ARTS EAST

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 fro m? 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 invo...

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 divini...

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 heroi...

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 las...

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 up...

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 Gunde...

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 d irector É douard 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. Li...