The Georgia Straight - PuSh Festival - Jan 16, 2020

FREE | JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020

Volume 54 | Number 2712

OVERDOSE CALLS Record number of responses

MEXICAN CUISINE

Chefs collaborate at WildTale

TRAILERHAWK Vancouver music vets love their country

PuSh Festival Dana Gingras returns to Vancouver with the multimedia Frontera, an epic show that uses dance, light, and live rock to explore borders and our divided world

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JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 3

CONTENTS

JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020

11

COVER

Dana Gingras talks about divisions in our world as she returns to PuSh with another large-scale dance concert .

!

TIONS RATULA WON CONG YOU’VE EE PLAY $5 IN FR

CONG RATULA YOU’VE TI S!!

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WINNER R

LUNAR NEW YEAR SCRATCH FOR TREASURE

By Janet Smith Cover photo by Yannick Grandmont

6

NEWS

While fatal drug ODs were down about a third last year in Vancouver, emergency calls still rose nine percent.

By Travis Lupick

19 MOVIES

A serious Adam Sandler sizzles in Uncut Gems, while 1917 proves to be more than just a one-take wonder.

By Ken Eisner and Janet Smith

SAT U RDAY, JA N UA RY 25, 2020 | 9A M TO M I D N I G H T Parq Casino celebrates Lunar New Year with a Scratch for Treasure Promotion. Every scratch card contains one (1) of the following prizes: • Slot and Table Free Play up to $10,000 • Complimentary Hotel Accommodations • Free Food

20 FOOD

Famous Mexican chef Guillermo Gonzalez Beristain is producing a six-course meal at WildTale for Dine Out.

By Gail Johnson

21 MUSIC

TrailerHawk is what happens when a bunch of the city’s scene veterans team up with a country firecracker.

By Mike Usinger

EV E RY E N C O RE RE WA RDS M E M B E R W I L L REC E I V E A SC R ATC H CA RD O N SAT U RDAY, JA N UA RY 25 T H F RO M 9A M TO M I D N I G H T. RULES APPLY. PRIZES ARE DETERMINED BY ENCORE DIAMOND LEVEL STATUS. MUST BE AN ENCORE REWARDS MEMBER TO RECEIVE SCRATCH CARD. PRIZES FOR HOTEL AND FOOD EXPIRE 30 DAYS AFTER REDEMPTION. ALL OTHER PRIZES MUST BE REDEEMED ON JANUARY 25TH. ONE (1) PER ENCORE REWARDS MEMBER. WHILE QUANITITES LAST. FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED. BLACK OUT DATES MAY APPLY. VISIT PLAYERS CLUB FOR DETAILS.

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e Services 22 CLASSIFIEDS

Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 54 | Number 2712 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9 T: 604.730.7000 F: 604.730.7010 E: gs.info@straight.com straight.com DISPLAY ADVERTISING: T: 604.730.7020 F: 604.730.7012 E: sales@straight.com

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1 2 3 4 5

10 citizens’ reports that show Vancouver can’t handle snow.

Mayor Kennedy Stewart slams BMO for police incident.

Pre-Show host and ex-DJ Tanner Zipchen canned by Cineplex.

114 flavours will be featured at Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival.

Retired firefighter from Langley has been found dead.

GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight

The Georgia Straight is published every Thursday by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. Copies are distributed free every week throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, North and West Vancouver, New Westminster, and Richmond. International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0709-8995. Subscription rates in Canada $182.00/52 issues (includes GST), $92.00/26 issues (includes GST); United States $379.00/52 issues, $205.00/26 issues; foreign $715.00/52 issues, $365.00/26 issues. Contact 604-730-7087 if you wish to distribute free copies of the Georgia Straight at your place of business. Entire contents copyright © 2019 Vancouver Free Press, Best Of Vancouver, Bov And Golden Plates Are Trade-Marks Of Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. SUBMISSIONS The Straight accepts no responsibility for, and will not necessarily respond to, any submitted materials. All submissions should be addressed to contact@straight.com.

Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40009178, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to The Georgia Straight, 1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C, V6J 1W9

4 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020

Here’s what people are reading this week on Straight.com.

JANUARY 16 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 23 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 5

NEWS

Overdose calls up 8.8 percent

CALL ME FOR EXPERT ADVICE

Fewer people are dying but first responders still endure heavy workloads

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he number of fatal overdoses recorded in Vancouver last year was down considerably from the two years previous.

Based on the first 10 months of data, there were a projected 252 illicitdrug overdose deaths across the city in 2019.

That compares to 395 in 2018 and 375 the year before that—roughly a one-third decline, according to B.C. Coroners Service (BCCS) statistics.

Good news, to be sure. But Vancouver’s overdose crisis is far from over. By another measure, in fact, the emergency is still getting worse.

Last year in Vancouver, there were 8,589 calls to 911 for a drug overdose, according to B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) data shared with the Straight.

In sharp contrast to the trend observed in fatal overdoses in 2019, emergency calls for an overdose did not decline. They rose 8.8 percent from the number received the previous year.

In 2018, there were 7,895 calls and

Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside accounts for an astounding number of the entire province’s calls to 911 reporting an illicit-drug overdose. Photo by Travis Lupick

in 2017, there were 7,939. (Going back further, in 2015, there were just 3,055 calls to 911 for a drug overdose.)

One small neighborhood was responsible for an astoundingly high

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percentage of those calls: the Downtown Eastside. In 2019, Vancouver’s poorest community accounted for 62 percent—or nearly two-thirds—of all overdose calls recorded across the city.

What’s more, 911 calls for overdoses are rising faster in Vancouver than they are in other areas of the province. Calls for all of B.C. also rose last year, but only by two percent compared to Vancouver’s 8.8 percent.

“Paramedics continue to be called to an incredibly high number of overdoses across the province,” reads a January 8 BCEHS update on the situation.

“In 2019, Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria remained the top three communities in terms of overdose calls,” it continues. “Both Surrey and Victoria had slightly lower overdose call numbers in 2019, compared to 2018; Vancouver was slightly up.”

In Vancouver and, to a lesser extent, across all of B.C., the ratio of overdoses to fatal overdoses is beginning to improve.

More people are experiencing a drug overdose. More often than ever before, someone in B.C. ingests drugs, their respiratory system slows, they stop breathing, and oxygen ceases to reach their brain. But people are getting better at preventing those overdoses from ending in death.

To see overdose deaths decline while emergency calls rise is a remarkable accomplishment. But six year’s into B.C.’s opioid epidemic, it does not mean that there is any end to this crisis in sight. g

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> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < MET YOU ON BUS 240 (NORTH VANCOUVER)

s

GREEN LINE SWEET FACE

r

s

SIMILAR DOGS AT PACIFIC SPIRIT PARK

r

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 7, 2020 WHERE: SkyTrain Green Line to Coquitlam

Asked if my sister and I were twins! Thanks for talking to us.

You seem really nice and it would be nice to connect.

Hope you see this!

Your gaze and your adorable face melted my heart. You were standing a few feet in front of me. I was sitting down on the Green Line to Coquitlam.

I can’t stop thinking about your sweet face.

COAT CHECK INTO MY HEART

r

A THIRSTY MOMENT

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 10, 2020 WHERE: Donnellans Irish Pub

r

I saw you running the cloakroom at Donnellans Irish Pub on Granville. It was a rainy Friday night. You, bleach blonde hair, wearing a cute toque and a gorgeous smile. Your cheeks were as a red as ripe tomatoes. I wanted to go in but my buds wanted to press on to Republic.

Reach out to your future (me) if you are looking for love this year

GREGORY AMBER 60

s

r

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 9, 2020 WHERE: Broadway and Manitoba That was so fun! You helped me find a last minute pack (although I ended up going with your last minute suggestion of the Maven - thanks for the price check!), and you described the colours of my fleece in woodland animals. You seemed like such a cool human! Would absolutely love to see you again, outside of your work. My name starts with an M, yours with a C. Would love to hear from you!

CANADA LINE VIBE

r

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 8, 2020 WHERE: SkyTrain Canada Line 9pm towards Waterfront. You picked up someone’s coffee cup before you got off. I'm not one to bother cute women so this might be the only way to say hello and meet for a drink. I like your style. I’ll gladly share a seat w/you again sometime. K.

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 31, 2019 WHERE: Pacific Spirit Park

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 11, 2020 WHERE: Bus 240 to 15th Street

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 30, 2019 WHERE: Petro-Can Coquitlam

I saw you walking westward on the Imperial Trail; I was walking eastward and talking on my phone while our dogs sniffed one another; I remarked they looked very similar and you said you were thinking the same. Had I not been on my phone, I certainly would have liked to strike up a convo with you. Here’s to having the chance to have that convo...

EARLS YALETOWN

r

s

We briefly exchanged words at a gas station in Coquitlam. I am haunted by your smile.

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 4, 2020 WHERE: Earls Yaletown

R5 BEAUTY

You gave me your number on a piece of paper before you left.

r

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: JANUARY 6, 2020 WHERE: R5 to Burrard Station

LOOKS AT THE LIDO

r

We both got on the R5 at the Kootenay Loop just past 10 pm.

We ended up sitting near each other. So as not to seem like the weirdo I am, I started playing games on my phone. When I stopped, I looked up, and we made eye contact. That happened a few times before you got off at Granville. I went on to Burrard. And to work. Coffee, drinks, or dinner if you read this?

BLARNEY STONE DANCING

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 14, 2019 WHERE: Blarney Stone Pub You: roughly 6’5”, excellent beard, awesome dancer. Me: long black hair, pale, wearing all black. I came to the Blarney Stone with a friend. You introduced yourself, and you asked me to dance. I was clumsy and awkward but you complimented my dancing. We kissed, and it was one of the best kisses I’ve had. I ended up making a b-line for the bathroom because I felt sick and left the pub right after. I regret not getting your number; text me sometime?

s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 28, 2019 WHERE: Lido A few looks, a peace sign and a wave through the window.

Should have mustarded up the courage to come talk but I didn’t.

Drinks?

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s

I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 31, 2019 WHERE: Celebrities Barber Shop on Davie St

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We chatted each other up while you were waiting for your friend to get his hair cut. Your friend was visiting from Nashville, TN. Your originally from Penticton but recently moved here from Abbotsford. You were a Mormon and a former school teacher. You work for a furniture store. I should have given you my number, it sounded like you needed a local friend.

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: DECEMBER 29, 2019 WHERE: Eapana

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by Rose Marcus

ime waits for no one. If you have not yet been able to pick yourself up and go, watch for the stars to spur you on.

Despite the fact that we are working with a last-quarter waning moon, there’s no end to fresh incentive.

Mercury enters Aquarius on Thursday and strikes flint with Uranus on Saturday. The sun enters Aquarius on Monday and strikes flint with Uranus late Wednesday and into Thursday. Both shift the attention and the conversation to the next items on the list.

Keep your plans open-ended for the weekend. Follow the mood of the moment and go with spontaneous choices. While Friday night’s Mercury/Uranus can light a spark in the bedroom (or make it difficult to settle down to a good night’s sleep), overall the stars are set up for ditching the nonessentials and for prioritizing personal downtime.

Back-to-work Monday is well timed for approaching it fresh. Explore it more; get it moving; get going yourself. Get your rest Monday evening.

Tuesday/Wednesday, apply yourself and the moon in Capricorn will support you to get something productive accomplished. Aim to finish up, to clear it out of the way and to move yourself to higher ground. Wednesday/Thursday, the stars are building up momentum toward Friday’s new moon in Aquarius. On the one hand, tension aspects with Uranus can make for a level of stress, inconsistency, or added volatility. On the other hand, these few days can fasttrack a breakthrough and get you to someplace good. Along with Venus/ Jupiter pumping it up, Uranus can also set a lucrative, opportune, and social backdrop.

A

ARIES

March 20–April 20

This next week can see you turn a significant corner. You can feel that some invisible block is removed and that you are working on a fresh battery. News to share, conversations to have, people to meet, fresh ideas and prospects to explore—the stars keep the action at never-a-dullmoment. Mercury and the sun into Aquarius also provide a fresh social perk-me-up.

B

TAURUS

April 20–May 21

Uranus in Taurus has recently ended a five-month retrograde tour (as of last week’s eclipse). You are likely to feel its influence as “held up no longer”, that circumstances (finances, health) are finally starting to move along and that you are making a significant personal breakthrough.

Now through next week, you’ll feel your way along a new track. Heed instincts and fresh impulses.

C

GEMINI

May 21–June 21

The pressure is lifting—at least somewhat. Mercury in Aquarius, starting Thursday, and the sun’s advance into Aquarius on Monday can dish up a fresh-air feel. Likely there’s something new to talk about or to try on for size. Both transits stimulate fresh ideas, conversations, options, or prospects. Set your intuitive smarts to task and aim to stay ahead of the curve.

Dr. Gary Bains, DMD

Dr. Ashleigh Sran, DMD

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D

CANCER

June 21–July 22

Have you felt blocked, restricted, limited, or hard done by?

The big group of planets in Capricorn, your opposite sign, has likely made for a tough go. Watch for some reprieve over this next week from Mercury and the sun, both fresh at it in Aquarius. All it takes is for one spark to light to get the ball rolling on positive change.

E

LEO

July 22–August 23

Something new tossed into the mix can either produce a breath of fresh air or a fresh headache.

JANUARY 16 TO 22, 2020 Either way, it gets you moving. One thing leads to another. Someone could surprise you with a piece of news or a change of heart, mind, or plans. Follow instincts; go with spontaneous choices and it could turn out quite well, especially over the weekend.

F

VIRGO

G

LIBRA

H

SCORPIO

I

SAGITTARIUS

J

CAPRICORN

K

AQUARIUS

L

PISCES

August 23–September 23

A new reality is starting to build momentum. Watch for your confidence and emotional security to grow along with it. You are just at the start of so much more to come.

Saturn, Pluto, and Jupiter in Capricorn will continue to support you to greater sure-footedness through your reinvention process. Thursday through next week, Mercury, the sun, and Uranus keep you breaking new ground.

September 23–October 23

One thing after another can keep mind, heart, and body on the go over this next week. Perhaps you have something important to work through. Take it one step at a time. Mercury and the sun on a fresh track with Uranus assist you to make progress regarding talks and negotiations, paperwork, problem-solving, and the learning curve. Follow instincts; heed first impressions.

October 23–November 22

Writer’s block? Unable to find what you have been looking for?

You’ll make better progress over this next week as Mercury and the sun trek into Aquarius. Try a new angle; ask another question; check it out again. One thing leads to another.

Solutions seem to take on a life of their own. Rely on synchronicity to launch you on your way.

November 22–December 21

Go by feel. Mars in Sagittarius, a fresh-incentive transit, puts added focus on sorting it out and finding your way through the middle of February. It’s a natural evolution.

Progressively, you’ll be better able to let go and move on. Saturday through Monday, the going is good; you’re on a roll. Over this next week, Mercury and the sun shift your attention onto a fresh track.

December 21–January 20

Mercury leaves your sign on Thursday; the sun takes an exit on Monday. Both are refuelling and energizing transits. Assisting you to see with fresh eyes and to feel with a fresh heart, both spark a new conversation (with yourself or another).

In coming weeks, you’ll adapt and adopt more naturally. A change is well timed.

January 20–February 18

You’ll gain an energy and activity boost from the advances of Mercury (Thursday) and the sun (Monday) into Aquarius. Friday to Monday turns it up a notch or thrusts you into more than you planned. Choose; do; get on it. A spontaneous choice is your best play. Stay focused; don’t waste your time on sidetracks.

February 18–March 20

Over this next week, a change of pace or scenery hits the spot well. Monitor those new thoughts, feelings, and impressions.

The information they provide is worth more exploration and consideration. Saturday through Monday, carve extra time out for yourself. It could prompt a creative or emotional breakthrough. Tuesday/ Wednesday, get to work; stay goaloriented. g

Book a reading or sign up for Rose’s free monthly newsletter at rosemarcus.com.

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Unbeatable location, steps to some of the City’s best restaurants, shopping, nightlife & transit One parking included & a storage locker located at the parking stall. Pets and rentals welcome!

OPEN HOUSE: SUN Jan 19th, 1 - 3pm JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 9

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10 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020

OLD STOCK: A REFUGEE LOVE STORY

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JAN 24-30 | FR EDER IC WOOD TH EATR E

PUSH FEST

Light builds barriers in multimedia Frontera

C

by Janet Smith

horeographer Dana Gingras’s previous work at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival featured frantic urbanites convulsing atop stark-white pedestals. Part of the rush of watching the Holy Body Tattoo’s monumental in 2016 came from seeing what the performers could pull off on their precarious perches. Now, in Frontera, another massively scaled multimedia show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre by Gingras’s more recent company Animals of Distinction, 10 performers will dart and dodge between columns of light.

Right from the early days of the Holy Body Tattoo, the seismic company she cofounded in 1993 here with Noam Gagnon, the nowMontreal-based artist has thrived under scenic constraints—this despite her dance being known for its hair-flailing, pummelling abandon.

“I like limitations early on in the process,” the former Vancouverite tells the Straight from home in la belle province, where she says she’s enjoying one of the most fertile periods of her career. “Right away there’s tension. There are edges that create a kind of pressure on the work. We need to feel those edges, and the movement needs to be restricted at times. And then there’s the free space where these lines of desire open for the dancer—where we’re really exploring where our freedom lies.”

The idea of freedom and the barriers that threaten it weighed heavily on Gingras when she started creating Frontera. Monumental, which toured everywhere from Australia’s Adelaide Festival to New York City’s BAM Next Wave Festival, had been such a success, plans started almost right away for another large work with live music.

Whereas monumental had felt part concert, with cult orchestral postrockers God Speed You! Black Emperor on-stage, the idea was that Frontera would feature otherworldly electro-guitar experimentalists Fly Pan Am (God Speed You! musician Roger Tellier-Craig’s latest project).

“I got excited seeing my work in larger venues,” Gingras enthuses, “but out of that I realized I like to either make work for, like, 90 people that’s really experimental and out-there and closer to what you would call performance art, or else something on a larger scale. I decided the middle ground isn’t interesting to me.”

A residency at O Vertigo Dance’s spacious Centre de Création, backed by $160,000 from the National Creation Fund, allowed Gingras to work with the large cast, the band, and the light effects Frontera requires.

Considering she started working on the piece in late 2016, on the heels of Donald Trump’s election to the White House, it should come as no surprise that borders and barriers became a theme.

“Everyone was walking around in a bit of a daze and a stupor, and there was so much rhetoric around creating a wall and creating

The dancers feel the projections from the inside.

– Dana Gingras, Animals of Distinction

In Frontera, dancers dodge columns of light to the sounds of Fly Pan Am. Photo by Yannick Grandmont

divisions between us and them,” she recalls.

“So that was preoccupying me. And then at the same time I was getting ready to go back to Argentina, where I grew up as a child, and take my husband, who had never been there.

So there were these ideas of being a foreigner and being from the outside.”

Gingras admits she’s always felt like an outsider. Born in Fort St. John, she moved with her family to Argentina at three, then spent high school in the U.K. before coming to Vancouver and discovering contemporary dance at 18. “I was saying, ‘Ugh, where do I belong? What does home feel like?’” she remembers.

Gingras admits that, even as an artist, she’s operated from the margins. “I’m interested in seeing humans instead of dance culture on-stage,”

PuSh TIP SHEET WE ASKED the PuSh

International Performing Arts Festival’s executive and artistic director Franco Boni and associate artistic director Joyce Rosario to unearth some of the hidden gems amid the interdisciplinary celebration that runs citywide from Tuesday (January 21) to February 9. Here are their insider recommendations:

c THE FEVER (January 29 to February 2 at the Annex) An interactive show that asks strangers to connect. We won’t tell you more about this production from the U.S.’s 600 Highwaymen. “This is one of those works we have a saying for at PuSh: ‘Don’t ask, just go.’ This is all about entering with curiousity and openheartedness,” Rosario raves. c GARDENS SPEAK (January 28 to February 2 at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre) The sound-art installation (shown here) pays moving tribute to 10 victims of violence in Syria, each buried in a family garden.

“Franco and I discovered [artist] Tania El Khoury together at In Between Time [festival] in Bristol,” Rosario says. “It gives you the

feeling I used to get when I first went to PuSh.” c OLD STOCK: A REFUGEE STORY (January 24 to 26 and 28 to 30 at the Frederic Wood Theatre) “For me this is one of those enduring pieces: it’s been travelling all over the world and it’s been reviewed so well—it’s been on top 10 lists in so many places, and then there’s [playwright] Hannah Moscovitch, who is such an incredible writer,” says Boni. “Plus who doesn’t love klezmer music?” c MONDAY NIGHTS (February 6 to 9 at the Anvil Centre) “It’s an interactive basketball piece made by five men who didn’t think they’d been making a show but came together at a particularly difficult time in their lives,” Boni says. “Really the piece is about community.” g

explains the choreographer, who got her start at Vancouver’s experimental EDAM. “I never felt like I fit into dance culture.… I want to see what moves people rather than making it beautiful.”

Gingras worked with the U.K.–based collective UVA (United Visual Artists) to build the light projections for Frontera, using pivoting spotlights to construct ever-shifting rays. Those shards of light would shape the space, symbolizing the political and the personal—external walls and the ones we carry inside us, as well as the ever-watchful eye of mass surveillance.

“The dancers feel the projections from the inside,” Gingras says. “Because of the way the light is animated, it keeps it very alive. They don’t know whether the lights are going on or off. The early research with UVA was working with a

gridlike way of moving through space, which is a lot like the way we move through urban planning. We were working with a lot of vertical and horizontal axes, and scale.… We’re moving within infrastructures of control, and then setting that against this free movement.”

In the studio, Gingras says she kept talking to her dancers about finding their “unruly body”— one that resisted control. She drew a lot of inspiration from parkour and free running. “What they do is so lovely and subversive, to find these forbidden spaces and move through them in this way— spaces that they go around or under,” she says.

Fuelling that movement will be the live, thrashing energy of Fly Pan Am, which was coming right out of finishing its heady new album C’est Ça when it moved into the studio with Gingras to create an original score.

“So much music was made in the room,” she marvels. “I had sketches of choreography and they had sketches of sound….We pushed them and they pushed what we were doing.

“I’m probably just a frustrated musician,” adds Gingras, whose other career highlights include choreographing the video for Montreal indie gods Arcade Fire’s “Sprawl II”. “Most of my friends are musicians. Music has always been the thing I’ve been most drawn to. Music is what inspires me and makes me want to move.”

The resulting work is an intense symphony of sculptured light, blistering sound, and urgent movement—one that disrupts and disturbs, particularly in 2020, when the world is even more divided than it was when Gingras started all this.

Does she think there’s a way through? “I always go into it hopeful. I make work because I’m hopeful,” she says. “But I think it’s a very dark piece.”

Perhaps the most positive thing to come out of Frontera is that it is an act of massive collaboration. “The love that exists between everyone involved in the work—it is the most joyful, beautiful ensemble of people,” Gingras says. “We created a little utopia.” g The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival presents Frontera at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on January 30.

PuSh shows reflect and defy a divided world

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by Janet Smith

alls, divisions, and borders abound in our world today—and they’re also everywhere you look at the 16th annual PuSh International Festival of Performing Arts. From the U.K., Free Admission features a solo performer erecting a literal brick wall, trowel in hand, between herself and the audience. Then there’s Anywhere But Here, a darkly humorous play set on the frontier between the U.S. and Mexico. Elsewhere, Frontera (see story above), uses rays of light to create barriers around its dancers.

Our divided world, its shifting migrations, and the political rhetoric surrounding those issues seem to have had a heavy influence on the fest’s roster of interdisciplinary work this year.

PuSh’s new executive and artistic director Franco Boni and associate artistic director Joyce Rosario observe that the theme even carries over to shows where the borders are not so literally drawn. Rosario points to Old Stock: A Refugee Story, a klezmer-driven play about turn-of-the-last-century Jewish refugees. It was sparked by former prime minister Stephen Harper’s infamous “old stock Canadians”

PuSh helmers Franco Boni and Joyce Rosario have forged new collaborations.

remark—a term that divided the country between “us” and “them”.

Still, if Boni has learned anything helming the fest in his first year, it’s not to force too many commonalities on the eclectic mix. As he puts it, “For me, it’s just how they are different, rather than how they are the same.”

He adds that PuSh’s wild diversity of interdisciplinary shows—which range from Gardens Speak’s intimate graveyard stories for small groups of 10 to massive multimedia dance-concerts like Frontera—demands adept venueplanning. “With this idea of scale we can support artists to think in terms of these large projects,” Boni says, “but it’s also speaking to artists who want

to do community-engagement pieces.”

The Torontonian has had less than a year to develop such insights on the fest, taking over from cofounder Norman Armour. Having served as artistic director of the Theatre Centre in Toronto since 2003, he’s devoted a lot of his time to getting to know the rhythms of the fest. “Mostly I was really inspired about how people really care about the festival,” he says. At the same time, he and Rosario have been building relationships here and across the country.

Look for more collaborations than ever at the fest. And take some solace in the fact that, while divisions may be happening in our world at large, people are uniting in the world of PuSh. g

JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 11

PuSh FEST

Sparrow’s Skyborn is a spirit journey

A

by Alexander Varty

rt leads, again.

Politics, language, history: all play a part in playwright and actor Quelemia Sparrow’s Skyborn: A Land Reclamation Odyssey, but this innovative interdisciplinary undertaking began with time for quiet reflection, dreaming, and the act of putting pen to paper.

As the part-Musqueam, partsettler artist tells the Straight in a wide-ranging telephone conversation from her Kerrisdale home, her new play began some years ago, when she embarked on a writing retreat on the Sunshine Coast. There, Sparrow says, she first conceived of putting what she now calls “a spirit-canoe journey” on-stage—but, as she also notes, she didn’t quite know what to do with the concept. Some of this personal odyssey factored into her 2016 project O’wet/Lost Lagoon, but she feels that production was never fully realized.

Now, with the support of a primarily Indigenous crew helmed by the brilliant Syilx, Tsilhqot’in, Ktunaxa, and Dakel director Kim Senklip Harvey, Sparrow is revisiting her original vision with a newfound appreciation for what it means.

Following O’wet/Lost Lagoon, she explains, she met with a protocol officer from her nation, and through their conversation Skyborn took wing.

“He said to me ‘Oh, you wrote a spirit-canoe journey,’ like it’s a thing,” Sparrow recalls. “I was like, ‘What?’ And he said ‘Yeah, you know, it used to be a practice that when someone had some sort of spirit sickness, a medicine person would guide them on a spiritual canoe journey in order to retrieve their soul. It was said that their soul had left their body, and it was the practice of calling that back, bringing their soul back to them.’

N E K R O AG EE EAD F!O R UP W T SP N ES T TRE L LI EX HE CEESNTIVA N OT LF I FL

Playwright and actor Quelemia Sparrow’s Skyborn: A Land Reclamation Odyssey is a collaboration with singers, puppeteers, and others. Photo by Emily Cooper

“When that happened, everything just opened up,” she continues. “The whole project just flew after that, because I had taken the time to figure out what this was that I’d actually written, and then who I needed in order to support that journey. And then it was finding an Indigenous director, finding an Indigenous producer, and…having the right Indigenous artists on board, which ensured that it just blew open.”

With Skyborn, Sparrow and Harvey are collaborating with singers, puppeteers, visual artists, and costume designers in a process that’s more consensus-based and less rushed than what most stage productions enjoy. Sparrow is also drawing from family memories, especially those imparted by her father and paternal grandfather, who—despite having endured the destructive impact of the residential-school system—kept Musqueam language, cosmology, and geographical knowledge alive for future generations. And, of

PRESENTS an ambitious new dance work by

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14 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020

course, she’s incorporating aspects of her own journey, through art, to recover, heal, and nourish her own soul.

How does she feel now that her šxwh li is in its rightful place?

“Oh my god, I never thought I’d have that question asked to me,” Sparrow says, laughing. “This is just such a hard question to answer, because the soul retrieval, the šxwh li retrieval, in my piece is very specific to intergenerational trauma that needs to heal….But I feel I’m coming to a point of resiliency and joy.

I often think that I’ve discovered down to very simple choices in my life: do I choose fear, or do I choose love? For me, love is the ultimate truth—and if I can just keep remembering that, that’s part of my šxwh li retrieval.” g Savage Production Society, the Cultch, and the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival present Skyborn: A Land Reclamation Odyssey at the Cultch Historic Theatre from January 23 to February 1.

PuSh FEST

Cuckoo makes technology personal

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by Janet Smith

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GLOBAL DANCE CONNECTIONS SERIES

DANA MICHEL MONTREAL

CUTLASS SPRING In Jaha Koo’s Cuckoo, rice cookers become performers. Photo by Eunkyung Jeong

inserted small computers inside and when I perform I operate the rice cooker via wireless. And one of them always cooks rice.”

In the work, Koo also interweaves his own, personal torments with the last few decades of South Korean history, specifically the fallout from the 1997 financial crisis that put the country under the International Monetary Fund’s fistlike control and led to violently suppressed protests.

The 1984-born Koo also addresses the high rate of suicide that plagues his generation to this day.

Koo’s dark critique of his home country’s sociopolitical gaps makes it hard to resist asking him about Bong-joon Ho’s Parasite—an Academy Award–nominated film that takes a similarly biting look at the struggle between rich and poor in his country. “What I feel, actually, is I really like his film, but somehow I was really disappointed,” the artist comments candidly. “He’s getting

to be a really old guy and has the perspective of old men, with how forced the female characters in the film are—and how we make stories regarding female characters is very important in society. The characters are very male-dominated; the mom and the daughters support the male characters.”

Koo’s ongoing interest in South Korea’s situation speaks easily to the social disparities he sees performing Cuckoo around the world, from Athens to Taipei—and Vancouver.

“I am very much looking forward to showing the work in Vancouver at this time,” he says. “When we think of Vancouver, it’s a lovely city and a very beautiful one, but I would say the reality is different from my imagination.” He’ll soon find out that it’s a whole other kind of cuckoo. g

February 6-8, 2020 | 8pm Scotiabank Dance Centre

Photo: Jocelyn Michel

o understand the importance of the rice cooker in South Korean culture, start with Jaha Koo carrying his prized Cuckoo model with him as cabin luggage when he first moved to Europe for graduate studies.

This was not simply because Koo, like many Koreans, is picky about the quality of his cooked rice. The adorably bulbous contraption with the computerized voice was also a little bit of home. Invented in South Korea, it’s considered no less than an object of national pride.

But even Koo did not realize how important the rice cooker was to him until he lost a friend to suicide a few years ago. “I was living in Amsterdam, and that was very sad and tragic for me,” the multimedia artist recounts over Skype. He’s now working in Ghent, Belgium at the avantgarde arts centre CAMPO—and in a much happier headspace, celebrating the arrival of a new baby boy. “I was sitting next to the rice cooker and suddenly the rice cooker said ‘Cuckoo is finished cooking rice.

Please take me.’ And somehow I felt relieved. This is not human; it is a machine. It was sort of a posthuman friendship. And so I started to think about the work.”

In his resulting performance installation Cuckoo, part two of his Hamartia Trilogy, Koo uses the home appliances to explore the isolation and helplessness his generation feels, not to mention technology’s role in that. In it, three hacked rice cookers take on a life of their own. Light panels are now rigged to show their emotions.

“They have conversations, they sing a song, sometimes they fight with each other,” Koo says, adding they have become telerobots, and performers alongside him. “We

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The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival presents Cuckoo at the Waterfront Theatre from February 3 to 5.

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THE FEVER

FRONTERA

600 HIGHWAYMEN (USA)

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CUCKOO

JAHA KOO (SOUTH KOREA / BELGIUM)

F E B 3 - 5 | WAT E R F R O N T T H E AT R E

JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 15

PuSh FEST

Hille exposes corners of her mind in Little Volcano

I

by Alexander Varty

f you’ve ever wanted to get to know Veda Hille better, now’s your chance. Little Volcano, the solo show that she’ll officially premiere at this year’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, is essentially a self-portrait, she tells the Straight in a telephone interview from her Commercial Drive home. Part frank, part funny, part political,and part poignant, it’s as close to the confessional as this alternately worldly and otherworldly woman is likely to get.

“It’s basically me finding a way to introduce the funny little corners of my mind to people in a more considered way than just letting them spill out, the way they usually do at shows,” she explains, laughing.

Shining a light into those corners and speeding the narrative flow are Theatre Replacement’s Maiko Yamamoto and James Long, recent winners of the 2019 Siminovitch Prize for theatre direction. Hille’s worked with them for more than a decade, crafting scores for several Theatre Replacement productions, including YU-FO, Sexual Practices of the Japanese, and Dress Me Up in Your Love.

“We wrote the script together, and we started by me trying to write it out traditionally, alone on a piece of paper,” Hille says. “And that came up with a bunch of very stiff, very ornate sentences that didn’t work at all on the stage. So we ended up with them asking me questions, and me answering in the air, with speech, and them writing it down. And once we found that format, I started waking up in the middle of the night and just writing things down the way they were coming to me. I found a different way of writing, basically, which I never would have found without them.”

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Little Volcano is as close to confessional as Veda Hille gets. Photo by Emily Cooper

As Hille describes it, Little Volcano incorporates her thoughts on the strong women in her family, surviving a potentially fatal illness, the relationship between art and science, and the life of Saint Mungo, the sixth-century founder and patron saint of Glasgow.

Among the factors that led to Mungo’s canonization, Hille explains, were a series of enigmatic miracles involving a bird, a fish, a bell, and a tree. These she’s worked into a lyric for a prelude by her lifelong musical inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach, neatly combining her faith in the restorative power of art, nature, and devotion to craft.

“Sometimes I think that’s all I can do,” Hille says. “I try to do political good works and the right things in the world, but sometimes it feels that the best use of me is just toiling away in my funny little garret writing these songs about plants and what have you. And that consistency is a faith, in itself, in continuation.” g The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Music on Main, and Theatre Replacement present Little Volcano, at the Annex from Tuesday to next Thursday (January 21 to 23).

PuSh FEST

Bria Skonberg trumpets blues from Billie to Bob

S

by Alexander Varty

ingin’ the Blues from Billie Holiday to Bob Dylan is the title of the program vocalist and trumpet star Bria Skonberg will present when she returns to the Lower Mainland this weekend, an undeniably surprising focus for a pair of concerts that also include the lush horns and strings of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Even more surprising is that this is not a “pops” concept generated south of the border, where the Chilliwack-born Skonberg now lives, but right here at home.

“Working with a symphony is something that I’ve dreamed about for a long time, but it was really the VSO that approached me about it,” the hot-jazz revivalist and emerging songwriter explains, on the line from her home in New York City. “They said ‘We’d like to work with you on a couple of dates,’ so it was just a matter of putting them on the calendar.”

“This is a new experience,” Skonberg stresses. “I’ve worked with a few orchestras before but this is special. It’s the first time I’ve had the opportunity to basically create the whole show. It’s been a very interesting process, and the VSO has been wonderful about it.”

Less than a week away from opening night, Skonberg admits that she’s poised somewhere between anticipation and apprehension. “This is the debut,” she says.

“And for that reason there will be a lot of excitement, and there will be a lot of, you know, terrible music, and there will be some charm to it.

It will be very transparent that this is the first time that I’m doing this, and I’m very grateful that it’s for my home crowd.”

She laughs. Terrible music, of course, isn’t actually in the cards, not with another internationally acclaimed local, Nanaimo-raised

saxophonist and educator Christine Jensen, flying in from Montreal to conduct. And Skonberg herself seems to have hit on a winning concept, one that has potential to become a perennial on the pops circuit thanks to its invocation of two very different legends of American music.

“They’re both artists that kind of wore their hearts on their sleeves,” Skonberg explains. “Billie is iconic; you can hear her soul when she sings. And then with Bob Dylan, I was part of a show last year that got into his music, and so I was reading his lyrics. And, wow, he had so much to say, even from a young age.

For me, he made music that comes straight from the heart and straight from the gut—and that’s something I think both artists have in common.

They tell the truth.”

That’s also the ethos Skonberg plans to bring to her Singin’ the Blues shows, which will also feature material by Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Leonard Cohen, and the singer herself. As incongruous as putting the blues in a fur coat might seem, truth is still the truth, no matter where it’s told.

“I sat on a panel this spring in between Taj Mahal and Booker T, talking abut the blues,” Skonberg recalls, “and I was, obviously, like ‘What do I know? What do I possibly have to say about any of this?’ But your emotions aren’t wrong. If you can put what you feel into your art, I think it transcends whatever the venue is, whether you’re in a dingy bar or at the Orpheum. So even though it’ll be a beautiful, classy situation, I’m not afraid to play from the gut and tell my story as I’ve experienced it.” g

BLENDING CIRCUS ARTS, MUSIC, THEATRE, AND VIDEO IN A GROUNDBREAKING PERFORMANCE

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents Singin’ the Blues from Billie Holiday to Bob Dylan at the Orpheum on Friday and Saturday (January 17 and 18).

by Andrea Warner

INFINITY

By Hannah Moscovitch. Directed

by Ross Manson. Copresented by Volcano Theatre and the Cultch on January 8 at the Historic Theatre at the Cultch. Continues to January 19

d INFINITY IS ONE of the most fascinating and near-flawless productions the Cultch has ever presented.

It’s challenging and smart, raunchy and complicated, and heartbreaking in ways the audience was not prepared for based on the audible weeping coming from all corners of the house on opening night.

We meet Sarah Jean (Emily Jane King) just returning home from a funeral, obsessing about her terrible history with love. Then the scene shifts and we witness the first meeting between theoretical physicist Elliot (Jonathon Young) and violinist and composer Carmen (Amy Rutherford). He studies time, a subject that he can tell also preoccupies her, as a musician. Therefore, he says, they belong together. But she just broke up with her fiancé two days earlier. “I can offer you 15-20 minutes of sex followed by 40-45 minutes of crying,” Carmen says by way of a rejection, unwittingly confirming Elliot’s theory about their shared obsession. They kiss and maybe he’s right, but it’s definitely not simple.

As the scenes alternate, we learn more about Sarah Jean’s failed relationships (“there was a lot of chalk dust in his pubic hair”) and we see how fraught Elliot and Carmen’s relationship is from the beginning.

His work consumes him while Carmen is left raising their daughter

largely on her own. Additionally, major mother issues plague both characters, though this particular slightly misogynistic trope always leaves me asking: where were the dads? Neither Elliot’s nor Carmen’s fathers are mentioned. Despite that lingering question, Infinity is beautifully written. Playwright Hannah Moscovitch’s way with dialogue is masterful. Carmen and Elliot hurl knives at each other and plant f lowers in their wounds only to unearth it all and do it over and over again. Both the frustration and tenderness are exquisitely, painfully real.

Young and Rutherford have a wonderful dynamic—he’s all oblivious, awkward charm and she’s deadpan and desperately lonely. As Sarah Jean, King does an incredible job delivering some of the play’s funniest lines. Throughout Infinity, violinist Andréa Tyniec is also on stage in the background. She brings composer and music director Njo Kong Kie’s remarkable score to life, ratcheting up the tension and infusing more emotion into already volatile moments. Even Infinity’s sole choreographed interlude—which might have been a jarring interruption in a lesser play—works. This is all a credit to Moscovitch’s collaborative process, not only with choreographer Kate Alton, but also Njo, director Ross Manson, and consulting physicist Lee Smolin. Both Moscovitch and Manson’s program notes talk at length about how each person’s contributions informed Infinity’s creation, and you can see it coalesce on stage. Infinity is its own universe, and it’s a stunning one at that. g

Jan 22-25, 2020 | 7pm & Jan 25, 2020 | 2pm TICKETS FROM $20

Image by Alexandre Galliez

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JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 17

ARTS LISTINGS ONGOING THE WONDERWOMBS New Zealand’s Dust Palace presents a feminist circus party for adults. Jan 14-19, York Theatre. From $26.

INFINITY A new comedy-drama about love, sex, and math. To Jan 19, Historic Theatre.

From $26.

HOUSE AND HOME A comedic take on Vancouver’s current housing crisis. To Jan 25, Firehall Arts Centre. From $20.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 16 THE CHANGELING Thomas Middleton and William Rowley’s sensual and dark 17th-century English tragedy. Jan 16–Feb 1, 7:30-9:30 pm, Telus Studio Theatre. $11.50-24.50.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 17 VANCOUVER CHALLENGE CUP Ballroomdance competition featuring couples from Canada and the U.S. Jan 17-18, 11 am–11:30 pm, Hellenic Community Centre. $45-55.

THE COMIC STRIPPERS A fictitious male stripper troupe played by a cast of improvisational comedians. Jan 17, 8 pm, Centennial Theatre. $44.

GRAMMA A poetic new tale of human connection in the loneliest of circumstances. Jan 17–Feb 1, 8-9:15 pm, Pacific Theatre. $20-36.50.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 18 CARTOON CABARET Raunchy burlesque parodies of animated personalities. Jan 18, 8-11 pm, Rio Theatre. $25/30.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21 PUSH INTERNATIONAL PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL Annual interdisciplinary arts fest features 27 works from 24 companies, including six world premieres by local artists.

Jan 21–Feb 9, various Vancouver venues.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22 UNIKKAAQTUAT New multidisciplinary work celebrates Inuit culture, traditions, and vision for the future. Jan 22-25, Vancouver Playhouse. From $20.

VIFF‘19

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23 SMASH COMEDY FESTIVAL Three-day comedy festival spotlighting Vancouver’s best women/trans/femme/plus performers.

Jan 23-25, Little Mountain Gallery.

BERLIN: THE LAST CABARET City Opera Vancouver presents the world premiere of political satire set in Weimar Germany.

Jan 23-26, Performance Works.

NOISES OFF Farce about the egos and insecurities of a second-tier acting troupe putting on a show. Jan 23–Feb 23, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. From $29.

JAN 23 & 24 8PM MIKE DELAMONT

MAMA’S BOY

Arts

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BYRDS AND BEES

7:30PM | FRIDAY, JAN 24, 2020

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18 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020

Our Founder and Conductor Emeritus presents choral favourites, but with a slightly misleading concert title.

There is music by Byrd and “three Bs” - Brahms, Britten, Bernstein - but there is nothing naughty going on! There is sacred music, plus delightful music about nature. And we’ll present the world premiere of a commission from Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds.

1.855.985.ARTS (2787) vancouverchamberchoir.com

VSO NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL: (RE)CREATIONS NMF06

(January 16 at the Orpheum) Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s former music director Bramwell Tovey returns to the podium here with two fantastic contemporary works that hail from his homeland.

The highlight should be Max Richter’s 21st-century Antonio Vivaldi update, Recomposed, in which the German-born British innovator reforges The Four Seasons for solo violin, strings, and electronics, forming a pulsating, grooving new creation all its own. It shares the program with Luxury Suite from Powder Her Face by another Brit composer, Thomas Ades. g SKYBORN Musqueam/Sto:lo visual storytelling and animation combined with interIndigenous sound and puppetry. Jan 23–Feb 1, 7:30-9 pm, Historic Theatre. From $26.

BLIZZARD BY FLIP FABRIQUE Cirque performers from Quebec. Jan 23, 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. From $35.

MAMA’S BOY Play based on a true story about a boy being raised by a single mother struggling with addiction. Jan 23-24, 8 pm, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. $15-36.

ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit events online using the event-submission form at straight.com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

MOVIES

Adam Sandler arrives raw and Uncut REVIEWS UNCUT GEMS

Starring Adam Sandler. Rated 18A

d THE OPERATING principle of Uncut Gems is summed up in a single image: that of a needy, greedy hustler who has just been punched in the throat, running after his assailants to explain himself—hoarsely, and to no avail.

Said schnorrer is Howard Ratner, a high-end whatever dealer in New York’s lovingly depicted Diamond District. The fact that he’s played by a bearded, bespectacled Adam Sandler can be both reassuring and disconcerting, depending on whether you instinctively associate the SNL alum with Little Nicky and Billy Madison or with Punch-Drunk Love and The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected).

In the latest exercise in peripatetic aggravation from brothers Josh and Benny Safdie, the effect falls somewhere in between those Sandlerian poles: dramatically compelling for most of its somewhat padded two-and-a-half hours, but annoying as hell, too.

Last time around, in the cult favourite Good Time, the ol’ Safdies handed hustling antihero Robert Pattinson a mentally challenged brother who gave him reasons to get in and out of trouble in the grittier corners of New York City. Here, the jittery Howard is mostly on his own, and the motivating MacGuffin that keeps him racing through the mean streets is a spectacular opal-studded rock worth—well, who knows how much he can get for it?

His many creditors sure want to know.

The film begins with a beyondbravura segment showing the extraction of that rock from a crumbling Ethiopian mine. The camera of Iranian-born cinematographer Darius Khondji—who has worked magic for clients as diverse as Woody Allen, David Fincher, and Jay-Z—burrows deep into that dig and into the opalescent rock itself, revealing Terrence Malick levels of cosmic detail. This gradually transforms itself into the incredible microjourney of Howard’s latest colonoscopy.

Until a final callback that wraps the tale, Uncut Gems never really tops that setup. Instead, we get a kaleidoscopic tour of the guy’s moral intestines, which appear to jolt from one longshot adrenaline venture to the next. He pawns the championship ring of one hotshot basketball star (Celtics centre Kevin Garnett, playing himself at his peak, which is why this is set roughly 10 years ago) in order to get another one out of hock, and so forth. He’s in deep debt to an in-law (Eric Bogosian) whose hired thugs do a little more throat-punching than he might like.

Meanwhile, Howie is trying to walk back an impending divorce from his angry wife (Idina Menzel) while betting on an unaccountably loyal new girlfriend (cast standout Julia Fox).

It’s all a glorious mess, underscored by Daniel Lopatin’s pulsating electronic score, which sometimes seems to float in cheesy quotation marks. Or maybe it’s sincere. Some viewers will be infected by the Sandler character’s relentless, almost religious brand of nonstop game. Others will tire of him talking out of his ass.

has a wedding-anniversary scene only so things can go terribly wrong.

Wendell Pierce plays the longsuffering hubby, a popular schoolteacher whose substance is best revealed in his classroom reading of a key passage from Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. This also serves as an elegy for the black and brown men pulled into the prison-industrial complex, represented by an armed robber who may or may not have shot the cop he was convicted of killing.

As played by impressive Aldis Hodge, this prisoner has a natural gravity that pulls you in. When his last appeal for clemency, faciliThe former SNL man is a long way from Billy Madison in new film Uncut Gems. tated by a weary civil-rights lawyer Amid the carnage, Mendes finds (West Wing’s Richard Schiff), falls a strange and remote chunk of Northsmall, meaningful moments to re- through, the prisoner shuts down. ern France might have lived it.

By now you’ve heard that Mendes veal the men behind the uniforms. A and cinematographer Roger Deakins brief, unexpected interaction with a present the movie in what seems like baby says more about Schofield and a single, dazzling take (the few edits what he risks leaving behind than are indeed well hidden). The camera many directors could achieve with follows two nondescript British sol- pages of dialogue.

Some are accusing the film of granddiers through postapocalyptic stretches of no man’s land and into water- standing, intimating it turns a grisly logged bomb craters. Most indelibly, war into some kind of first-person it swoops over and into the cramped shooter game. Just the opposite, 1917 is chaos of the trenches, tracking past not about sensation, but about finding the masses huddled there, waiting for sympathy for sensible people forced to inevitable but unknown horrors. navigate the senseless to survive—not They put us in this precarious place just in a war vastly underrepresented in ways previous war movies haven’t. onscreen, but in a world that, these The result is a picture that blends the days, feels just as unstable and alien.

by Janet Smith surreal nightmarescape of Apocalypse Now with the journey-quest of Saving Private Ryan, torqued up by a race CLEMENCY against time—and, of course, by the Starring Alfre Woodard. Rated PG. rush of watching the filmmakers pull d CLEMENCY BEGINS with the this off on a sheer technical level.

Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and starkest image imaginable, with the Schofield (George MacKay) are lance central character staring at the gurcorporals assigned to hand-deliver a ney to which a prisoner is about to be message to Allied troops who are ad- strapped, pending his execution by vancing on a retreating German the state. line. Kaiser Wilhelm’s troops, it Gazing at this taut social drama is turns out, are luring their enemy veteran warden Bernadine Williams, into a trap, and thousands of lives played by Alfre Woodard, one of the will be lost—including that of more undercelebrated of our finer Blake’s brother—if they can’t stop film actors. Having already presided the Allied offensive in time. over 10 state killings, Williams soon As these two everymen cross into witnesses another: a botched job on enemy territory, we experience the a convicted killer that takes 10 experils that await them around each cruciating minutes out of our lives, corner, down each dark hallway, and and all the minutes out of his. in every collapsing bunker. (Notably, A stalwart defender of the system, the movie’s big stars take small roles the warden has lately been ignoring here, including Colin Firth and Ben- her partner and spending downtime edict Cumberbatch.) The threats in- with bottles of scotch. Even given clude hastily assembled booby traps the obvious strain on the warden’s and trip wires, and such arbitrary personal life, it’s not clear how the complications as a German biplane couple’s problems illuminate the crashing nearby—the tough lesson issues at hand. But the domestic being that empathy is a trait that has aspect gradually takes over, and it no use in battle. turns out to be the kind of movie that

Thus, he loses his voice, as well as his visibility, in the script from Nigerian-American Chinonye Chukwu, here directing her second feature.

Apart from a few superf luous nightmares and premonitions, the filmmaker’s commitment to utter seriousness is admirable, if ultimately stultifying. What sticks are the day-today penitentiary scenes, which show the truly deadening effects of a place where mortality is front and centre at every moment. Death row is generally the safest, quietest realm for both guards and prisoners; there’s nothing left to fight about, or even to say. But the moral, emotional, and spiritual cost of that silence cannot be counted.

by Ken Eisner

see page 21

by Ken Eisner

1917

Starring George MacKay. Rated 14A.

d LATE IN 1917, a man runs desperately, crossways through a sea of muddy soldiers charging out of trenches, when one knocks him off his feet.

He hits the ground hard, stunned and winded, before rising to sprint again.

In interviews, director Sam Mendes has revealed the bodycheck wasn’t scripted, but it’s a perfect illustration of how the style of his real-time shoot— far from gimmickry—allows us to experience accidents of fate and random violence firsthand. In other words, we’re getting a realistic insight into the way the young conscripts sent to die in

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FOOD

Dine Out on genuine Mexican cuisine

W

by Gail Johnson

ildTale executive chef Francisco Higareda is bringing a taste of his native Mexico to this year’s Dine Out Vancouver Festival—and he’s excited about broadening local diners’ understanding of authentic Mexican cuisine.

“I love Mexican food,” says Higareda, who hails from Veracruz. “I think here in Vancouver a lot of people are more attached to Tex-Mex stuff, which is not proper Mexican cuisine.

“It’s not lettuce and sour cream on the side of a burrito,” he says during an interview at the Yaletown restaurant. “We use corn, chilies, and beans, but we have a lot of other things in Mexican cuisine. That’s what I want to show. I want people to try a lot of different flavours.”

As part of Dine Out’s World Chef Exchange, Higareda will collaborate on a six-course meal with Monterrey chef Guillermo González Beristáin at WildTale on January 30.

Higareda grew up in a household that loved food and ate well. His mom (from Bilbao, Spain) and his father (from Guadalajara) were both terrific cooks; ceviche, spicy prawns, and tostadas were regular dishes on the family dinner table. He trained at Ambrosía Centro Culinario in Mexico City before earning a diploma in high cuisine and gastronomic management at Mariano Moreno Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

From there, he worked at Michelinstarred restaurants in Spain and France. “I learned how to be smart and clean,” Higareda says of his Michelin experiences. “It’s pretty hard-core everything. Everything is careful.

Recipes you can learn anywhere. It was more about being sharp, everything being perfect, how to be smart and use common sense—that’s a big thing, common sense. Sometimes it’s

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Francisco Higareda is the executive chef at WildTale. Photo by Gail Johnson

not that common in the kitchen.”

Higareda, an avid mountain biker, ran his own restaurant in Chihuahua before moving to Vancouver in 2016, first to work at the Flying Pig, and later taking the helm at WildTale.

Upon learning of the World Chef Exchange—in which local restaurants host visiting culinary talents from around the globe—Higareda thought of Beristáin immediately.

The latter chef has his own winery (Mariatinto) and his own line of dark beer (Cerveza Bocanegra). He also heads Grupo Pangea, which consists of 10 restaurants in Monterrey; the original, Pangea, has been on the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list for the past several years.

“He’s a massive chef in Mexico,” Higareda says. “People call him the King Midas of Mexican cuisine, because every single restaurant he touches becomes gold. He’s an awesome chef but he’s not chasing stars; he’s not in it to be famous. He’s a superhumble person and I admire him a lot.”

The two are creating a six-course Mexican tasting menu for their January 30 dinner. One dish Higareda plans on featuring is white mole.

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“We have more than 15 moles around the country,” he explains.

“Oaxaca has seven different [regional] types. Traditional mole, mole poblano, is with turkey or chicken. Mole verde is with pork. Mole negro is with beef, turkey, or duck. I love white mole. It’s a little bit spicy, sweet, and I love it with fish or octopus.”

The chefs are still finalizing details, but expect the kind of dishes Higareda grew up eating, paired with mezcal, tequila, and wine (possibly some of Beristáin’s wines from Mexico).

“We’re pulling traditional recipes and will add more fine-dining accents,” Higareda says. “I like simple flavours. I’ve done supermodern cuisine in Europe—molecular cuisine— but I don’t enjoy it. I’m a traditional cook, without the foams and smoke.

“I love food and I love people,” he adds. “I love serving people. When somebody has my food and they love it, that makes me superhappy. You can’t buy that.” g

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20 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020

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MUSIC

TrailerHawk finds instant fulfillment

I

by Mike Usinger

f decades in the hellfire that is the music industry have taught the members of TrailerHawk anything, it’s that one’s never disappointed by aiming low on the expectations front.

That’s served the Vancouver roots rockers well as what started as an excuse to have fun over beers has blossomed into something more.

“For me personally, this is the happiest and most fulfilled I’ve ever felt in a band,” says guitarist Rod Bruno, interviewed over lunch at the St. Regis Bar and Grill in Downtown Vancouver. “That’s partly because of the people, partly because of the music we’re making, and partly because there’s no real agenda for what we want to accomplish. We’re pushing forward, but maybe the best way to frame things is that we’re wise enough to not have delusions of grandeur. It’s kind of fun, because we’re not relying on this to pay the rent. We can get as creative as we want without having to answer to some guy in a suit with a degree back East who’s looking at the bottom line.”

The members of TrailerHawk have enough industry experience to remember when strings were often pulled in a major-label boardroom. Bruno formerly played with acts ranging from hard rocker Tommy Floyd to Canadian icon Matthew Good. TrailerHawk started with the rhythm section of drummer Don Short and bassist Don Binns— both of whom first rose to prominence as members of West Coast alternative giants Sons of Freedom. Guitarist and pedal-steel ace Lanny Hussey’s resume includes a tenure with Ginger—the project founded by brothers Tom and Chris Hooper after the dissolution of the much-loved Grapes of Wrath. Rounding out the band (which today includes

from page 19

LIKE A BOSS

Starring Tiffany Haddish. Rated14A

d LIKE A BOSS attempts to address some of today’s female-centred questions by following two women climbing the ladder of the socially fraught beauty biz. Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne play lifelong friends Mia and Mel, who launched a makeup business of that name. But now their homegrown company is in debt, even with a winner like their One Night Stand, a makeup kit for women who don’t make it home that night.

This invites the predatory interest of megainvestor Claire Luna, played with bosomy gusto by Salma Hayek, either spoofing her Latinxfirecracker status or surrendering to it. Anyway, the loony Claire clawed the beauty biz into her own domain, which grew after an original partnership with her best friend unravelled.

“Beeznuss and frennship don’t always meex,” she explains while signing a new deal that will, crucially, give her majority ownership of Mia & Mel if our gals ever split up. You can picture what comes next. Okay, now picture that padded out with bad karaoke scenes, heart-tugging flashbacks, and the usual projectile vomiting.

Blend in so-so asides from supporting players like Billy Porter, Jennifer Coolidge, and Silicon Valley’s Jimmy O. Yang. And then imagine all that not quite hitting the 80-minute mark.

It’s hard to say if this strikingly unfunny effort, led by a notably affable cast, would be better if it wasn’t written and directed by men. (Puerto Rico–born director Miguel Arteta started with more offbeat stuff, like Star Maps and The Good Girl.) But, for sure, somebody thought it would be empowering at the box office to throw together a blush of Bridesmaids with a whole gaggle of Girls Trip. The currently fashionable title, recently changed from Limited Partners, toys with notions of what it means to be like a boss, and to like one, too.

Sadly, the cleverness ends there.

The music-scene veterans in Vancouver’s TrailerHawk know that they are lucky to be able to play music for nothing but the love of it. Photo by Alice Hadden

drummer Shane Wilson) is singer Carmen Bruno, sometimes seen sitting in with local scene vet Bruce Wilson’s Sunday Morning project.

In the beginning, TrailerHawk was a casual project, its members having little interest in diving back into the music business. With Carmen (to whom he’s married) and Hussey riding shotgun at the table, Rod says: “I’d pulled out of the whole music thing because I felt I’d given it a go.”

Hussey adds, “We knew this was going to work right from the first few rehearsals. It happened as soon as Carm started singing her own stuff.”

TrailerHawk’s covers were initially all about pioneering country, the band’s impeccable taste in the genre’s giants demonstrated by its love and admiration for the works of Kitty Wells, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and don’t-give-a-fuck badass Hank Williams III. While the Y-chromosome members of the group came at things through rock ’n’ roll, Carmen’s path was in some

ways set when she was a kid.

“I grew up in a house where the radio was always cranked and everyone sang along,” she says over a plate of pierogies. “My dad played in divebar country bands around town in the ’70s and ’80s. I listen to and like pretty much everything—Pearl Jam was the first tape that I ever bought.

But it literally says in my Grade 9 yearbook somewhere ‘Stop listening to country music,’ because it would be blaring out my bedroom window every single day.”

Singing was something Carmen was encouraged to do: “With me, my sister, my mom, and my nieces, everything was a song. I mean everything. We were encouraged to sing out loud while we were cooking dinner, cleaning, or whatever.”

And Christ knows she can sing— her work with TrailerHawk is so good you can imagine her holding her own around a roadhouse jukebox with legends like Linda Ronstadt, Lucinda Williams, and Maria McKee.

King Princess a Queen for a new generation

by Mike Usinger

POP EYE

K

ing Princess isn’t the first queer artist to carve out a proud place in the American pop-music mainstream, but there’s a very real argument that few have done so much good so quickly.

Want a quick statement on how far we’ve come on the LGBTQ front despite the best efforts of Rick Santorum, Duck Dynasty beardo Phil Robertson, and riotously intolerant Old Testament aficionados? Consider how the artist born Mikaela Mullaney Straus launched her career with “1950” back in 2018.

You might remember the breakout single’s video, where the then-19-yearold popped up on YouTube screens with a countrified button-up shirt and drawn-on pencil moustache, sometimes wielding a Telecaster, sometimes showering affection on a woman who may or may not love her. At the time of the song’s release, Straus stated, “‘1950’ is a love song told through the lens of queerness—historically a publicly unaccepted but incredibly rich culture.…

I wrote this song as a story of unrequited love in my own life, doing my best to acknowledge and pay homage to that part of history.”

And that was the way Straus broke onto the scene. Fast-forward two short years later, and King Princess has graduated from the Biltmore to the Vogue to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre since her first Vancouver appearance in the summer of 2018. Along the way, she’s made zero attempt to hide who she is—proudly genderqueer and gay, songs pulling back the curtain on her personal life.

Imagine being on the cusp of stardom in a country where Santorum was once a legitimate presidential candidate and organizations with names

by Ken Eisner like Americans for Truth About

Her range aside, what blows Hussey’s mind about Carmen is the way she makes everything seem effortless.

“She’s self-taught, but she never falters,” he marvels. “That’s pretty amazing. We’ve all played with vocalists who are kind of hit-and-miss. Most of what Carmen does is first take.”

Pretty quickly, TrailerHawk started shooting for more than covers, the band’s superior musicianship and proto-punk energy augmented by Carmen’s powerhouse pipes.

The road taken by TrailerHawk is different from the days when major label deals were the holy grail. The band recorded its indie debut EP, Half Up Front, with Nashville-based Canadian producer Colin Linden (Lucinda Williams), and then used his Music City connections.

A Nashville-based radio promoter happily took the band on, helping break TrailerHawk’s early single “Car” on more than 100 stations around the world. Listeners were as enamoured with the track’s coalburning backbeat as they were with Carmen’s torch-twang vocals.

Since then, TrailerHawk has embraced the reality that music consumption has changed radically in the past few years. These days streaming is king, with Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music subscribers often more interested in playlists than full albums. To that end, TrailerHawk has spent the past few months stoking interest in the band by rolling out single after single, which will be bundled on the band’s about-to-bereleased debut, 12 Tracks and Road Maps. The compilation showcases a group that’s as stoked to be rolling around in the mud and the blood and

the beer as it is sitting at the lonely end of the dive bar when the lights come up at 2 a.m. “Pretty Thing” is loping cowpunk from an era when bolo ties were the height of Los Angeles cool, “Cold Day” plays connectthe-dots between the Grand Ole Opry and Muscle Shoals, and “Rival” is perfect for driving a lost highway with a warm Lone Star tallboy.

After stepping away from music to help raise three kids, Hussey feels blessed to have found a solid footing in a genre where no one has to worry about getting older.

“I know, for me, that’s a big part of the genre we’re in,” he muses. “We’re pretty loud and powerful. But you can feel proud that you’re out there playing and not having to jump around like a 25-year-old and feeling foolish.”

Moving forward, 2020 is when TrailerHawk will be kicking things up a gear, including seriously thinking about touring down south. The challenge will be balancing the responsibilities that come with adulthood with the sacrifices that come when working in the music industry.

“We’re not 20 years old anymore, so the thought of getting in a van and doing 30 dates across the country for beer tickets just isn’t appealing,” Rod says. “Now, thanks to analytics and social media and streaming, there’s a bit of a luxury where you can go, ‘We can put 300 people in a room in Wichita, Kansas, which is worthy of a fly-in and a hotel.’ That’s better than driving across the vastlands of Canada playing to three people at a time eating day-old hoagies.” g TrailerHawk plays a 12 Tracks and Road Maps release party at the WISE Hall on Saturday (January 18).

MUSIC LISTINGS CONCERTS JUST ANNOUNCED

KHANVICT (LIVE SET) WITH RAAGINDER Surrey-based Asad Khan, better known by his stage name Khanvict, has built his name around a sound that seamlessly blends the eastern influences of Bollywood and Punjabi music with a signature West Coast bass-music punch.

With Raaginder (LA) and REVÈ. Jan 17, 9 pm, Imperial Vancouver. $19.99.

THE KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW Rock ’n’ roll duo from the States. Jan 17, 9 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $20.

WINTER JAZZ Coastal Jazz and CMHC Granville Island present three days of free concerts. Feb 21-23, Performance Works.

PLATINUM BLONDE Pop-rockers from the ’80s. Feb 21, 8:30 pm, Commodore Ballroom.

Tix on sale Jan 17, 10 am, $40.

COCO MONTOYA American blues guitarist and vocalist, formerly of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Mar 8, 7 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $35.

YOUNG M.A American rapper performs material from debut album Herstory in the SATURDAY, JANUARY 18 Making. Mar 8, 8 pm, Fortune Sound Club. Tix CHOIR! CHOIR! CHOIR! Toronto-based pop on sale Jan 17, 10 am, $22.50. choir. Jan 18, Vogue Theatre. $24.50.

AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS Rock band from Australia. Apr 13, 8 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $20. TRAILERHAWK Local Americana rock ’n’ roll band, with guests the Wild North & Cassidy THE DARKNESS Seventies-style guitar-rock Waring. Jan 18, 8 pm, WISE Hall. $15.75. band from Britain, with guests the Dead JON BRYANT Dream folk singer-songwriter, Deads. Apr 15, 7 pm, Vogue Theatre. Tix on with guest Josh Hyslop. Jan 18, 8 pm, Biltmore sale Jan 17, 10 am, $32.50.

Cabaret. $15.

DAYGLOW Indie-pop singer-songwriter from Fort Worth, Texas. Apr 20, 8 pm, Biltmore SUNDAY, JANUARY 19 Cabaret. Tix on sale Jan 17, 10 am, $15.

ANNA BURCH Indie-pop singer-songwriter COLD WAR KIDS Indie-rock band from Long from Detroit, with guest Long Beard. Apr 26, Beach, California. Jan 19, 8 pm, Commodore 8 pm, WISE Hall. Tix on sale Jan 17, 9 am, $14.

Ballroom. $36.50.

THE HOUSE OF LOVE English alt-rock band MONDAY, JANUARY 20 from the ’80s May 14, 9 pm, Fox Cabaret. $35.

MONSTA X South Korean boy band. Jul 3, 8 pm, GZA American rapper and member of Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Tix Wu-Tang Clan. Jan 20, 8 pm, Commodore on sale Jan 17, 10 am.

Ballroom. $35. Note: moved from original venue of Fortune Sound Club.

MATCHBOX TWENTY American poprockers, with guests the Wallflowers. Sep 16, ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL Rogers Arena. Tix on sale Jan 17, 10 am.

OF DEAD American art-rock band plays tunes from latest album X: The Godless Void and ZAC BROWN BAND Multiplatinum American Other Stories. Jan 20, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret. $20. country band. Oct 18, Rogers Arena. Tix on sale Jan 17, 10 am.

REX ORANGE COUNTY Indie-pop singersongwriter from England. Jan 20, 8 pm, PNE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15 Forum. $35.

Homosexuality and Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment are real things. And where, historically, mainstream celebrities who’ve come out have waited until they were well-established stars.

And then imagine following up your breakout single (“1950” is closing in on 300 million Spotify streams) with “Pussy Is God”, the first lines of which celebrate the most magically wonderful of places with “Your pussy is God and I love it/Gonna kiss me real hard, make me want it.”

Straus decided early she would play by no one’s rules but her own. She demonstrated an early determination to steer her own course; teaching herself bass, guitar, drums in a studio run by her father, and making a pact with herself to always trust her gut.

“Ten years ago, not a lot of women were producing themselves,” she told Vanity Fair last fall. “They’d record a whole album, then come back with the edits from the label, and re-record everything all over again. It was startling to watch music get mutilated.”

Ten years ago, a lot women (and men) were also hiding who they were.

And the ones who were open about their sexuality—Beth Ditto, Carrie HALF MOON RUN Indie-rock band from Mont- TUESDAY, JANUARY 21 with guest Taylor Janzen. Jan 15, 8 pm, Brownstein, St. Vincent—flew their real, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. $52.50/39.50/29.50.

MIDGE URE Scottish rock singer-songwriter flags in the accepting environs of the performs on his Songs, Questions, and American underground for years be- THURSDAY, JANUARY 16 Answers Tour, playing alongside multiinstrumentalist Tony Solis. Jan 21, 7:30 pm, fore breaking into the mainstream.

KING PRINCESS Pop singer-songwriter, Rickshaw Theatre. $22.

King Princess, meanwhile, sprung multi-instrumentalist, and producer from VEDA HILLE’S LITTLE VOLCANO Pianist and her debut album, Cheap Queen on the Brooklyn. Jan 16, 8 pm, Queen Elizabeth songwriter draws from works by J.S. Bach, as world with a declaration: “This record Theatre. $59.50/55/39.50/29.50. well as her own compositions. Jan 21-23, 8 pm, FRED EAGLESMITH Canadian alt-country is about me having my gay sob.” In singer-songwriter. Jan 16, 8-10:30 pm, St. Orpheum Annex. $39/15. doing so, she positioned herself as an James Hall. $36/32.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23 inspiration for kids often vulnerable FRIDAY, JANUARY 17 COM TRUISE American electronic-music and confused enough to need a likeminded hero—which is invaluable for ZION I American hip-hop project founded by producer and designer performs a DJ set.

Jan 23, 9 pm, Fortune Sound Club. $20. anyone stuck in a cultural backwater Baba Zombi. Jan 17, Biltmore Cabaret. $20. where they feel hopelessly alone. All YBN CORDAE American hip-hop artist. Jan 17, MUSIC LISTINGSare a public service 7 pm, Fortune Sound Club. $25-30. provided free of charge. Submit events online hail the King. g King Princess plays the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Thusday (January 16).

THE STARLING EFFECT Vancouver indie-rock band plays tunes from self-titled debut EP, with guests Mully & Sculder and Hotel Empress.

Jan 17, 8 pm, Princeton Pub & Grill. No cover.

using the event-submission form at straight. com/AddEvent. Events that don’t make it into the paper due to space constraints will appear on the website.

JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 21

Employment EMPLOYMENT Hospitality/Food Service

Market Grill, Granville Island is HIRING for 2 PERM & F/T Cook positions. $16/hr. 40 hrs./wk.10 days’ paid vacation.Cook food from menu. Min. 2 yrs. cook exp.

High school/English. Email resume to marketgrilljobs@gmail.com or mail #104-1689 Johnston St. Vancouver, BC V6H 3R9

Careers CONSTRUCTION COMPANY Let’s Paint It INC. Is hiring Painters to join our team!Greater Vancouver area, BC. Perm, F/Time (40 h/week) Salary - $ 24.00 per/. Skills requirements: Experience 2-3 years, Good English.

Education: Secondary school Main duties: Determine and calculate the amount of painting materials and time required for a project; Repair and clean surfaces; Match, mix and thin paints; Apply paint, wallpaper or other materials to surfaces; Cover surfaces with cloth or plastic to ensure protection; Use brushes, rollers or spray equipment in a professional manner; Assemble and erect scaffolding and swing stages.

Company’s business address: 615-388 Kaslo St, Vancouver BC, V5K 0G6 Please apply by e-mail: letspaintitinc@gmail.com

Domb Enterprises Inc. o/a Basil Pasta Bar is looking for Cooks. Perm, Full Time, Shifts, Weekends. Salary: $19.00/hour Requirements: Experience min. 1-2 years, Good English.Education: Secondary school Main duties: Prepare and cook complete meals; Portion, arrange, and garnish food based on client preference; Operate various kitchen appliances; Oversee kitchen operations and train new kitchen staff; Supervise and co-ordinate kitchen helpers;Assist other cooks during the food assembly process; Keep food preparation areas clean as determined by law and company policy;Maintain inventory and records of food, supplies and equipment.

Job location and business address: 636 Davie St., Vancouver BC V6B 2G5 Please apply by e-mail: Job@basilpastabar.com

Volunteers Free

Ontheway Travel Consulting Ltd o/a Best Vancouver Tours is looking for Marketing Director. Permanent, F/T (35 h/w) Wage - $ 48.50 /h. Requirements: Good English, 2-3 years of experience, Bachelor's degree.

Main duties: Conduct marketing research and analyze competitive environment; Plan, develop, oversee, coordinate and evaluate implementation of marketing strategies and campaigns;Create marketing materials and manage social media presence; Report to management and provide recommendations for future tactics;Oversee and manage the company’s marketing budget.

Company’s business address and job location: 3-512 Sharpe St, New Westminster, BC, V3M 4R2 Please apply by e-mail: hr.onthewaytravel@gmail.com

Education

Drum Teachers Wanted Port Moody

SHELTER MOVERS, a volunteer based organization that provides moving and storage services at no cost to women and children fleeing abuse, is looking for volunteers to help with these moves. We ask that you be able to lift 20 lbs. This is a great opportunity to make a BIG impact in a small amount of time. To apply email volunteervan@sheltermovers.com

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Visit www.squirt.org to hook up today 22 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020

SAVAGE LOVE

Don’t look to Hollywood for sex advice

by Dan Savage

b I’M A 26-YEAR-OLD bisexual woman with a history of self-harm. It hasn’t been much of an issue for the last few years, but my sex life has improved a lot in that time. I realized that I am quite submissive and masochistic, and I have found a wonderful Dominant partner who I’ve gotten to explore that kink with in a positive and healthy way.

Last night, I watched the movie Secretary, and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character is someone who self-harms but stops when she begins a Dom/sub relationship with her boss. Obviously this film is flawed and not exactly a great guideline for healthy BDSM relationships. (The power dynamic! The lack of consent! That weird come scene!)

However, I did find myself relating to her character and am now questioning my motives for pursuing this kind of sexual relationship. I worry that I may be unintentionally using the pain that I lovingly experience from my partner as a replacement for the pain I used to experience from my bad habits. Or am I using BDSM as a form of harm reduction? Is it rational to even compare these two things?

- Seeking Careful Advice Regarding Recent Emotional Discovery “I completely get where SCARRED is coming from,” said Lina Dune, creator of Ask a Sub (askasub.com). “You’re discovering your kinks, and then the culture comes in with a not-entirely-

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accurate film or hot take, and it can taint your self-discovery.”

Dune is known as a “fairy submother” to her thousands of followers on Instagram, where she regularly posts about the D/s lifestyle and frequently highlights red flags that newbies to the kink scene may miss. (A Dom who insists he “doesn’t negotiate” with subs? Run away.) Dune identifies as a 24/7 lifestyle sub.

“There’s a difference between selfharm and what SCARRED is doing with her Dom in a consensual, rational, measured environment with safe words in place,” said Dune. “And it’s telling that she didn’t write in to say, ‘Oh my God, I’m using D/s to selfharm!’ Rather, she’s worried she might be unintentionally or unknowingly engaging in some form of self-harm.”

While the fictional character played

by Gyllenhaal stops engaging in acts of self-harm after entering into a D/s relationship with the fictional character played by James Spader, SCARRED, you don’t want to overinterpret that fictional narrative. Meaning, while the film suggested there was causal relationship between Gyllenhaal’s character entering into a D/s relationship and no longer engaging in acts of self-harm, that doesn’t mean the same is true for you.

“The culture infantilizes us all when it comes to owning our sexual desires—and that’s especially the case

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with a cuddle and a check-in with your play partner can make you feel more powerful, not less. So if SCARRED can consciously work through this with a therapist and her Dom, this BDSM relationship has the potential to be very healing, just as long as she maintains her autonomy within it.”

Follow Lina Dune on Twitter and Instagram @AskASub. b I’M A 26-YEAR-OLD straight man, and I haven’t gotten laid in a while. I never actually got much to begin with. I lost my virginity late (age 23, also my first kiss). I also suffer from crippling social anxiety—so crippling, in fact, that I can’t even get to know people online, which rules out online dating. I have recently come to the realization that the only way for me to ever get better is to stop wanting to get laid so much.

Which. Is. Hard. I’ve heard people describe themselves as “late bloomers” because they had their first time at 17 or 19. I feel like such a freak. I have a male roommate who frequently has women over. I hear them going at it through the wall and get panic attacks because of it. I need advice on how to be okay with not getting any, not really having gotten much to begin with, and just generally being nervous and inexperienced and self-conscious and lonely. I know that’s a lot, but perhaps you have some valuable thoughts.

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for women,” said Dune. “The message is: ‘You don’t know what you’re getting into’ or ‘You don’t realize the effect this is having.’ But if there’s one thing SCARRED is an expert on, it’s herself.

It’s not like she’s in a trance when she’s with her Dom—no matter what the movies want us to believe about D/s relationships—which means she’s consciously choosing this for herself, and it feels healthy and good. Our bodies don’t usually lie, and I’d be willing to bet self-harm did not feel that way.”

But even if it turns out you’re right— even if, worst-case scenario, joyful consensual kink in the context of an intimate connection with another person is somehow a replacement for solo acts of self-harm that isolated you—it could still be a good thing.

Dune suggests that you explore your feelings with a kink-positive therapist, and I want to second that. “From my perspective, it looks like SCARRED may have been manufacturing her own version of exposure therapy, which some somatic-based psychologists have suggested is exactly what negotiated, consent-based kink play can provide,” said Dune. “For example, a person with a fear of being powerless may find it helpful to experiment with powerlessness in small, controlled doses in the context of a structured, negotiated BDSM situation. Looking a fear in the eye and then being able to back away from it at will and end

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Since there’s no way to strip the sex scenes and sexual references from every TV show you watch, magazine you read, or conversation you have, ASS, working on yourself is going to be a far better use of your time than demanding a remade/desexed world.

And by “working on yourself”, of course, I mean “getting your ass into therapy”. Whether or not you ever get laid again, getting professional help to address your frustrations and social anxiety is going to improve your life.

(It will up the chances that you’ll get laid again, ASS, but no promises.)

And take heart: for every letter like yours I get from a straight guy, ASS, I get an identical letter from a straight woman. Which means there are a lot of women out there who are just as inexperienced, self-conscious, and lonely. Once you’re in good working order—not perfect, just functional— you might be able to connect with one of those women or some other woman. (But no one wants to connect with a guy who gives off a ragey vibe, so please stay away from incel forums.)

And your inexperience makes you less freakish these days than you realize. While 54 percent of high-school students had had sex by age 18 in 1991, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, today only 41 percent of high-school students have had sex by age 18. Which means there are lots of “late bloomers”, ASS. g

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JANUARY 16 – 23 / 2020 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 23

Jan 17-Feb 9 Jan 17 Jan 18 Jan 19 Jan 20 Jan 22 Jan 24 Jan 25 Jan 26 Jan 27 Jan 28 Jan 29 Jan 30 Jan 31 Feb 1 Feb 2 Feb 3 Feb 4 Feb 7 Feb 8 Feb 9 Feb 10 Feb 11 Feb 14 Feb 16 Feb 17 Feb 18 Feb 21 Feb 22 Feb 23 Feb 24 Feb 25 Feb 28 Feb 29 Mar 1 Mar 2 Mar 3 Mar 6 Mar 7 Mar 8 Mar 9 Mar 14

24 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT JANUARY 16 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 23 / 2020

Dine Out Vancouver John Marvin Scott Dylan Cramer Jazz Sundays - Laura Crema Soul Mondays - SOULTRAX Jonathan Tobin Trio Hot Tin Lid Torben Brown Trio Jazz Sundays - David Sikula Trio Soul Mondays - Tristan Paxton Trio Eugene Smith 1st show Eugene Smith 2nd show Joshua Capri Trio Todd Stewart Trio Cherry Tree Serenade Jazz Sundays - Karin Plato Trio Soul Mondays Brad Shigeta Swingtime Trio Big Dirty Boots Big Dirty Boots Jazz Sundays - David Sikula Trio Soul Mondays - Siobhan Walsh Brad Shigeta Swingtime Trio Paul Pigat Trio Jazz Sundays - Oliver Cannon Trio Soul Mondays - Six Figures Tom Amtzen Trio Maria Ho Trio Leonard and the Lab Rats Jazz Sundays - Kristian Braathen Trio Soul Mondays - Marlie & Co. Trio Brad Shigeta Swingtime Trio Shannon Scott Trio Dylan Cramer Jazz Sundays Soul Mondays Hot Jazz Jam Sharon Minemoto Trio Carlos Joe Costa Jazz Sundays Soul Mondays Aza Nabuko