click here.

Mesmerizing...

2012-01-20T05:07:00.001-08:00

Claudia Moore and Mocean Dance

Sir James Dunn Theatre, Halifax

January 19, 2012

Wooh … exclaimed many times from my lips - I could not hide my inner excitement during the world premiere performance of Canvas 5X5. Mocean Dance’s Jacinte Armstrong, Rhonda Baker, Susanne Chui and Ruth-Ellen Kroll-Jackson filled place and time with captivating imagery, technical prowess and emotion, at times humorous. Choreographer Tedd Robinson’s imagination and artistry was channelled through the movement of canvasses. The four local dancers at times impressively balanced frames on heads, elbows, faces while garbing oversized muslin sheets that at any moment would cause most humans to trip and fall. The contrast between the dancers’ black tube dresses and white, over-sized sheets created visual art as black and white were thrown in every direction under the effective use of shimmering spotlights. Robinson’s appreciation for Celtic and Japanese culture was wholeheartedly revealed through upbeat music or calming airs, step dances, lively counts and four fleeting geishas floating across the stage.

Live Art Dance’s evening at the Dunn began with renowned Claudia Moore who is soon approaching her 60^th birthday. And yet her athleticism and endurance revealed in Dances in a Small Room suggested otherwise. Choreographed by James Kudelka and Robinson, Moore and Dan Wild engaged in an emotional tug of war in the most technically intricate routine. The majority of their duet had no musical accompaniment which added to the heightened passion, anger, confusion and peace expressed in their breath and bodies. The chemistry between Moore and Wild was so sincere and made for a flawless performance. ~ Michelle Brunet

You can still check out Mocean and Moore!

January 20 and 21 (8PM) Sir James Dunn Theatre (Dalhousie Arts Centre, Halifax)

Photo: Holly Crooks

http://liveartproductions.ca/shows/mocean-moore-kudelka-robinson/

Mocean & Moore!

2012-01-18T03:54:00.000-08:00

Thursday to Saturday, two generations of dancers share the Dunn Theatre spotlight: the renowned Claudia Moore (just a year away from her 60^th birthday) and Halifax-based Mocean Dance. Energy, emotion and novelty are expected from those performing works choreographed by Tedd Robinson and James Kudelka. Arts East recently spoke with Mocean’s Interim Artistic Director Sara Coffin about this week’s celebration of contemporary dance.

AE: What can audience members expect to see in Mocean Dance’s world premiere performance of Tedd Robinson's quartet?

SC: In this brand new work, Robinson intertwines a traditional maritime soundscape with a striking contemporary imagery where the dancers manipulate over-sized canvas into whimsical and profound designs. The juxtaposition of the calming Celtic rhythm and the contagious kinetic movements is one of many examples of Robinson’s interplay of vigour and elegance. Quirky, intriguing yet subtly familiar, the world Robinson has created engages the audience emotionally through the physicality of the performers and poignant use of sculptural imagery. There are five sections in Canvas 5 x 5 and each section is a new interpretation of a common thread. Tedd recently described the work as a number of different viewpoints of the same painting. Canvas 5 x 5 displays blank canvases that move and dance through space where a number of delightful possibilities emerge and take shape for the dancers to play among.

AE: How has it been going with your brand new ensemble of dancers?
SC: Working in the studio with Jacinte Armstrong, Rhonda Baker, Susanne Chui and Ruth-Ellen Kroll-Jackson has been a real pleasure for me. Our process with Tedd Robinson began with a creative residency at his beautiful, picturesque retreat La B.A.R.N. (Beauty, Art, Retreat, Nature) in Litchfield, Quebec. Although the ensemble was already quite familiar with each other, these initial days really gelled the group and created a collective sense of patience, openness and inquisitiveness, which is how we approach the material being made. Witnessing Tedd work in the studio and how he translates his intentions to the dancers and to the room has been a real gift for me as fellow creator as well.

AE: How will Mocean Dance's mission (to present performances that are collaborative and that push boundaries) be expressed in this week's performances?
SC: Robinson’s use of a familiar Celtic soundscape paired with striking contemporary imagery would be an example of how a common framework can be stretched and explored. Not succumbing to the traditional use of Celtic music, Robinson draws from his two cultural loves and blends both Scottish and Japanese imagery while adding a few maritime nuances.

AE: What is it like to have Mocean Dance share the stage with Claudia Moore this week?
SC: Claudia Moore is an established dance artist and performer who has had an extensive career. So, it is with delight Mocean Dance gets to share the stage with yet another one of Canada’s jewels in the contemporary dance scene. As one of the pieces Claudia is performing is created by Tedd Robinson as well, it will be a treat for the audience to see Tedd’s works performed on the same stage by an established artist such as Moore and by the younger, mid-career Mocean Dance performers.

Mocean and Moore: January 19-21 8pm at the Sir James Dunn Theatre, Halifax. www.liveartproductions.ca/shows/mocean-moore-kudelka-robinson/
Photo: Holly Crooks

Blow Hard

2012-01-17T04:51:00.000-08:00

Why do we tell stories? “Because it’s how we understand the world. It’s how we learn. It’s how we form memories” says Stephanie Domet. Domet is one of the four storytellers who have brought Blow Hard to Halifax. Blow Hard is a public storytelling session that happens about once every three months.

For the cost of five dollars, there is food and plenty of entertainment. Founded by: Stephanie Domet, Andrea Dorfman, Tara Doyle and Jackie Torrens, they wanted the public to experience the gift of a told story. The evening also serves to give storytellers, both amateur and professional, a chance to ply their craft.

Storytelling is how people pass on their knowledge and wisdom. It is the craft which formed our creation myths. Though ancient, the experience of a told story is mesmerizing. Even though society revels in 3D movies on the IMAX screen, the experience of one person relaying a story to a handful of other people is as captivating as the newest media form. Andrea Dorfman, another of Blow Hards organizers, shares that storytelling “made me connect to different people in a different way. It’s profound.” From these recognitions, Blow Hard was born.

On a cold December morning, three of the four Blow Hard organizers met with me at the Smiling Goat cafe on South Park St. in Halifax. Getting three storytellers around one table meant a symphony of sounds - there was no need to ask questions. The three women recounted there experiences and there thoughts.

The women shared how anything goes at Blow Hard. But there are two rules that storytellers should adhere to.The first rule is that the told story must be true and the second rule is that no written notes are allowed. However, if a storyteller chooses not to heed the advice of the organizers, the only repercussion is that the audience’s experience is diminished. With paper “you’re not telling a story anymore, you’re reading it. There’s almost a glass wall [between you and the audience]” explains Tara Doyle.

A Blow Hard evening consists of four prepared stories, each told by a different presenter. These are four members of the community who have prepared a tale to last about ten minutes. Each storyteller is introduced by a member of the organizing team who may take the opportunity to recount a story themselves. As a half-time show, Blow Hard opens the microphone to the audience so that anyone itching to tell a story has a forum to do so.

Blow Hard advertises by word of mouth (appropriately) and through their website. Organizers are involved because they love the craft - not for any monetary return.

The Blow Hard session held on Monday, November 2^nd focused on the topic of Sibling Rivalry.

Veronica Simmons was the first presenter. That evening, Simmons detailed how her perception of her sister influenced who she became and how she later had to work to overcome the internal stereotyping that she had done.

“I try to pick a couple of people in the audience to connect with and gage their reactions to what I am saying,” said Simmons. It is this connection formed between the audience and the storyteller which helps make the evening so magically intimate.

Organizer Stephanie Domet notes that it’s this intimacy which Blow Hard tries to capture. Each evening’s performance is different and each session is different. But it is always extraordinary.

Blow Hard has had about 20 sessions over the course of four years. The 80 people in attendence in November was probably the biggest crowd the event ever attracted. Held at Fred’s on Agricola street in Halifax, Domet says if the evening attracts an even bigger audience they will have to start turning people away. “The space right now is perfect. We wouldn’t want to move anywhere.” ~ Jen Powley

Centre For Art Tapes Media Scholarship Program

2012-01-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

By Jen Powley

“We actually had to fundraise to offer them,” says James MacSwain, poet and editor, reminiscing about the inaugural offering of the Media Arts Scholarships.

MacSwain co-founded the Media Arts Scholarship program at the Centre for Art Tapes in 1988 as an effort to offer artists the opportunity to explore electronic and video production.

“It is just so expensive to work in video, unless you have a big government grant,” explains MacSwain, adding that unless you are already established as an artist, those grants aren’t easily forthcoming.

Centre personnel no longer have to fundraise directly to offer the New Media Scholarship Program, as the program is now funded through both the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts.

The New Media Scholarship Program offers ten participants five intensive months of art making. An independent selection team picks 10 candidates based on a number of criteria, including how well-defined the projects are, and whether the Centre can actually support the endeavour. “Applications to the program exceed capacity fourfold,” says CFAT Director Mireille Bourgeois.

Once chosen, “Schollies” engage in a series of workshops to learn technical skills such as storyboarding, videography, editing and lighting. They are teamed with a mentor, who acts as a sounding board for their ideas and helps keep them on track.

Program mentors and CFAT staff work to ensure each project conforms to the vision of the scholars. Though many people are involved in producing the new art works, Bourgeois notes that “the projects remain the work of the scholar.”

Only artists working in “New Media” for the first time are considered for the program. This doesn’t mean that all participants are new artists, as some might be established artists that normally work in another medium. The program gives them the opportunity to extend their portfolio and to experiment with new forms.

Though she graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in the spring of 2011, Karen Hawes had never worked in either video or photography. She even hesitates to call herself an artist. Hawes has two friends who had previously done work through the CFAT scholarship program, and after the program was mentioned a couple of times in her classes, she decided to apply. She had an idea. Although she currently is still in the midst of completing her video project for presentation at this year’s “Out Of The Centre” screening - scheduled for February 25 at Neptune’s Studio Theatre. Hawes is impressed by the program’s collaborative nature. “There is a real sense of community,” shares Hawes. “Not only do you work with your mentor, but all participants get together and you get feedback from all sorts of perspectives. It’s amazing.”

The scholarship program benefits both the participants and the CFAT staff, who become better familiarized with current practices and technical applications. “It pushes us to explore ways of doing things that we never would have thought of,” says CFAT technical coordinator Tom Elliott. That expertise is then passed on to the next year’s participants.

The 2012 scholarship presentation will be held at the Neptune Studio Theatre in Halifax on Saturday, February 25. For more information please visit www.centreforarttapes.ca

Breathtaking...

2012-01-14T10:03:00.000-08:00

Open Water Festival 2012

January 12-14, Halifax

Innovations in music happen in attics and basements, garages and private studios, even cabins in the remote wilderness. Those creations are later unveiled at festivals like Open Waters.

This strange and beautiful multi-nightfestival is the musical equivalent of ArtBasel, a cultural highlight for modernworks. For twenty bucks, audiences get two hours of rogue music.

Andrew Reed Miller began last night’s set by doing things to his solo double bass thatseemed, well, unnatural. Accompanied by his MacBook, a video projection screen and several mouth instruments, he performed his new original work called ‘L-EDGY’.“This is serious music,” the guy behind me said loudly after the applause ended. And he nailed it.

Next came Sanctuary, a trio inspired by Gregorian chant music from the 900s, and then Spanner, a Newfoundland trio whose percussionist, Rob Power, played an astonishing array of bells, gongs and chimes along with his giant timpani while his fellow bandmates freestyled gorgeously.

5 Flavours (whose saxophonist Paul Cram is also the festival organizer) improvised for a goodwhile and ZOKUGAKU wrapped up the night with a plethora of samples. Notes and bars set free from sheet music and scores are a joy to behold.

The breathtaking creative risks continue Saturday night. ~ Megan Power

www.upstreammusic.org

Open Waters!

2012-01-10T03:39:00.000-08:00

Open Waters Festival 2012 is an exciting three-day North Atlantic Showcase of new and improvised art music by Atlantic Canadian composers, performers and producers. On January 12, 13, 14, the festival will highlight freedom of expression with innovative compositions, inspiring musicians and ground-breaking performances. Recently AE spoke with the festival’s organizer Paul Cram.

AE: What inspired/motivated you to start this festival?

PC: The core reason for the Open Waters Festival is to give cohesion to a scene that is largely over-looked these days in popular culture. There is a lively art music contingent at work in undergrounds the world over and guess what? There is a contingent in Atlantic Canada concurrent that has laboured for the past 30 years presenting scattered concerts often at odds with itself. The Open Waters Festival seeks to remedy the situation by showing the scene in all its glory and creating its own “North Atlantic Music Showcase” to put the scene in a position to move off-shore. To this end the festival is inviting festival artistic directors, writers, agents and promoters of new music to hear what we’ve got for export.

AE: How has it grown over time?

PC: Open Waters was the title of the only album by the Upstream Ensemble which first performed in Halifax in 1990. In 1997 and again in 1998 the Open Waters Festival of new and improvised music began with a collaboration with Symphony Nova Scotia and Upstream Music that brought two distinct practices together - precisely notated composition and free improvisation. The collaborative spirit died with the millennium and internal politics and was kept alive by Upstream and later with suddenlyLISTEN and Oscillations. With the gradual building of Upstream’s capacity as a presenter and arrival of new groups, a multi-faceted scene has emerged.

AE: Why is this an important event for Halifax?

PC: It is an important event for Halifax, because it shows the city off as a player and a place to do creative work. The great music cities of the world all have lively avant-gardes where research and development happens and positive energy trickles up the idea chain. It’s good for business.

AE: What can audiences expect this year?

PC: Whether you like it or not is not important – it is music for music’s sake that shrinks time, creates controversy and builds sense of place.

AE: What are your plans for the festival in the coming years?

PC: We plan to continue the event on a regular basis, so the musicians know it’s here and build themselves accordingly.

http://www.upstreammusic.org/

Engaging HRM Seniors in the Arts to Promote Healthy Lifestyles

2012-01-08T03:49:00.000-08:00

Originally from Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, Jesse Robson found out in November that she was the only Atlantic Canadian finalist in the Alesse Entrepreneurial Contest.

Now living in Halifax, Robson is starting the Centre for Arts Exchange, an opportunity for seniors and caregivers to engage in regular art activities to promote physical and cognitive health. If she wins one of the $5,000 prizes, it will make her first series of summer camps that much more feasible. But Robson plans to go ahead with the workshops regardless, paying for them out of pocket if she has to.

Recently Arts East had the chance to talk to the 24-year old artist, scientist and entrepreneur to find out about her creative background and what inspired her to start the Centre for Arts Exchange.

AE: How has art played a role in your own life?

JR: I was incredibly fortunate to grow up in a community that was home to several talented, dedicated, spirited arts mentors. They, and the arts they taught me, gave me the support and encouragement to grow beyond my boundaries and limitations, to make new discoveries and to create new things. Years later, after having had the opportunity to study other fields, these skills have stayed with me and I've begun to make connections beyond the artistic realm. What I've learned through the arts has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on my life.

AE: What mediums of art do you gravitate to?

JR: Most of my experience has been in dance, music and circus arts - given a blank slate and unlimited time however, I would write poetry and circus shows.

AE: How did you first come up with the idea for Centre for Arts Exchange?

JR: The idea was born out of a great deal of research into geriatric care and North American initiatives for elderly adults. I believe it has the potential to further many of the recommendations of today's scholars and patient care providers.

AE: What is your main purpose/goal for the Centre?
JR: There is a clear need to increase the recreational opportunities available to HRM's elderly adults, and also to provide support for our local caregivers. Researching recreational possibilities for elderly adults, I find that the vast majority of opportunities available are either brief, once-a-week activities which while provide only brief, occasional engagement; or adult "day centres" or "day care facilities" which tend to offer fairly stereotyped activities. I see great potential for a centre which would provide safe, well-designed, and highly atypical activities for elderly adults, where individuals would be welcome to either spend a large chunk of their daytime hours, or to visit briefly on an occasional basis. I am particularly interested in helping to support local caregivers, and seek to offer caregivers and family members opportunities to either participate in the Centre's activities with their loved one, or to take some time to meet their own needs while their loved one participates in interesting, productive activities.

AE: What programming will the Centre initially start with?

JR: This summer I will be running a summer arts camp for elderly adults in collaboration with two other young artists: Isabel Lavender and Kayla Mallery. This is my third project for elderly adults, following the creation and implementation of dance classes and "circus magic" classes for elderly patients at the QEII. Kayla has been involved with the dance classes from the very beginning, and Isabel leads a hand chimes choir for elderly adults at the QEII. Prior to my work with elderly adults, I created and taught dance classes for disabled children in Montreal, and circus classes for HIV+ children and street kids in South Africa.
AE: What is your ideal vision for the Centre when it is in full swing?

JR: Eventually, I would like to see a permanent arts facility open from Monday to Friday, where all elderly adults, as well as their caregivers and family members, can come to participate in an eclectic variety of arts activities led by local artists - for either an hour, afternoon or an entire day. It's important to me that this centre offers activities which are truly physically and cognitively engaging, helping elderly adults to maintain their health and well-being to the greatest possible extent. I would also like to see large numbers of Haligonian artists engaging in "arts for social purposes" by using their creativity and expertise to create opportunities for other Haligonians - especially those experiencing physical, social, cognitive and financial challenges. One of my major goals is to challenge artists to apply their creative energy outside of their usual disciplines, in an effort to improve their communities. An additional goal of the Centre will be to provide training, resources and support for artists interested in pursuing their own social projects, and for those who would like to lead the same sorts of arts workshops that we will be offering at the Centre at other facilities around Nova Scotia.

AE: How do you see art as a form of therapy or as part of a healthy lifestyle?
JR: I think that the arts offer a myriad of benefits to the individual, including a sense of confidence, worth and productivity, and the opportunity to explore new ideas and to ponder them creatively. I also see the arts as having significant value to society, promoting collaboration, creation, innovation, honesty, diversity and communication.With today's scientists and medical professionals pushing physical activity as a crucial protective measure against age-related physical and cognitive decline, I see the performing arts and 'action art' as methods of engaging more and more elderly adults in activities which have physical, cognitive and social benefits. Since art is accessible to even the frailest and most vulnerable elderly adults, I feel it has the potential to encourage both beginning and seasoned artists to remain engaged, inspired and productive during even their most challenging times.

AE: For those who feel like they do not have a creative side, how do you recommend they start experimenting with art?

JR: I think that an obstacle that the vast majority of us face is falling into habits which inhibit us from experiencing new enterprises and ideas. No matter what our interests or creative backgrounds, I think that when we do choose to try new things, we typically select activities which are similar to those we've done before. For those who have never studied the arts, I think that beginning can be not just intimidating, inconvenient and expensive, but also highly unlikely. My recommendation would be that beginning artists prioritize both the technical and the creative aspects of their chosen art form, learning to see art as a valuable activity in which they learn, reflect, challenge themselves and unwind (and in the case of many arts activities, interact with others and/or be physically active).

You can vote for Jesse Robson’s project until February 13 by visiting http://www.startsomethingwithalesse.ca/

2012-01-06T05:37:00.000-08:00

Johanna Skibsrud turned heads when she won the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize for The Sentimentalists. The Nova Scotia-born author had previously published two works of poetry and, in 2011, a collection of short fiction This Will Be Difficult to Explain, and Other Stories.

Skibsrud is the first of AE’s monthly respondants to the Proust Questionnaire.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Feeling unloved; loving and caring for no one.

Where would you like to live?

Tucson, Arizona and Meadowville, Nova Scotia

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

Feeling loved; loving and caring for others.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

Impatience and frustration.

Who are your favourite heroes of fiction?

Charles Kinbote, from Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire. "The Man" in Carson McCullers's "A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud."

Who are your favourite characters in history?

John Muir, Hannah Arendt

Who are your favourite heroines in real life?

Muriel Rukeyser, Angela Davis

Who are your favourite heroines of fiction?

Roslyn Tabor from Arthur Miller's The Misfits. Miss Rumphius in Barbara Clooney's Miss Rumphius.

Your favourite painter?

Mark Rothko

Your favourite musician?

Olivier Messiaen

The quality you most admire in a man?

Compassion

The quality you most admire in a woman?

Compassion

Your favourite virtue?

Openness, and a capacity for critical reflection.

Your favourite occupation?

Walking

Who would you have liked to be?

A circus acrobat, or a country music star.

Top Ten Restaurants in Atlantic Canada for 2011!

2011-12-29T14:07:00.000-08:00

Pipa ~ Halifax
Bacalao ~ St. John's
The Bicycle Thief ~ Halifax
Sirenella ~ Charlottetown
Gabrieaus ~ Antigonish
Racines ~ Fredericton
Little Louis' ~ Moncton
Moda ~ Halifax
Tempest ~ Wolfville
Alley Gria ~ Saint John

Top Ten Atlantic Canadian Books of 2011!

2011-12-27T05:31:00.000-08:00

1.       Facing the Hunter – David Adams Richards
2.      A World Elsewhere – Wayne Johnston
3.      The Virgin Cure – Ami McKay
4.      Our Way Out - Marq de Villiers
5.      Eco-Innovators – Chris Benjamin
6.      outskirts - Sue Goyette
7.      The Atlantic Coast; A Natural History – Harry Thurston
8.     Chasing Freedom – Gloria Wesley
9.      Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul – David Adams Richards
10. David Askevold – David Diviney

Honourable Mention; The Antagonist by Lynn Coady, A Possible Madness by Frank Macdonald, Gulf by Leslie Vryenhoek, That Forgetful Shore by Trudy Morgan-Cole, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Steven Laffoley, How Hockey Explains Canada by Jim Prime/Paul Henderson, deluded your sailors by Michelle Butler-Hallett

~ Stephen Patrick Clare

The Passion of Pursuit

2011-12-22T08:43:00.000-08:00

Michelle Butler-Hallett has been making up stories for as long as she can remember.

“My grade-two teacher assigned a lot of creative writing,” shares the St. John’s novelist, playwright and screenwriter via email. “Once I connected making up stories with writing them down, that was it. I saw what I had to do and pursued it.”

That pursuit has since become a passion, with the writer penning three full-length narratives in the last five years; Double Blind (2007), Sky Waves (2008), and her latest effort deluded your sailors (Creative Publishing / 300pp / $21.95), the intriguing, intertwining account of a woman whose discovery of crucial documents threatens a government-funded tourism project, a Reverend, and the eighteenth-century daughter of a nameless prostitute.

“The novel has two storylines,” she explains. “One takes place over ten months in a Republic of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the other stretches from 1718-34 in England, and in fictional islands in the Mediterranean, Massachusetts and Newfoundland.”

Butler-Hallett notes that the new tale had been rattling around her head since 1990.

“The storyline grew out of Sky Waves, and some characters from Sky Waves recur in deluded your sailors. But you don’t need to read Sky Waves to read deluded your sailors. The novels are linked but not serial.

“And I finally got that bloody eighteenth-century storyline out in a form that I’m not ashamed of,” she adds. “Those voices have been demanding attention for many years, muttering and screaming.”

Still, despite the relief, the scribe found the process satisfying.

“I love my characters,” she smiles. “I don’t like all of them, but I do care deeply about them all. Seeing them suffer and also find love, hope and scraps of grace is fulfilling. Growth: there’s the reward - growth of my characters and in my abilities to tell a story.”

It is a growth that has not come easily.

“I’ve been wrestling with an autoimmune arthritis since 2009. The pain and disability are teaching me a lot about patience, anger, helplessness and strength. I drew heavily, though not directly, on that for deluded your sailors.”

The discomfort only seems to drive her passion.

“I’m focusing on some short stories for a while, getting a collection together, and outlining longer pieces. I’m also taking a class in the graphic novel. I don’t draw well, but I love the comic form for storytelling and really want to pursue it.” ~ SPC