The Georgia Straight - Urban Living - Oct 26, 2017

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2 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017


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GREEN LIVING

Reusable decorations and party supplies from past family celebrations mean a lot as heirlooms to some people, and now two savvy entrepreneurs have brought ecofriendly materials into the mix. > BY CARLITO PABLO

13

COVER

The Polygon Gallery’s striking sawtooth-roof architecture gives a nod to Lonsdale’s historic past while playing a big role in revitalizing the neighbourhood for the future.

23

ARTS

All over the Internet, women are sharing stories of abuse. How timely that the Heart of the City Festival now offers artful ways to heal. > BY ALE X ANDER VART Y

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Andrew Garfield braves the dark in Breathe; race satire Suburbicon misses the mark; Ai Weiwei captures a tragic Human Flow; The Breadwinner opens Spark Animation.

> BY MIKE USINGER

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COVER PHOTO

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4 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017


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OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 5


6 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017


HOUSING

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BEAUTIFUL BRITANNIA BEACH

This tenant says his landlord wanted him and other occupants of the home to hold a house meeting every two weeks.

Renters of Vancouver: “Some warning bells were ringing” > B Y KATE WIL SON

Renters of Vancouver takes an intimate look at how the city’s residents are dealing with the housing crisis. Tenants choose to remain nameless when sharing their stories.

“T

he house that I was living in wasn’t right for me in the long term. But when I tried to move somewhere different, I found out that a lot of

properties on the market are much, much worse. “I thought I had somewhere great lined up in Mount Pleasant. The house was fantastic—but the landlord was very weird. When I first viewed the place, I only met the tenants who were all moving away together, rather than the owner. In the subsequent conversations we had, they were very noncommittal in their answers about the landlord, so I decided I definitely

wanted to meet him. He was an interesting fellow. “The ad on Craigslist called the place a ‘shared house with a community vibe’, which was something I wanted. But after talking to the landlord, I realized that he was actually after a scheme where people lived in the house but also used the living space to make some extra money. He said that he wanted all the tenants to come together for see next page

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1635 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1W9 www.straight.com Phone: 604-730-7000 / Fax: 604-730-7010 / e-mail: gs.info@straight.com Display Advertising: 604-730-7020 / Fax: 604-730-7012 / e-mail: sales@straight.com Classifieds: 604-730-7060 / e-mail: classads@straight.com Subscriptions: 604-730-7000 Distribution: 604-730-7087 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Yolanda Stepien

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The Georgia Straight | Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly | Volume 51 Number 2599

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The Georgia Straight is published every Thursday by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing SUBMISSIONS The Straight accepts no responsibility for, and will not Corp. Copies are distributed free every week throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, North necessarily respond to, any submitted materials. All submissions should be and West Vancouver, New Westminster, and Richmond. International Standard Serial addressed to contact@straight.com. 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 © 2017 Vancouver Free Press, Best Of Vancouver, BOV And Golden Plates Are Trade-Marks Of Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp.

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OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 7


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a house meeting every couple of weeks to work out a new proposal. I asked what the last tenants had come up with, and he said that it never really worked out. I pushed him about what kind of ideas he had in mind, and he told me that I’d have to talk about my thoughts in the meetings. It was a bit strange that he was being so evasive. “I really wanted to live in the house, though, so I told him that I was prepared to make it work, and that I would help him fill up the rest of the bedrooms with good people I could get along with. In return, I asked to have the lease in my name, but he refused to do that. “Some warning bells were ringing for me, but I decided to go for it because it’s hard to find a place to live in Vancouver. The next time I saw him was the day that the old housemates were moving out. I paid my deposit and first month’s rent. He was sitting outside the front of the house in his car, and refused to go in. He told me that I had to be the one to check if the place was, in his words, ‘immaculate’. “I went in and asked the previous tenants to scrub the oven, but the house was basically clean apart from a bit of dust. There wasn’t any physical damage to the property, and it was fine for me to start living there. I moved in. “The next day I happened to be out of the house, and he started texting me. He’d obviously been in the place, and said that there was a problem. He told me that he couldn’t see the white of the grout, and that the house was therefore filthy. He said it was up to me to

I’VE MOVED

sort it out if I wanted to keep the place. I tried to call him to have a rational conversation about it, but he refused to pick up. Instead, he came to where I was in a coffee shop, and we had an awkward conversation. I decided I’d had enough. I went back to the house, packed up all my stuff, and left. I’d only been living there for one day. “I was then essentially homeless, so I immediately went down to East 42nd to see two properties. There was a stream of people going through—about 20 or 30 when I was there. The first place was fine, but it had a washer-dryer in the bedroom. I asked whether it was going to be used by everyone, and when the landlord said yes, I asked if it was possible to move it, because I didn’t want to rent a bedroom that was actually the laundry room. The landlord said it had to stay where it was. “I then looked at the other property. They were renting out the shed in the garden for a person to live in. The best way that I can describe it is that the walls weren’t entirely walls. There was a roof, and then there was a half-foot gap before the walls began. It would obviously be freezing in winter, and there wouldn’t be an easy way to heat it. The room was done up as a living space quite nicely, and there was a fair amount of room, but you were basically living outside. It was on the market for $750. “I went to look at one last place, trying to stay calm. It was in the West End, and it was perfect. I took it immediately, and now I live in a one-bedroom condo with another person. I have the bedroom, and my roommate sleeps in the living space. We get along well, and I’m happy it’s worked out in the end.” -

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GREEN LIVING

Reduce, reuse, and rejoice with style Make Merry Party Shop encourages celebrations that bring delight and leave no trash behind The two met while working with a nonprofit. During lunches, they hey grew up remembering discovered a shared passion for family parties that filled crafts, and a common experience hearts with joy, not bins from their childhoods. with garbage. “The tradition of reusing and For special events, their mothers cherishing the pieces our moms used would bring out year in and year out party supplies was both ecoGreen Living and decorations friendly and Presented by from previous heartwarming,” years, such as Otto-Wray said. birthday banMake Merry ners and hats. Party Shop startLike heirlooms, these items were ed last year, and Otto-Wray said cleaned, wrapped, and stored with that the business has received posicare for future use. tive response. Now moms themselves, Jenna “We’ve found that families want Otto-Wray and her business part- to celebrate special events with prodner, Lindsay Yuasa, want their ucts they believe in and can be treaskids to grow up treasuring par- ured for years to come,” she said. ties that bring delight and leave no According to Otto-Wray, palmtrash behind. leaf plates are a popular item. Made They also want to help other from fallen palm leaves and water, families to have options when the plates are chemical-free, she planning for gatherings that gener- said. They can be lightly washed ate little—if not zero—garbage. and reused. “They’re not bleached With this in mind, Otto-Wray like a lot of paper products,” and Yuasa launched Make Merry Otto-Wray noted. “And they’re Party Shop, a Vancouver online naturally biodegradable in your store that provides mostly reusable, backyard compost.” recyclable, and biodegradable supMake Merry Party Shop also plies and decorations. carries birch-wood cutlery as an “Lindsay and I want to raise our alternative to plastic spoons, forks, children in a home where trad- and knives that are commonly itions are important and having found in other stores. Birch cutlery fun and having parties are import- items can be composted. ant, but [we are] also cognizant The store also supplies party that we want to take care of the en- cups that can be recycled and put vironment at the same time,” Otto- in blue bins. Wray told the Georgia Straight in a To make it easy for buyers, the phone interview. “We don’t just go store’s makemerryshop.com webdown to the dollar store every time site notes in pink-coloured text we have a group of people over be- whether or not the products are recause it’s the easier thing to do.” usable, recyclable or biodegradable. > B Y C A RL ITO PA BLO

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Make Merry Party Shop founders Lindsay Yuasa and Jenna Otto-Wray grew up with ecofriendly family festivities.

As an example, clients will read that balloons made from latex are biodegradable. “On every product, we want to be open with our customers as best as we know it,” Otto-Wray said. “So we ask our vendors about their products: where they’re coming from and whether they’re biodegradable or not.” Make Merry Party Shop also values getting its products from local suppliers, an Earth-friendly practice that reduces carbon emissions associated with goods transport. One supplier is Coral + Cloud, a Vancouver maker of handcrafted jewellery and decorations. It produces bead garlands made of wood and recycled cotton yarn, which can be used and reused for different special occasions as well as a home accent. “We love to see people who bought something for their wedding or for a baby shower and then it ends up in their home, hanging

in their home,” Otto-Wray said. Make Merry Party Shop gets handmade felt garlands from Emerald and Ginger, a Vancouver company that also produces ecofriendly bags. The shop sources piñatas from Kolorina Piñatas, which does not use wires and staples. Candles come from Izzywicks, a Cortes Island company that makes beeswax candles, which are biodegradable. Make Merry Party Shop also offers concierge services, another way of helping clients make environmental choices. “A lot of people use that for first birthdays, usually, and for weddings,” Otto-Wray said. “So people tell us what they are looking for—colour, theme, number of guests—and we put together a free proposal.” According to Otto-Wray, the biggest challenge she and her business partner have is changing people’s mindset about buying quality products that last beyond a one-time

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use or at least are biodegradable. “Understandably, families are looking for affordable products, and we can’t compete with other large party shops or dollar stores in the city, but we hope people will begin to recognize that less is more,” she said. “Creating special traditions and memories is as important to Lindsay and me as is caring for the environment. We hope to leave our kids with happy memories and a healthier Earth.” Otto-Wray said that Make Merry Party Shop has three pop-ups forthcoming. The fi rst is at Christmas at Hycroft from November 16 to 19 at Hycroft Manor (1489 McRae Avenue). The second is at the Strathcona Winter Craft Fair on November 25 at the Strathcona Community Centre (601 Keefer Street). The shop will also be at the Got Craft? Holiday Edition on December 9 and 10 at the Maritime Labour Centre (1880 Triumph Street). -

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OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 9


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the Goon Squad, readers might have missed something key to that book’s success. A time-jumping, perspective-shifting collection of linked stories, each told in a different form (including a story told entirely in PowerPoint slides), the book is dazzling, but its great strength wasn’t its cleverness or style; it was Egan’s attention to the characters, her empathy and her ability to elicit connections and unifying elements amid the chaos of vastly differing worlds. The humanity of Egan’s work comes to the fore in her powerful and impressive new novel, Manhattan Beach, which, on first glance, might appear to be a fairly routine historical novel, with a largely linear narrative and chronology. It would be wrong to sell Egan short, though. While Manhattan Beach lacks the surface flash of A Visit From the Goon Squad, it’s far from simple or straightforward. The novel begins in the Depression, with precocious 12-year-old Anna accompanying her father, Eddie, a bagman for a union boss, when he visits Dexter Styles and his family at home. Anna routinely accompanies her father on his jobs, but there’s something different about this day, about the mysterious Mr. Styles. Something important. Something dangerous. That first section serves as a prelude, the action of the novel picking up a few years later with Anna at work at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. It’s the early days of the war, and Anna is supporting her mother and her handicapped younger sister. Eddie has

Jennifer Egan’s new book is a worthy follow to A Visit From the Goon Squad.

disappeared, run off on his family, leaving information about a secret bank account, but no contact information. Anna likes the work, the responsibility, and the freedom, and, after seeing a crew descending, sets her heart on becoming a diver. She also becomes involved with Nell, a brassy bon vivant. It’s on a night out with Nell in Manhattan that Anna meets the club owner, a mobster nudging toward respectability: Dexter Styles. Despite the trappings of a standard historical novel, a period piece about women’s empowerment in the shadow of war, Egan’s ambitions are writ much larger. Manhattan Beach is a novel about the complications of family and society, of the relationships between parents and children, and between men and women. It’s a novel of sifting layers, of looming shadows, a subsurface exploration of the depths and mysteries within each of us, with moments that will provide a startled shock of recognition. It’s a wonder. > ROBERT WIERSEMA

Jennifer Egan will speak at the Vancouver Writers Fest on Wednesday (October 25).


straight stars > B Y ROSE MA RC U S

October 26 to November 1, 2017

O

nce a year, the sun and Jupiter team up. On Thursday, they’ll do so in Scorpio. The sun correlates to the creative centre of being. Jupiter is the planet of increase and expansion, of big, bigger, and more. When the two combine their energies, they create richly fertile, wealth-generating conditions. Luck, opportunity, and growth capacity increase. Potentials hold more than the usual promise. We travel. It travels further, broader, wider. Sun/Jupiter goes the distance with all things related to Scorpio. As a regenerative and reempowerment archetype, Scorpio has a great talent for using the available resources to its maximum benefit. Both a destructive and a constructive archetype, Scorpio runs the gamut. Whether you feel confronted by circumstances or supercharged, ultimately, accelerated growth and gain are on the docket. Looking for your best opportunity? Thursday’s sun/Jupiter sets an incredibly lucrative backdrop for all turnit-around and pump-it-up initiatives. Friday’s Venus/Pluto is also on a work-it-out/reevaluate/shift-gears momentum. Thursday is the high peak of the week, but Friday is also good for making the most of it. Sun/Jupiter is a day transit, but it also launches an extended cycle of greater-than-average potential and greater-than-average returns on your investments. Do yourself a favour: hit the ground running, now. The transiting moon in Aquarius makes for a fun social weekend, with Friday night showing as the better one for get-togethers and Hallowe’en parties. Sunday/Monday, the Pisces moon favours creative activities, romance, relaxation, and sweetening it up. Come Tuesday, most of us will have already had our fill of trick or treat.

LEO

July 22–August 23

Yes, sign up for it. Is a major move or home renovation already under way? Although the investment is hefty, Thursday’s sun/Jupiter shines on all start-over, clean-sweep, or improvement projects. Sun/Jupiter also supports major business and finance revamp or personal-growth initiatives. Get going now; get the hard stuff out of the way upfront and you’ll increase the potential of future profits.

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

August 23–September 23

Thursday gets you up and over the hump. Running as an undercurrent or operating in a more obvious way, watch for sun/Jupiter to pack a punch, to replenish or revitalize you or it. You’ll tap from deeper insights, stronger/sharper intuition, greater desire, motivation, or cause. Nothing is small or insignificant; words and actions produce much greater impact. Sun/Jupiter also keeps it juicy and sexy. September 23–October 23

Mars and Venus in Libra keep you pumped up and going strong. Both also assist you to break it down and break through it, especially Thursday/Friday. Sun/Jupiter assists you to lock on to a better plan, option, or course. A lucrative, replenishing, and refortifying duo, sun/Jupiter set an optimum backdrop for moving forward on a major investment of time, money, or heart. October 23–November 22

Once a year, Jupiter and the sun join forces. Every 12 years, it happens in your sign. Thursday is your bonus or gift day, especially so if it is also your birthday. Make your power play. Luck runs high. Rely on gut instincts, intuition, and your ARIES people smarts. Your ability to attract March 20–April 20 and to create a significant impression You’ve been building up or impact is also optimized. to it for a while. Thursday’s sun/ SAGITTARIUS Jupiter and Friday’s Venus/Pluto November 22–December 21 mark an especially lucrative timeBrewing or budding: is-ripe, go-for-it springboard. Sun/ Jupiter greatly enhance your assets, Thursday’s sun/Jupiter enhances resources, and motivation. Want whatever is already on the go. Potenmore money, love, respect, control, tials now reveal their true worth or viet cetera? Put yourself into drive. ability. How deep does it run? You can All undertakings offer better-than- be profoundly drawn, moved, motivaverage potential for gain and re- ated, inspired, or affected. Sun/Jupiter ward. Sunday/Monday, it comes helps you to see in the dark, peel back the layers, to tap from the wealth of ineasily, runs smoothly. ner knowing and creative resource. TAURUS April 20–May 21 CAPRICORN Where are you heading? December 21–January 20 A profitable or lucrative Where do you want to go? Is life on a good track or do you need a new chapter begins now. Sun/Jupiter can plan? Thursday’s sun/Jupiter launch- set your money, potentials, satisfaces power-play time. Don’t go small; tion, or reward on a positive growth go all. Take your best shot; give it curve. The duo can also launch a everything you have; go the distance. major overhaul regarding a goal, Don’t let the tough stuff hold you ambition, or involvement (profesback. Aim to break the glass ceiling. sional, personal, or intimate). Sunday through Tuesday, keep it loose; You have everything to gain. keep it simple; ease your way into it. GEMINI Creative solutions generate best.

May 21–June 21

Upgrade your home; repair or replace what’s necessary. Change your job, your attitude, your diet or health regimen. Sun/ Jupiter marks an optimum time to make fundamental change. Take on a renovation project; revamp your financial bottom line; hire a new agent or adviser; seek the advice of a specialist; do the recommended surgery. Do it now, gain later; gain for the long term.

CANCER

June 21–July 22

Thursday’s sun/Jupiter could grab you by the heart chakra. Someone’s arrival, departure, or input may set up what comes next. Something you witness, hear, or undertake can prove to be the start of so much more to come. Perhaps it’s the turnaround or lucky break you need. Take the plunge; go deeper; go further. Give it your all or move on.

AQUARIUS

PISCES

January 20–February 18

It’s an auspicious time to launch a fresh-start initiative, especially one that helps you to reestablish your power base, your financial foothold, to reclaim a status or your rightful dues. Thursday’s sun/Jupiter supports or forces you to take charge and to create greater impact. A critical forge-ahead/gain cycle begins now. February 18–March 20

Thursday is an ampleopportunity day. Big news, an announcement, a meet-up, or an event could launch you on your way. Sun/ Jupiter favours all deep-dive improvement initiatives. This planetary combo supports action-taking toward getting your body, mind, product, or life moving. Try your luck; seize all advantage; aim for maximum impact; reward yourself. Sunday begins a full-tilt week. -

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urban

At left, the Polygon Gallery and the Spirit Trail that runs by it should animate and draw people to the Lonsdale Quay area like never before; at right, director-curator Reid Shier (Emily Cooper photo).

Lower Lonsdale’s new waterfront hub When the architecturally eye-catching Polygon Gallery opens next month, it will change the skyline and anchor a burgeoning ’hood > BY GA IL JOHNSON

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merging from North Vancouver’s waterfront at the foot of Lonsdale, Patkau Architects’ new glass-andmetal landmark, the Polygon Gallery, has dramatically changed the landscape. In fact, it’s turning an already thriving neighbourhood into a brand-new destination for art lovers. But curator Reid Shier remembers a time when the photography gallery’s digs were not quite so noteworthy. Ever since the former Presentation House Gallery launched in 1976, it has featured works by some of the world’s most celebrated photographers—Edward Burtynsky, Stan Douglas, Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol, and Diane Arbus, to name a few. Over the years, it has developed a reputation for being one of the strongest photo-based institutions in North America. Yet it wasn’t uncommon for exhibiting artists to experience a sense of disconnect—and disbelief—when they first set eyes on the place, a dilapidated building from about 1902 that started out as a girls’ school before being converted into a city hall (which lasted 62 years) and an RCMP station. “Any artist who was coming into town was coming based on the reputation of the institution that was pretty strong,” says Shier, Polygon Gallery director and curator, in a phone interview. “I would often pick them up at the airport. We’d drive up to the gallery, we’d stop, and then there would be a long, pregnant

pause. They’d say, ‘This is the gallery?’ ” In fact, when Shier was hired in 2006, part of his mandate was to find the gallery a new space. It may have taken far longer than anyone anticipated, but the move has finally happened, with the Polygon Gallery set to open on November 18. It will be the largest independent photography exhibition space in Western Canada. The two-storey, 25,000-square-foot facility may be just a few blocks from the gallery’s former home at Chesterfield Avenue and 3rd Street, but it’s a world apart, sitting on one of the most spectacular spots in North Vancouver, right on the water just west of Lonsdale Quay. After serving as a dry dock, the prime piece of land sat for decades as a parking lot. Designed by Patkau Architects—the company behind Whistler’s Audain Art Museum—the $20-million structure overlooks Burrard Inlet, the inner harbour, and Vancouver’s skyline. “You can use a lot of adjectives to describe it, but transformative is really the word that says the most,” Shier says. “I can’t recall another situation of a cultural organization going from such poverty to such riches.” THE GALLERY CAME TO be follow-

ing an initial $4-million gift from the Audain Foundation and Polygon Homes. The City of North Vancouver and the provincial and federal governments donated $2.5 million each, with major gifts also coming from Brigitte and Henning Freybe, TD Bank Group, and others. Fitting in with the city’s vision of the

seascape being a vibrant community hub, the gallery aims to be a gathering place. Its main floor consists of three walls of floor-to-ceiling glass—meaning you can stand across the street and see right through the building to the SeaBus, Canada Place, the cranes of the Port of Vancouver. Adjacent to the eastside main entrance is a public plaza (still under construction) that City of North Vancouver mayor Darrell Mussatto likens to Chicago’s Millennium Park. In front of the building’s south side is a “mega bench”, a 48-metre seat made of western red cedar, along the newly developed Spirit Trail, a multiuse path developed with the Squamish First Nation that will stretch from Deep Cove to Horseshoe Bay. The venue’s main floor, which has a café and gift shop, is free to visitors; the Chan Family Gallery will feature rotating installations and has seating overlooking the harbour. “The building is not this temple to academia but rather an accessible community hub,” says associate director Jessica Bouchard during a tour of the space. “It’s a place for people to stay a while, get a coffee, open their laptop, linger. It will be a hive of activity.” Adding to the accessibility factor is a just-announced boost from BMO, Bouchard notes: the financial institution has underwritten the admissions program for the gallery’s first four years, meaning entry will be by donation during that entire period. From a design perspective, one of the most striking elements of the gallery is its roof: a saw-tooth structure

features several north-facing windows that bathe the exhibition rooms in natural light. More than a practical way to brighten up the spaces even on the darkest, rainiest days, it’s also a nod to Lower Lonsdale’s shipbuilding past. During the Second World War, the area’s shipyard built more combat vessels than any other yard in Canada. “It harks back to the industrial history of the site,” lead architect John Patkau says on the line from his office. “This is the kind of roof that many historical factories and manufacturing facilities had because of the even light that comes in. Most gallery spaces are pretty buttoned-down and mute, but because the ceiling is so robustly developed it really makes this gallery different than any other you’ll find in this region.” Inside, the gallery’s materials shift from the lobby level’s concrete, glass, and steel to white walls and naturally distressed white-oak floors upstairs, where several distinct areas exist. There’s a bookshop focused on artworks and exhibitions. Another eye-catching aspect of the building is the exterior’s cladding. It’s made of perforated metal, the same kind of nonslip material used on docks, planks, and marina walkways. Behind it is a mirror of polished stainless steel, which reflects the outdoor light. “The building façade changes with the weather,” Patkau says. “If you visit on a sunny day and look up at it, you’ll see the sky reflected in the building. If you go on a fall and winter day when it’s overcast, the building reflects that greyness. So, it’s sombre and restrained some days and lively and animated on others.” THE POLYGON GALLERY IS the latest addition to North Vancouver’s ever-evolving waterfront. Lower Lonsdale is now home to Shipbuilders’ Square, where everything from concerts to yoga classes takes place, along with its bustling outdoor Shipyards Night Market; and the Pipe Shop, a restored heritage structure that started out in the 1940s as a marine

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pipefitting facility and is now used for private and community events. The Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier is home to the North Shore’s largest conference facilities. Soon to come to the area are a public plaza with a retractable roof that will feature an outdoor skating rink in winter and water park in summer as well as the new 16,000-squarefoot home of the North Vancouver Museum and Archives. The historic neighbourhood’s revitalization has led to an influx of new housing developments, attracting downsizers, first-time buyers, and office workers who prefer the 12-minute SeaBus ride downtown to a bridge commute. Among the newest projects in Lower Lonsdale, affectionately known as LoLo, are the Morrison, modern townhomes designed by SHAPE Architecture, and Cascade at the Pier by Pinnacle International, a luxury project that gives residents access to that hotel’s amenities. According to Mussatto, the new arts centre has a special place within North Vancouver—literally and figuratively. He points out talk of a revitalized shoreline started well before he was first elected as a city councillor in 1993. “The gallery is in the heart of our city and is going to be another amazing activity at the waterfront,” Mussatto says. “I see it not just as a local attraction but a regional attraction.” Despite the gallery’s move, Shier says its mandate remains unchanged: to showcase compelling photography and photo-related art. Its inaugural exhibition, N. Vancouver, will feature pieces by Althea Thauberger, Stephen Waddell, Jeff Wall, and many others. He says it was important that the opening exhibit reflect the community that the arts hub calls home. “Lower Lonsdale is really shifting,” Shier adds. “Before, when people came over on the SeaBus, they’d wander around Lonsdale Quay, then get back on and go back to Vancouver without a whole lot to do down there. Now, there’s a locus for staying a while.” -

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Clockwise from left, molo’s shape-shifting Urchin Softlight; Brothers Dressler’s handcrafted Branch chandelier; and Bensen’s sleek winged Park chair by Vancouver-based Niels Bendtsen.

Scandinavian style lives on in True Nordic > BY JA NET SM IT H

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ook around your home, and it’s likely that some piece of furniture shows the influences of Scandinavian design. Since at least the middle of the last century, the style’s clean lines and simple yet beautiful use of natural materials have captivated designphiles. In Canada, the Nordic sensibility seems to speak to us even more directly than anywhere else—and its aesthetic approach is enjoying a resurgence. For the first time, that idea is being explored and celebrated in an exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada features dozens of pieces made across this country since the 1930s. And though many of the works—by the likes of Kjeld and Erica Deichmann and Janis Kravis—draw from the midcentury when the style was at its peak, an amazing number of new furniture and lighting pieces in the show prove how strong the Scandinavian legacy still is today. Rachel Gotlieb, a Gardiner Museum adjunct curator who put together the exhibit with cultural historian and collector Michael Prokopow, said the idea for the project started when the pair coordinated a Studio North exhibit of Canadian work at the Interior Design Show in Toronto several years ago. “We were looking at it saying, ‘Gosh, it’s amazing how many artisans are still resonating and still exemplify the characteristics of

Scandinavian design,’ ” she tells the Straight from her office in Toronto. “So we both knew, as historians and collectors, that it was amazing to see it continuing in the 21st century.” Gotlieb and Prokopow trace the emergence of Scandinavian design in Canada back to the 1930s, when a wave of immigrants with fine carpentry and artisan skills first came here, and then to after the Second World War, when they arrived again, and when Canadians also started going abroad. A striking number of the new works in the show come from Vancouver. “Scandinavian designers have a real respect for material and form and real simplicity, and that resonates particularly with contemporary designers,” Gotlieb observes. “Form and function and lack of ornamentation appeals to Canadian sensibilities. And you’re seeing that sense of place is important to a lot of makers today. They’re turning to local materials, and that stems from Scandinavian design.” Here, meet a few of the local and Canadian talents who have designs in True Nordic. NIELS BENDTSEN

Bensen/Inform Interiors Vancouver furniture-design icon Niels Bendtsen is a living, breathing example of the history True Nordic traces in its show. In 1951, he arrived in Canada at eight years old with a father who was a highly skilled cabinetmaker. After

apprenticing under his dad he opened a store called Danet Interiors in West Vancouver in 1963 to sell Danishmodern lines like Fritz-Hansen. He recalls how accessible the now-coveted items were at the time. “I remember a Hans Wegner Wishbone chair was 48 bucks,” he says with a laugh. “It was not meant for the elite.” As he learned more about the industry, Bendtsen sold his store in 1972 and moved to Denmark to pursue a job as a full-time designer, working with companies including Eilersen. He designed the tubular-steel, cottoncanvas Ribbon chair, which sits in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection and which will appear in the True Nordic show. Of that era— the last peak of Danish design—he tells the Straight over the phone: “It was just something that sort of made sense in the world, because there had been so much clunky stuff and clean lines appealed at that time.” In the 1980s, Bendtsen returned to Canada. “Going back to Denmark, it felt very small when you’re used to all the openness and space,” he explains. “I needed the freedom and the air.” He bought back his store, now Gastown’s Inform Interiors, adding a manufacturing component to produce his designs. He was able to adapt some of the techniques he had gleaned from working with Scandinavian factories to his production in Canada. One of his newer pieces, Park, that he sells under his Bensen label, will also appear in True Nordic. It’s an upholstered, winged

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seat that slants back dramatically off a steel-leg base. These days Bendtsen works globally, producing in Italy, designing products in the States, and selling his work around the world. “Today technology is a huge part of it. At that time [the 1960s and ’70s] they had amazing woodworking factories, but that’s difficult to find today,” he says. But for all that’s changed, he sees a strong return to core Scandinavian values in design: “I think there is some going back to these logical solutions,” he says. MOLO DESIGN

Vancouver’s molo design is well represented in True Nordic, with pieces like its sleek glass Float tea set on view, as well as its pleated, shapeshifting brown-paper soft blocks and walls that are being used to form the space for the exhibit. Like so many other contemporary Canadian designers, the duo of Todd MacAllen and Stephanie Forsythe see alignments with Nordic design more than any direct inspiration. “Some of it is very subconscious but it’s definitely a place we’ve looked to and admired and felt a kinship with,” Forsythe says over the phone. “We’ve had a lot of opportunity to travel with our work, and Scandinavia is the one place I feel ‘Oh, these people are a lot like us.’ There’s a groundedness, a closeness to nature, with smaller cities. They’re very straightforward and sensible and yet things are celebrated for their beauty—but always in an honest way. Materials like wood, metal, glass—they’re not hiding what they are. They’re very elemental, with simple lines.” Forsythe studied in Finland, before she met MacAllen at architecture school in Halifax. She was inspired by the designs of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto—“buildings that didn’t end with the walls of the building but furniture too”—and studied at the university school of arts, design and architecture named for him. Looking at molo’s designs, she can see how she might have brought some lasting Nordic effects home with her. “There are a few ways that nature finds its way into our work: sensory experience is very important to us, and that ties back into Scandinavian design,” observes Forsythe, who’s working with MacAllen on a redesign of the company’s Venables Street studio, as well as a remote new studio in Tofino on the edge of the wilderness. “When you live in a colder climate you spend more time indoors, except both of our cultures spend a lot of time outdoors, too.” She points to molo’s Float teapot in the show as a perfect example: “It’s forming a centre for gathering,” she says. “It’s architectural because it does create a space for people to gather and it provides light and warmth and all those things—that’s very much a part of Scandinavian culture. “But we didn’t say, ‘Let’s sit down

and design a Scandinavian teapot,’ ” Forsythe adds with a laugh. Look in the show for the Urchin Softlight, too, a glowing floor lamp that has a fluid shape you can mould with your hands. “Light can shape a space, too, and lighting is extremely important in a place that gets very dark,” Forsythe says of the Nordic connection. “We offer it in a warm and a daylight white—and warm is the only colour someone will buy in Scandinavia. The farther north you go, the darker it gets, and it’s that primal feel of candlelight.” And with that it appears that Scandinavian design has come full circle with Canada; now our designers are shipping back homewares to places like Sweden and Denmark. “We did not set out with any master plan, we just started designing things for ourselves and put it out into the world,” says Forsythe. “Only 50 percent of our sales are in Canada. And we sell a lot in Scandinavian countries. We’ve even sold into the Aalto school!” BROTHERS DRESSLER

Designer siblings Lars and Jason Dressler may craft their salvaged- and locally-sourced-wood furniture in a Toronto workshop, but signs of their creations are everywhere you look in B.C. One of their iconic Branch chandeliers, the rustic yet sophisticated showstopper that’s become the key image for the True Nordic exhibit, hangs at Wolf in the Fog in Tofino; they’ve worked on designs for Deep Cove’s Cafe Orso and the Downtown Eastside’s Calabash Bistro. When the Straight reaches Lars, he’s packing one chandelier off to a residence in Whistler, and another to Kelowna. He’s one of many Canadian designers who have absorbed the influence of Scandinavia, more than studied it. “I don’t directly observe what’s going on there,” he admits over the phone. “But we grew up with pieces around our house that definitely had that influence—in teak or walnut. “I think the big tie-in is we have this attachment to nature, and living here in Canada we were exposed to similar things. We have similar mindsets and go through similar seasonal changes. It’s almost like the philosophy is making do with what you have at hand, also working with our hands and looking at different methods—like steam bending or fine joinery.” Sustainability fits nicely into that approach, and the brothers look for responsibly sourced woods (especially oak), building the Branch chandeliers out organically, so that every piece is different. They also craft everything from curvy birch-plywood loungers to modular sofas with built-in storage. About all that’s different about True Nordic is the setting: “It’s an honour to be part of a gallery event,” says Lars. True Nordic is at the Vancouver Art Gallery from Saturday (October 28) to January 28, 2018.


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Compact coffee tables do multiple duties HIDE AND SEEK There are two types of people in this world: those in desperate need of storage solutions and those lying about being in desperate need of storage solutions. So you can imagine our excitement when we discovered BoConcept’s Chiva (from $1,919), a sleek coffee table with—count ’em—one, two, three integrated stowing compartments that will set the hearts of both staunch minimalists and neat freaks aflutter. Hide away remotes, charging cables, and other unsightly living-room clutter with ease or simply raise one of the three tabletops to assist with TV snacking. Find it at BoConcept (1275 West 6th Avenue). METAL If you’ve ever dreamed about inhabiting an industrial loft—complete with exposed wood beams, concrete floors, and an original brick wall or two—you’ll love Pallucci’s Luna ($149). Crafted from a durable metal, the table boasts two levels on which you can store coffee-table books, candles, decorative sculptures, and other knickknacks. It even comes equipped with a set of working wheels, so you can roll it away to make room for unexpected guests, impromptu

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with a twist. Constructed from solid acacia, Moe’s Home Collection’s Hudson two-drawer coffee table ($639) shows off the wood’s natural grain and contrasts the light hue with black metal accents that add a hard industrial edge. Two large pull-out drawers make packing away remotes and books a cinch, while the round legs elevate the table enough to allow for extra storage underneath. Dwellers with kids and pets need not worry: packed with character, this is a piece that will only look Clockwise from bottom left, Cattelan Italia Kaos; Moe’s Home Collection Hudson two-drawer; and BoConcept Chiva. better with time and wear. Find it dance parties, and last-minute sleep- TRIPLE THREAT While the adage introverts—it certainly fits the bill at Moe’s Home Collection (1728 overs. Find it at Pallucci Furniture (32 “the more the merrier” doesn’t with Cattelan Italia’s Kaos ($2,200). Glen Drive and 1305 Welch Street, East Broadway and 105–20551 Langley necessarily hold up in every situa- The living-room set includes three North Vancouver). > LUCY LAU tion—especially for self-described small tables of varying heights, Bypass, Langley).

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ocal fibre artist Jolynn Vandam’s Etsy shop, Saige and Skye, had been open for less than 30 days when she received an order that effectively cleared out her entire stock. Having spotted a woven wall hanging on Pinterest in early 2015, the stay-at-home mom had picked up a kids’ weaving kit and taught herself the craft, which involves interlacing yarn on a loom to produce a piece of fabric or cloth. She successfully created a wall hanging of her own and, a month or so later, had fashioned enough of the woolly boho-chic tapestries—nine in total—to launch Saige and Skye at the encouragement of her family and friends. A small café in Brooklyn bought all of them. “I think ever since then, I’ve been, like, ‘Huh, I’m onto something,’ ” Vandam tells the Straight by phone. Indeed, that first batch of textural, one-off weavings soon led to hundreds more—now constructed from an array of natural fibres like cotton, merino wool, and jute—as well as a collection of plant hangers made using the art of macramé, its name a loose translation of the Arabic word for “embroidered veil”, in which knotted cords or ropes produce a decorative item. (Describing herself as “pretty crafty”, Vandam is also self-taught in this realm.) Although weaving, and macramé in particular, were all the rage in the ’70s—when the handicrafts decorated wood-panelled walls, frocks, and even hippie bedspreads in shades of cream, sickly green, and orange—the popularity of Vandam’s and other textile artists’ DIY décor demonstrates that the trend is seeing a renewal. “People love to say that my stuff is a throwback to the ’70s,” says Vandam, “but I like to believe that they’re a more modern version.” Updating her woven tapestries for today’s more minimalist crowds, the Fort Langley–based weaver hangs them from pieces of driftwood and incorporates dreamy hues like cotton-candy pink, indigo, and soft yellow. Many of her macramé pieces, meanwhile, also hang from wood or hold handcrafted ceramic planters and even bowls of fruit. Each fibre object takes anywhere between six hours and a month to painstakingly complete. Unlike paintings, prints, or photographs, their homey, chunky nature offers a welcome contrast to more streamlined households, which, these days, tend to favour harder edges. “It’s more of a textural art, as opposed to a traditional painting,” notes Vandam. Ana Sousa, a local textile artist who began weaving scarves almost a decade ago and has since transitioned to

woven wall hangings, sees the style’s resurgence as the result of Vancouverites rediscovering the beauty of handmade objects. “I’ve seen a spike in the last two years, where people are not only commissioning and buying the work, which is fantastic, but also wanting to learn how to make it,” says Sousa, who, like Vandam, also teaches DIY workshops around town. “And when they see a handwoven piece on their wall, it’s like that connection for them.” Made predominantly from fine silk, Sousa’s decorative weavings, which she markets under the name Ana Isabel Textiles, lean more delicate than bulky and often feature bunches of gold, white, and copper threads protruding from the body. The wild, overhanging fibres add an unexpected punch of texture to the hangings, creating a sort of controlled chaos on the otherwise sleek and straightforward pieces. “It’s about bringing in those techniques [from the ’70s], but using a limited colour palette,” the East Vancouver–based artist explains, “and applying really luxury materials, rather than this chunky, itchy wool or acrylic.” While she’s yet to delve into weaving, Charlene Dittrich’s macramé hangings modernize the retro craft too: specifically, by anchoring the knotted art within a metal or wooden hoop so that the shape resembles a dream catcher. The self-taught artist and owner of Fox and Flicker also employs plenty of colour—from bold pinks and purples to ocean blues and greens—in her creations, and lately, has been experimenting with natural dyes, which she applies to cotton rope. For Dittrich, who appears regularly at the Eastside Flea, the return of macramé fits into a larger comeback that’s led to a reprioritization of everyday ethics. “There’s such a big boho movement right now, where the ’60s and ’70s are kind of resurfacing in terms of values,” she asserts. “People are caring more about the environment and this simple way of living.” Unlike avocado-green appliances and shag carpeting, however, you can expect woven and knotted art to stick around—not least because of its accessibility (“You only need a few supplies and there’s little to no cleanup,” notes Dittrich) and the fact that textile artists are having way too much fun with it. “There’s really only a handful of knots that you can make, but there are so many different techniques and variations that you can make with those,” Dittrich says of macramé. “It’s almost endless, really.” “The textures, the fibres,” adds Vandam, “there are a million things you can do with a single macramé or weaving.” -


URBAN LIVING

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P E T E R WA L L D OW N TOW N L E C T U R E S E R I E S

EXCHANGE

Interior designer Tiffany Pratt believes unexpected colours and textures are vital to creating a cozy, comfortable, and healthy abode. Lauren Kolyn photo.

How to design your way to a happy home

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ike the realm of fashion, interior design is typically dominated by trends. Talk of renovations leads ambitious homeowners and renters to Pinterest, glossies, and Instagram feeds, where inspiration boards are crafted from staged shots of boho-chic living rooms, all-white kitchens, and bathrooms ornate enough to belong in five-star hotels. But according to interior designer and HGTV Canada star Tiffany Pratt, function should always precede the cosmetic. “When I’m designing a space, I don’t care right out of the gate what their [the client’s] aesthetic is,” she tells the Straight by phone. “I need to know what the problems are. I need to know what doesn’t fit where, what comes and goes, what needs to get stored in what places.” Whether it’s carving an office out of a tight space to instill a better work-life balance at home, creating storage solutions, or ensuring your kitchen allows room for unexpected guests, interior design should always strive to avoid pitfalls and up the efficiency of one’s day-to-day life. Ahead of her appearance at this year’s Vancouver Fall Home Show, Pratt shares a few of her top design tricks for building a more relaxing, livable, and healthy home.

also function as decorative objects, says Pratt, but LED spotlights and light strips, which you can place under kitchen cabinets, in the space between your wall and sofa, and in other hard-to-get-to spots, work just as well. “As long as there’s lighting coming from somewhere,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be the feature table lamp; it can just be a light source.”

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to tidy up and rid our lives of unnecessary excess, many of us have adopted the Nordic interior-design style: clean, minimalist, and with nary a burst of colour (no, black doesn’t count) in sight. According to Pratt, however, unexpected hues and textures are vital to creating a cozy, livable home. “It could be a pillow, carpeting, a piece of wall art, the ceiling, anything,” she says. “Try to incorporate colour into your home in some way.” At the moment, the designer is gravitating toward ’80s hues and prints, especially dusty shades of rose, orange, and blue and funky geometric patterns. She’s also a big fan of what she calls “over- or underscaling”, where large furnishings or décor objects are placed next to ones that are significantly smaller. “I would say that’s one thing I’m loving right now,” she says, “putting something extremely big next to someREDUCE CLUTTER What’s the first thing extremely small and giving the step to inhabiting a cleaner, calmer, eye a place to just play.” and more soothing household? Decluttering. “A lot of people have fur- RENEW COUNTERS Sometimes, niture that doesn’t fit their house clearing your mind of the day’s worbecause they probably downsized and ries and stress is as easy as clearing they have furniture that’s too large for off a busy countertop—especially if their space,” says Pratt, “or they’re that countertop is visible, say, from keeping things because they inherited your bedroom or that armchair you it or they spent a lot of money on it, do your unwinding in. “You want to keep your sightlines clean so it’s like but they don’t love it anymore.” Consider parting with anything that you’re sending one beautiful, moddoesn’t bring you joy or fails to serve as ern, clean message,” explains Pratt. a storage solution, the designer sug- “So if you’ve got old countertops gests. Whether it’s a boxful of china, a or dark countertops or something collection of vintage picture frames, or that’s really sucking in the visibility, a full four-person dining set, chances that’s a really inexpensive, great way are you’ll be making someone’s day by to improve your space.” donating it to a thrift store or selling A beautiful slab of marble is a it online. “I always tell people there’s dream for many, but Pratt encourages somebody who’s gonna need some- people to consider quartz and hybrid thing that you have,” adds Pratt. quartz, which are durable, low-maintenance, and more cost-effective. LIGHT IT UP The lack of sunlight She’s a particular fan of Silestone, during fall and winter can make it a hybrid quartz that combines the hard to get out of bed. For sufferers mineral with other raw materials, in of mild to serious SAD—seasonal af- the shade Lusso. “It works in almost fective disorder—it can even lead to every home because it has a white, feelings of lethargy and depression. creamy background,” she says, “but “A lot of people in Canada are always it’s got a little bit of warmth and little complaining about darkness, and bit of cool grey in it, too.” that’s half the year,” says Pratt. The solution? Maximizing the The Vancouver Fall Home Show takes light you do have and incorporating place Thursday to Sunday (October it into areas that could use a boost. 26 to 29) at the Vancouver ConvenTable and floor lamps are great and tion Centre’s West building.

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well-known Japanese restaurant in the Kitsilano neighbourhood temporarily closed its doors back in late May to undergo a transformation. It was a lengthy wait, but the dining establishment recently reopened for business under a new head chef and name: Yuwa Japanese Cuisine (2775 West 16th Avenue), formerly known as Zest Japanese Cuisine, made its debut in late September. “Zest opened in 2005, so it has already been 12 years,” Iori Kataoka, co-owner of Yuwa (and, formerly, Zest), told the Georgia Straight at her newly rebranded restaurant. “We The newly opened Yuwa Japanese Cuisine (formerly known as Zest) focuses knew [the change] would happen on traditional regional dishes, such as this sockeye salmon sanshozuke-ae. sometime, but it happened in very good timing and in a very good way.” we decided to do it here, and it was tartare, jalapeño and koji rice-malt Its new executive chef and co- an easy transition.” dressing, and taro-root chips) from owner, Masahiro Omori, has more Keeping Zest’s old digs was im- northern Japan will be available, as than 20 years of experience in the portant to her because she had well as veal haccho-miso nikomi (veal Japanese-restaurant industry. He become so familiar with the neigh- cheek, haccho-miso dashi, and juliserved as the opening chef at Kataoka’s bourhood. But plenty of changes enned leek) from central Japan. sake and izakaya (a Japanese bar with were introduced to the space, includThere won’t be a big selection inexpensive snacks and dishes) spot, ing its new name, Yuwa, which al- of distilled alcohol, but Yuwa will ShuRaku, in downtown Vancouver. ludes to Omori’s grandmother, who continue to offer a full list of wines Kataoka explained that Zest’s operated a fish shop in Japan’s Chiba and sakes to pair with its traditionexecutive chef, Tatsuya Katagiri, had prefecture for more than 35 years. al dishes. been working with her for more than As for the menu, long-time Zest Besides the menu changes, its eight years and he patrons can expect interior design will also differ from felt that it was time a new culinary its predecessor. The 1,600-squareconcept under foot space with 45 seats now to move on. “[Tatsuya] was the helm of chef features toned-down walls, walTammy Kwan in his 40s, had a Omori. nut-wood tile accents, and a singlehouse and a child, so the next thing “The previous chef had a more piece Douglas fir bar. was to become independent,” Kata- fusion and innovative technique to “I wanted to have a little bit for oka said, hinting that Zest’s long-time his food,” Kataoka explained. “So space for people to relax and enjoy chef will be opening a restaurant of now we are pulling ourselves back their food. It’s nice and simple, and his own in the near future. “We were a little bit to stay within tradition. that’s what I wanted,” Kataoka said. very happy to support him.” [The menu] will be something more Washiz (traditional paper made At the same time, she needed to region-based, and guests can experi- of fibre sourced from local trees and find someone else who was capable ence foods from northern, middle, shrubs) art is also being shipped from of heading the kitchen at her upscale and southern parts of Japan.” Japan for the restaurant’s walls. eatery. It didn’t take long for her to Guests will be able to indulge in Yuwa offers a comfortable setting decide who she should work with for small portions, deep-fried, grilled, for those who want to enjoy tradher next culinary venture. or simmered dishes, greens and itional Japanese food, and Kataoka “At the time, I was already talk- soups, noodles and rice bowls, and emphasized that she wants to feature ing to chef [Omori] about opening sashimi and sushi. cuisine from the backcountry and a new restaurant,” Kataoka said. Region-specific dishes like sock- perfect it so guests will be able to take “Instead of finding a new location, eye salmon sanshozuke-ae (salmon a culinary tour through Japan. -

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his column is being filed from Chablis, right in Cru: sites considered higher quality due to better aspects, the heart of France. This is my first time visit- including slope, sun exposure, and soil conditions. ing the region, though I’ve long been a fan of this Finally, the top-tier appellation is Chablis Grand Cru, Chardonnay mecca. The actual town of Chablis with ideal growing conditions, based on those justis tiny (home to 2,500), but the charm factor is sky-high, mentioned factors. as one might imagine. Because they encompass many areas, and specific sites Let me set the scene. are very important, the Premier Cru and Grand Cru apI’m currently in a small café, grabbing an espresso pellations are further broken down into climats, which between winery visits, and church bells are ringing as can be considered subappellations. I type. There are about a dozen gentlemen standing We will get into those next week. at the bar with their coffees, in animated conversaFor now, let’s look at Petit Chablis and Chablis and tion. Outside the windows on this busy corner there the thing that makes them great: the soil in which their are a few wine bars and small cafés, vines grow. For Petit Chablis, the soil a bakery, and a charcuterie storeis mainly Portlandian: high in calfront with sausages hanging in cium and marl, offering wines with the window. I’ve already counted fruity, fresh character. It lies atop Kurtis Kolt a half-dozen people riding past on Kimmeridgian soil, which is geologicbicycles with baguettes sticking out of their bags or ally older and closer to the surface in the Chablis, Prebaskets. It’s such a storybook scene that I wouldn’t be mier Cru, and Grand Cru appellations. This soil is much surprised to see the clichéd striped shirt and beret on richer in compacted layers of limestone and clay, with a the next person to stroll past. telltale characteristic of fossilized oyster shells, offering It’s cloudy and cold today, with intermittent rain. The fantastic minerality and character. weather dominates discussion here, as its impact on the This week, let’s start with these two profiles and 2016 vintage caused production volume to plummet for a couple of recommended bottles. many, mainly due to hail and frost. For more than a few winemakers I’ve chatted with, their output was slashed WILLIAM FEVRE PETIT CHABLIS 2015 ($25.49, in half. On the upside, 2017 is looking considerably bet- B.C. Liquor Stores) Simple, elegant, lovely. The grapes are handpicked and then lightly pressed, with the wine ter, so there is optimism in the air. The town is smack-dab in the middle of the wine re- spending all of its production time in stainless steel. gion, with the Serein River flowing through from south- Fresh and citrusy, with light floral notes and juicy acidity. west to northeast. The river basically splits the region into two subregions, colloquially referred to as the left LA CHABLISIENNE CHABLIS LA PIERRELEE 2014 bank and right bank. Although there are hills and val- ($31.99, B.C. Liquor Stores) La Chablisienne is a cooperaleys on both sides, it can be taken as a general rule that tive winery, producing about 25 percent of the region’s Chardonnays grown on the right bank may be a little wine. This wine comes from 20-year-old vines and is more ripe and generous, with its south-southeast expos- fermented in steel tanks, with six months spent on the ure, whereas the left bank’s north-northeast exposure lees for added richness. Exotic notes of jasmine, quince, and guava swirl out of the glass with ease, followed by sees wines a little more subtle and nuanced. There are only four appellations in Chablis, so let’s crab-apple notes, Bosc pear, and a good crack of mineral look at them from least fancy to most fancy. (Those character. A nice, long finish keeps the good times rollaren’t technical terms.) Petit Chablis is our first ap- ing. Although it’s wonderful now, a few more years will pellation, with swaths of vineyards spread around the make it all the more complex. Do get some fresh oysters more outlying areas, often at higher altitudes. Next or grill up some halibut or throw together a creamy seaup is the eponymous Chablis appellation, the largest food pasta; any of these will work well. Next week, we’ll drill down further into those one, also with sites across the region, usually in valleys, often in closer proximity to the river. Following Premier and Grand Crus and visit with some local Chablis, as we climb up the ladder, is Chablis Premier legends. Stay tuned! -

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S E A S O N PA R T N E R S


ARTS

It doesn’t come up in explicit form during

B Y A L EX A NDER VAR TY

the Georgia Straight’s conversations with Rosemary Georgeson, Olivia C. Davies, and Nicola Harwood, but “me, too” has to be seen as the implicit subtext of the work they’ll be presenting as part of the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival. All over the Internet, women—and some men as well—are sharing their stories of abuse, providing a painfully apt context for Georgeson and Davies’s dance/storytelling hybrid, Crow’s Nest and Other Places She’s Gone, and in some cases the source material for Harwood’s interactive sound installation, Summoning (No Words). But while the “me, too” posts on social media are a heartbreaking archive of suffering, these three artists are taking the next step: using abuse as the impetus to create works of healing balm and beauty. That’s certainly the intent of Harwood’s piece, which uses motion-sensing technology and generative soft ware to create an ever-changing tapestry of wordless song, created in conjunction with vocalists Allison Girvan, Bessie Wapp, Tanya Tagaq, Vandana Vishwas, Sandy Scofield, Andrea Menard, and Mutya Macatumpag. “We have to have a response that’s not just more stories of brutalization,” says Harwood, reached at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, where she’s head of the creative-writing department. “Like, we have to have a response that’s a healing response and a celebratory response that talks about the power of life and the power of resilience and recovery and

Women find their strength

Above, Olivia C. Davies in Crow’s Nest and Other Places She’s Gone (Chris Randle photo); below left, vocalist Mutya Macatumpag in Summoning (No Words).

Crow’s Nest draws, in part, on the real-life friendship between its At this year’s Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival, a two creators: Georgedance work and a sound installation explore hope, not despair son was one of the first Vancouver artists to joy. People sometimes get caught in the victim- reach out to Davies after the Welsh, Métis, and ization and the brutality—and we have to go into Anishinabe dancer moved west into Coast Salthose places. But there’s this other service that’s ish territory, and they’ve worked on several proneeded, which is a healing service, and which jects together. But the interdisciplinary piece these works provide by offering moments of joy, also draws on the real-life story of Chiwid, a moments of celebration. Tsilhqot’in woman who found healing in the land “I think it’s really important that that narrative after outliving an abusive spouse. is as active as the other narrative,” she continues. “As the story goes, when her partner passed, her “I mean, otherwise people will just burn out and husband, she didn’t want to go back indoors again they’ll go away and hide, so you don’t create because of all the trauma,” Davies says. “From community and you don’t create strength.” what I understand, she lived out on the land—and Strength, on a more individualized level, is she was somewhat of a mythical figure also, bealso the theme of Crow’s Nest and Other Places cause she didn’t go indoors again. She would stop Gone which traces the life and death of and visit people and have a cup of tea, but basicShe’s Gone, Blue, a homeless Indigenous woman, in part ally, like Blue and Rose, she lived on the edge of through the memories of her best friend, Rose. society. And I think when Rosemary brought ChiIntriguingly, Blue’s passage into spirit is enacted wid’s story to me, as we were developing Crow’s through dance, with acclaimed choreographer Nest and Other Places She’s Gone, it really struck Davies taking on that role, while Georgeson’s warm me that she had become a legend, which was really voice provides a more literal narrative. powerful for me as this beacon of hope for other As with Summoning (No Words), the intent women who had experienced abuse or trauma in here is not to plumb the depths of despair that can their homes, and who sought refuge not through sometimes be found in the Downtown Eastside, western means, but through being immersed in but to show how love, friendship, and faith can nature—by returning to the first mothers and the shine through even the most marginalized lives. first fathers in the rocks and the trees.” “It’s really a story about kinship, about women A similarly elemental power animates Sumbanding together to move forward together,” Davies moning (No Words), which sounds quite magical explains, interviewed with Georgeson via speaker- in Harwood’s description. The interdisciplinary phone from the Skwachàys Lodge, a Vancouver Na- artist first worked with composer Don Macdontive Housing Society–operated hotel in the DTES. ald to create a set of parameters for the invited “So much of what the story of Rose and Blue is hold- singers to work within, and then tasked sound ing is that even though they’re experiencing some designer Simon Lysander Overstall to create the of the difficulties of life on the edges of society, it’s algorithms that control how they’re presented. their kinship that makes them each stronger.” “As you move through the space, the sensors pick

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up your body, and so it’s never the same,” Harwood says. “The sound is responding to the people in the space.…And Simon has designed it in such a way that it builds, and it crescendoes, and there’s a dissonance, and then it settles down, and then there are beautiful little moments where it feels really harmonious. And then it will go to quiet.” It’s not coincidental that the piece gives listeners the impression of having some agency in its creation, a notion that fits in well with Heart of the City’s overall aim: using art to empower Downtown Eastside residents so that they can push for positive change in their own lives and in the community around them. “By giving them space to f lourish, it feeds back into faith and hope,” Georgeson says. “There are incredible, amazing artists in the Downtown Eastside that are supported by this festival—artists that wouldn’t be heard or recognized outside of the East Side.” “Heart of the City also offers an incredible opportunity for people who would perhaps otherwise not feel comfortable seeing theatre, dance, opera, or music in our civic theatres,” Davies adds. “I really hope, and dearly believe, that women who may otherwise feel like the theatre is not a place for their stories to be shared will think differently after this year’s festival—and that they’ll potentially engage in their own expression and creativity, so we’ll see more Indigenous and more women creators presenting work on stages across our country and beyond.” Crow’s Nest and Other Places She’s Gone runs at the KW Production Studio in the Woodward’s Building on Friday and Saturday (October 27 and 28). Summoning (No Words) is at the same venue from Thursday to Saturday (October 26 to 28). For a full Heart of the City schedule, visit www.heart ofthecityfestival.com/.

ARTS

Editor’s choice DEAD CAN DANCE In its ongoing series of artful Night Shift events on the first Thursday of every month, the Museum of Anthropology is set to transform into a vast underworld for Day of the Dead festivities on November 2. Don your best skeleton face paint and come out for an immersive event. At 6 p.m., activities commence with altar-making with the women’s art collective Retazos and artist Ari De La Mora (whose work is shown here), with live music by DJ Kemo; bring a photo of someone you’ve lost to add to the collective shrine. At 8, journey into the interactive theatre work Underworld, in which the folks from SITE theatre guide you through a decaying landscape on a quest to liberate the dead. There’s more, from live painting to an end-of-night dance party—all sounding morbidly fun. Night Shift: Day of the Dead is at the UBC Museum of Anthropology next Thursday (November 2).

High five

1 2 3 4 5

Five events you just can’t miss this week

In the news

BIG REVEAL Emily Carr University of Art + Design is ready for its Big Reveal: on Friday (October 27) from 2 to 9 p.m. and Saturday (October 28) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the new architectural landmark MORPHED (October 27 and 28 at the Vancouver opens its doors to the public, Playhouse) A rare chance to see Finnish dance offering peeks inside its web titan Tero Saarinen’s bold vision. of studios, plus screenings and demonstrations. Also on HALLOWEEN MONSTER MATCH (October hand at 521 East 1st Avenue: 28 at the Improv Centre) Throw on a costume and an Alumni Art Market where you can shop for art, design, and craft party with Vancouver TheatreSports League. objects, created by 11 of the school’s graduates. Look for the work of John Ferrie, Lawrence Lowe, and David and Kaoru Coates (of Riding the Pine designs, whose shadow box is shown here), the makers of HAPPY PLACE (To October 29 at the Firehall Great White North–influenced art crafted from recycled boards and Arts Centre) This show gathers some of hockey sticks. You’ll also be able to catch two big exhibits: 88 Artists Vancouver’s legendary female actors. From 88 Years, an alumni retrospective featuring work by graduates from 1929 to 2017 in the Michael O’Brian Exhibition Commons; and GORDON SMITH: THE BLACK PAINTINGS The Pacific, a show about the shared space of the Pacific Ocean, in the (To February 4, 2018, at the Vancouver Art Gallery) facility’s Libby Leshgold Gallery. Bike valets will be on hand, and on The West Coast icon delves into darker work that Saturday, the school will run a free shuttle from both the nearby Main contrasts his famous abstracted landscapes. Street–Science World Skytrain station and the VCC Clark Skytrain station via Whistler Rides. Shuttles will run every 30 minutes. OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 23 EVELYN GLENNIE (October 28, 29, and 30 at the Orpheum) The reigning queen of percussion brings her virtuoso beats to the VSO.


ARTS

Tenor tackles epic Orfeo role > B Y A LE X A ND ER VA R TY

I

“Pick of The Vancouver Fringe Festival”

– Inside Vancouver

Beverley Elliott Photo: Jordan Watkins

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24 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017

n Claudio Monteverdi’s epic Orfeo, which Early Music Vancouver will revive at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts this weekend, Colin Balzer gets to play a musician of celestial abilities. But, as he reports from his home in Augsburg, Germany, he’s not letting the title role go to his head. “Perhaps another tenor would say ‘Well, obviously I’m a tenor, so it makes perfect sense that I’m the greatest musician in the world,’ ” he tells the Straight with a notably self-effacing laugh. “But for me, the challenge is that it’s such a fantastic role, unlike the majority of the other characters in the piece. There’s not much character development happening but, as Orfeo, you get to really showcase so many different things.…You get to be in love, but then you also get to be absolutely devastated, broken, and afraid. You get to showcase your demigod powers at one moment and then you’re absolutely crushed close to the end. You’re despondent, enraged, and then finally accepting. And the trick is to really bring all that across. “It certainly is intimidating,” he continues, laughing again. Adding to the stress of performing the legendary role of the singer who loses his great love, Eurydice, and then nearly brings her back from the caverns of the underworld is that many scholars consider Orfeo the first true opera—although that’s an assessment Balzer disagrees with. “Perhaps it might be more accurate to say that it’s the first really great opera that we have a record of,” he says, noting that Monteverdi’s masterpiece diverges from today’s operatic norm, both structurally and sonically. “It’s not as cut-and-dried as we have now, with ‘Okay, there’s a lot of text; let’s get that story moving along’ and ‘Now let’s sit with one idea, and sing a

Colin Balzer, who plays the lead in Early Music Vancouver’s concert, calls Claudio Monteverdi’s masterpiece “the first really great opera that we have a record of”.

long aria with a lot of repeated text,’ ” he explains. “In Orfeo, there’s really next to no repetition. It’s maybe more like proto-opera, in a sense, because there’s so much that’s different about it. The style of singing is different; you use different vocal techniques in the music. The instrumentation is different, as well—which is probably one of the reasons why it’s rarely done in opera houses, because you need to use historic wind instruments for which there are no modern equivalents. If you use trumpets instead of cornetti, for instance, it just wouldn’t make sense.” Early Music Vancouver’s production, he adds, will have cornetti— along with bass viols, chittaroni, and a sopranino recorder, all under the direction of Seattle’s masterful lutenist and conductor Stephen Stubbs. Who, it turns out, will be a stabilizing factor for Balzer in this most challenging of roles. Stubbs was also present

when the singer made his professional debut, some 20 years ago, in EMV’s previous production of Orfeo—although at that time Balzer found himself in a far less elevated position. “I was fresh out of university at UBC and [former EMV artistic director] José Verstappen called me up and said, ‘Would you like to have a role in this opera?’ ” he recalls. “And I said, ‘Well, okay. What’s a Monteverdi?’ So that’s where I first met Stephen Stubbs, and it was the beginning of doing multiple, multiple projects together—and basically where I cut my teeth in that style of music.” His role in that earlier production? “I was a shepherd,” Balzer says. By the end of this Orfeo, however, he’ll be a god—and somehow that feels just right. Early Music Vancouver presents Orfeo at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on Sunday (October 29).


Vancouver Moving Theatre with the Carnegie Community Centre and the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians with a host of community partners presents

I4th Annual DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE

HEART CITY FESTIVAL OF THE

October 25 to November 5 SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS SUMMONING (NO WORDS) in response to violence against women Interactive installation with sound recordings by Girvan, Macatumpag, Menard, Scofield, Tagaq, Vishwas, Wapp Opening Oct 26, 7:30pm; Oct 27 & Oct 28, drop-in 12-5pm, 7pm KW Production Studio, 111 W. Hastings By donation SAWAGI TAIKO & TZO’KAM Japanese taiko, First Nation singers/drummers Fri Oct 27, 7pm, World Art Centre, SFU Woodwards, 149 W. Hastings Free CROW’S NEST AND OTHER PLACES SHE’S GONE Weaving choreography and storytelling Olivia C. Davies, Rosemary Georgeson, Emily Long Fri Oct 27 – Sat Oct 28, 7:45pm (pre-event Summoning 7pm). KW Production Studio, 111 W. Hastings Suggested donation $10 SOUNDS GLOBAL ENSEMBLE Jonathan Bernard, Moshe Denburg, Bic Hoang, Lan Tung Sun Oct 29, 3pm. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, 578 Carrall By donation TRUE VOICE THEATRE PROJECT Exploring community, diversity, homelessness Creativa International: Luisa Jojic, Ulla Laidlaw, Ariel Martz-Oberlander Mon Oct 30, 8pm. Firehall Arts Centre, 280 E. Cordova Pay what you can MISSING Marie Clements (libretto), Brian Current (composer) City Opera Vancouver/Pacific Opera Victoria Nov 3, 7, 9, 11, 8pm; Nov 5, 2pm York Theatre, 639 Commercial Dr. Tickets: thecultch.com ILLICIT: STORIES FROM A HARM REDUCTION MOVEMENT Thurs Nov 2, 6:30pm. KW Production Studio, 111 W. Hastings By donation BREATH-AHHH Theatre Terrific explores breath: something we all share Fri Nov 3, 6pm; Sat Nov 4, 2pm. KW Atrium Studio, 111 W. Hastings Free JAZZ CONFLUENCE Carnegie Jazz Band & Brad Muirhead Quartet Dalannah Gail Bowen, Lorae Farrell, Ellen Marple, Tegan Ceschi-Smith Fri Nov 3, 7pm. Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main Free

UKRAINIAN HALL CONCERT & SUPPER Barvinok Choir, Dovbush Dancers, Sawagi Taiko, Raven Spirit Dance Sun Nov 5, 3pm. Ukrainian Hall, 805 E. Pender Tickets $25, 604.254.3436

HISTORY & SOCIAL JUSTICE WALKS

$10. For start locations and further details visit website. WOMEN AT WORK: CHINATOWN/STRATHCONA – HOME & NEIGHBOURHOOD 1917-1960 Marcia Toms. Sun Oct 29, 11am A WALK OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES John Atkin. Sun Oct 29, 3pm SNEAK PEEK OF CHINATOWN Judy Lam Maxwell, Steven Wong. Sat Nov 4, 11am

604.628.5672

heartofthecityfestival.com over 100 events over 50 locations

Music • Dance • Opera • Spoken Word • Film • Theatre • History Walks • Art Talks • Gallery Exhibits

OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 25


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VSO CHAMBER PLAYERS A 4-CONCERT SERIES AT PYATT HALL, VSO SCHOOL OF MUSIC

KAREN GERBRECHT

AARON MCDONALD

JULIA LOCKHART

CHRISTIE RESIDE

by Jacqueline Firkins adapted from a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell Directed by Courtenay Dobbie

November 9—25, 2017 Frederic Wood Theatre Tickets: theatrefilm.ubc.ca

ANN OKAGAITO

The series begins

NOVEMBER 8 & 9 AT 7:30PM & NOVEMBER 12 AT 2PM:

THE MUSIC OF

SCHUBERT & BRAHMS!

The extraordinary musicians of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra step off the Orpheum stage and into the intimate, state-of-the-art Pyatt Hall in the VSO School of Music to perform some of the greatest chamber music ever written. NICHOLAS WRIGHT

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ARTS

Musicians join forces to ride jazz Crosscurrents > BY A LEX A NDER VA R TY

I

t’s not exactly a private recital, but Zakir Hussain is singing just for me. On the phone from his home in San Anselmo, California, the master percussionist snaps his fingers in perfect swing time, and intones a melody that seems straight out of 1940s Harlem. But it’s not. “Now that,” Hussain says, “is an Indian film song. It’s also most certainly a jazz/blues song, a swing tune, and those kinds of tunes were part and parcel of Indian film music in the 1950s and ’60s. But they never really made it to this part of the world because Bollywood did not become a familiar word here until recently.” That may change with Hussain’s current touring project, a venture into musical archaeology that is also very much in keeping with today’s world of intercultural exchange. Crosscurrents, the band he’s bringing here, is his way of showcasing a pair of Bollywood jazz innovators: 76-year-old pianist Louiz Banks and his younger colleague, guitarist Sanjay Divecha. The project is something of a throwback to Hussain’s childhood, when, as a very young teenager, he contributed his impeccable tabla-playing to his own list of Bollywood scores. It was also a time when Mumbai’s cultural life was enriched by an influx of western-trained musicians from all over the Indian subcontinent, the Darjeelingborn Banks being just one of many. “I was surrounded by people whose names were very interesting to me, who had Portuguese fathers and Indian mothers, or Indian fathers and English mothers,” Hussain says. “A whole bunch of musicians migrated into Bombay, and the Indian film industry took them in with open arms. “Louiz Banks, in fact, started writing arrangements for Indian film composers, and included in those arrangements were, you know, the string section, the piano, the bass— and the sitar and the bansuri flute and the santoor, all in one room playing together. It was a strange hybrid orchestra that somehow found a way to

Zakir Hussain showcases Bollywood jazz innovators. Susana Millman photo.

work together and laid the foundation for this interesting form of music. “These are unsung heroes who were the flag-bearers of jazz in India. And I just felt that they needed to be acknowledged, to be brought here, and to be welcomed by some of the jazz masters of our part of the world.” In Crosscurrents—which also includes South Asian pop star Shankar Mahadevan on vocals and Banks’s son Gino on drums—North American jazz is represented by saxophonist Chris Potter and British-born bassist Dave Holland, a New York resident ever since he headed across the Atlantic to play with Miles Davis in the 1960s. Having since worked with Thelonious Monk and Pat Metheny, he’s in a good position to judge where Banks and Divecha sit in the jazz pantheon. “They’re extraordinary musicians, world-class players,” the bassist explains, in a separate telephone interview from his Hudson Valley home. “They understand the jazz language and play with great fluency and understanding of the tradition—and Louiz is an extraordinary composer. Quite a large part of the program that we perform with Crosscurrents has been written by Louiz, and within those compositions you can hear the distinctive influence of the Indian classical tradition, too.” Crosscurrents plays the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on Saturday (October 28).

DJ and sculptural props add to META’s mysteries > BY JA NET SM IT H

W

pulls it away from me cutting it [the music] together, but gives it a bit of liveness,” says Peters. “I would say it changes everything—it changes how we do the work,” Chambers offers. “Suddenly, it’s not sound to bounce off of but a human to perform with.” Sato smiles, having come to the piece from the hip-hop world: “I’m so used to having a DJ that for me it’s kind of comforting and I understand the way he’s communicating with me,” she says. We can also tell you there will be sculptural assemblages made by artist Natalie Purschwitz—big props and set pieces that look like body parts. The theme of the work is the fluidity of our bodies. “We’re in a triangle that used to be a square,” Peters says cryptically. “There’s a fourth being.” “Body parts are intermingling,” Chambers adds. If all this sounds mysterious, remember one of the joys in watching Peters’s works is in the element of the unexpected. She points out the very nature of her dance is that it finds its full meaning when it meets an audience. “I always say that’s when I’m going to get great feedback to find out more about what it is,” Peters says. “I’m not so interested in dance that is a statement, but in dance that is open to interpretation from the audience.” -

e can’t tell you everything about Deanna Peters’s most ambitious work yet. The Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award winner deals, after all, in clever surprises and near-cinematic trompe l’oeils. The Vancouver dance artist loves to shift and play with perspective, something you can expect her to do much more of with her aptly named META. Still, there are a few things we can reveal. For one, the genre-mashing artist is performing with contemporary dancer Justine A. Chambers and Kim Sato, the hip-hop maven who’s artistic director at Project Soul. “A lot of people say ‘Oh, you’re dancing with people from different backgrounds: how do you do that?’ ” comments Peters, sitting with the two other dancers at the heritage Gold Saucer Studio, where they’re rehearsing. But for Peters, melding forms comes naturally; having studied everywhere from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School to the SFU School for the Contemporary Arts, and with training in forms like improvisation and house, she also does graphic and website design. “I only work with stuff that I know and I love and that I’m immersed in.” The dancers will be joined by DJ ICE-B—not a huge leap for Peters, who’s done everything from spinning vinyl on an old record player on-stage (in NEW RAW) to throwing dance Mutable Subject presents META at the Scotiabank Dance Centre on Friday parties at galleries and studios. “There’s something about a DJ that and Saturday (October 27 and 28).

OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 27


ARTS

Noh actor Yamai Tsunao plays opposite opera singer Heather Pawsey in Kayoi Komachi/Komachi Visited, which pushes the bounds of both art forms.

Females find new voice in Noh-opera hybrid Kayoi Komachi features an ambitious mix of western singing with an ancient form once off-limits to women > B Y JAN ET SMITH

K

OPENS SAT OCT 28

PORT RAIT of the ARTIST AN EXHIBITION FROM THE ROYAL COLLECTION Presenting Sponsor:

Visionary Partner for Historical Exhibitions:

Huaijun Chen and Family

Artemesia Gentileschi, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura), c. 1638–39, oil on canvas, Photo: Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017

28 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017

ayoi Komachi/Komachi Visited is not just a revolutionary new mix of western chamber opera with Japan’s ancient Noh theatre. It’s a rare chance to see the rarest of Noh performers: women. For the past six centuries, Noh has been almost entirely performed by men, but that is starting to change. This, despite a rigorous system to preserve the stylized performance that uses masks, chanting, and movement to tell stories of warriors, demons, madwomen, and magical deities. Joining the cast here are Japan’s Muraoka Kiyomi, one of the few women ever to attain full professional status in Noh; artist Mayuko Kashiwazaki; and Noh drum player Omura Kayû. “There are five schools of Noh—and a few of them have opened up since the 1950s or ’60s to train women as full professionals,” explains Colleen Lanki, the show’s director and librettist, adding the Komparu School of Noh, where Kiyomi and Kashiwazaki studied, is allowing more women to gain full status in the lifelong art form. “Each school has an iemoto, a head whose job it is to protect the tradition. That’s why this form still exists after 600 years.” Noh is considered one of the oldest theatre arts still performed today. Lanki spent years studying Japanese classical dance and Noh dance and chant at the Kita Noh School in Tokyo and is artistic director of Vancouverbased TomoeArts. She’s come to an understanding with the art form that has fascinated her for years. “The first thing you come up against is just being non-Japanese is a challenge. None from outside the country have become professional Noh actors,” says Lanki, who is a founding member of Theatre Nohgaku, an international group dedicated to traditional and English-language Noh. She’s speaking over the phone from rehearsal at Vancouver Opera’s Michael & Inna O’Brian Centre. “And I’m a foreign woman—I never even cared to or attempted to be a professional. Plus I started too late; you’d have to devote your life to it. I just love studying it.” Lanki also happens to love western opera, having sung classical music early in her career. And so it is that the two forms meld here, telling the unrequited-love story of Komachi, a ghost-poet

haunted by Fukakusa, a man she made go through a series of tests. In this innovative rendition, male Noh actor Yamai Tsunao plays Fukakusa, while Vancouver soprano Heather Pawsey sings the part of Komachi, each performing in his or her own style and language until a turning point in the story. “We’ve duplicated and echoed the language—sometimes you’ll hear English over the Japanese,” says Lanki, who drew from traditional Japanese texts and even Komachi’s own poetry for her libretto. Kiyomi and Kashiwazaki sing the part of a female Noh chorus, while Joseph Bulman and Peter Monaghan form an opera chorus. The haunting, ethereal score by composer Farshid Samandari weaves together eastern and western influences, with flute, violin, viola, cello, and percussion, along with the rhythms of Kayû’s Noh-style shoulder drum. Not surprisingly, because of the new territory it’s exploring, Kayoi Komachi is a huge challenge. “Bringing the art forms together has been a battle, but it’s been a battle worth fighting,” Lanki says, having just come out of an intense rehearsal. “For me the two [styles] emotionally could meld. But musically it’s challenging because the western has taken precedence a bit.…Having a big score and following a conductor: this is so not what they [the Noh artists] do.” They instead watch each other closely on-stage, ad-libbing when needed. Then again, there’s no way to fully train the western musicians here to perform in a more traditional Noh way: “We’d have to send all the orchestra and singers to Japan for 10 years to understand that,” Lanki adds with a laugh. Still, the struggle to bring opera and Noh together, pushing the boundaries of both forms, has been enriching for everyone involved— and should be for audiences, too. “I love both art forms, and to watch the virtuosity—to watch people where they’re actually doing it is absolutely incredible,” says Lanki, pausing to collect her emotions. “The moments that are working are just so powerful.” TomoeArts presents Kayoi Komachi/Komachi Visited at the Cultch from Thursday to Saturday (October 26 to 28).


“superbly instinctive players, with an almost subliminal sense of what the other is about to do, so that every musical gesture they make seems totally spontaneous, as if they are exploring the music for the first time…” — The Guardian

ets Ticking sell !

fast

ALBAN GERHARDT cello STEVEN OSBORNE piano SUN NOV 5 at 3pm I VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE

BACH | BEETHOVEN | DEBUSSY | BRAHMS Two of today's most accomplished musicians come together to perform a powerful program that will leave you hanging on to their every note.

TICKETS: 604 602 0363 I VANRECITAL.COM SEASON SPONSOR:

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Richard & Lynda Spratley

SFU Woodward’s Holiday tradition featuring over 30 live music numbers!

Starring JIM BYRNES Award-winning Musician & Storyteller

IRD LY B EAR KETS W! TIC E NO L A V5 ON S O IL N UNT

BAH HUMBUG! An Eastside Christmas Carol directed by Jessie Award-winner James Fagan Tait DECEMBER 7 – 16 EVENINGS & MATINEES

SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS 149 W. HASTINGS ST, VANCOUVER

SFUWOODWARDS.CA Image Richard Tetrault, Alley Variation #3, woodcut and metal print 2012, with photo of Jim Byrnes by David Cooper.

OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 29


ARTS

EVELYN GLENNIE

WITH THE VSO Adele Noronha, Diane Brown, Donna Yamamoto, Sereana Malani, Laara Sadiq, and Nicola Cavendish bring lots of heart to Happy Place. Tim Matheson photo.

True emotions break loose in Happy Place BRAMWELL TOVEY

DAME EVELYN GLENNIE

HAPPY PLACE

SATURDAY & MONDAY, OCTOBER 28 & 30, 8PM , ORPHEUM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2PM , ORPHEUM Bramwell Tovey conductor Dame Evelyn Glennie percussion* JENNIFER HIGDON Percussion Concerto* SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 10 in E minor PRE-CONCERT TALK 7:05PM, OCTOBER 28 & 30, FREE TO TICKETHOLDERS.

Dame Evelyn Glennie is the world’s foremost solo percussionist, and a passionate advocate of music education. A prolific recording artist and champion of new works for percussion and orchestra, Dame Evelyn performs Jennifer Higdon’s fascinating Percussion Concerto. Maestro Tovey conducts in a program that also features one of the great symphonies of the 20th century, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. This work is filled with tragedy, fear, violence and emotion, but, finally, marked by the triumph of the human spirit over a crushing and oppressive regime.

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30 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017

T HEAT RE

JIM FRASER, LAWYER TALA FLORISTS

By Pamela Mala Sinha. Directed by Roy Surette. A Touchstone Theatre production, presented by Ruby Slippers Theatre and Diwali in B.C. At the Firehall Arts Centre on Thursday, October 19. Continues until October 29

This line sums up the delicate

2 balance between tragedy and

humour in Happy Place: “When you laugh here, no one thinks you’re feeling better.” “Here” is an inpatient facility for women who have attempted suicide, which makes playwright Pamela Mala Sinha’s title deeply ironic. New arrival Samira was brutally assaulted five years earlier; her assailant was never caught, but she’s starting to recover memories that may provide a lead in the case. Her pursuit of the details, and the justice they might lead to, are the play’s through-line, but the script’s heart is its depiction of a community forged from desperate circumstances—one that offers love, maybe even healing. The other residents are Mildred, a foul-mouthed senior; Celine, a mother whose memories of her own abuse have been stirred up by a family crisis; the wealthy Rosemary; the ever-upbeat Joyce; and the deeply unstable Nina—all supervised by their therapist, Louise. For all its darkness—and there is plenty—Sinha’s script bubbles with warmth and bleak humour. As supplies are handed out for an art-therapy collage project, Mildred mimes slashing her throat with a pair of plastic children’s scissors. Several minutes later, after struggling to cut pictures out of a magazine, she finally explodes: “These goddamn scissors make me want to kill myself!” The comedic power of that moment owes a great deal to the skill of Nicola Cavendish, one of seven jewels in director Roy Surette’s casting crown. Like Cavendish’s Mildred, Colleen Wheeler’s Rosemary, Diane Brown’s Joyce, Sereana Malani’s Celine, and Laara Sadiq’s Nina are all studies in containment and release. Donna Yamamoto’s natural warmth makes Louise a grounding presence, and Adele Noronha gives Samira both vulnerability—the quick, shy smile as she reads aloud from her journal, for example—and fierce determination. There’s a lot of intense emotion in this play, and not one note of it rings false. The production looks fantastic, too. Pam Johnson’s set is a stunner: she uses minimal furnishings to create the separate spaces of patient rooms, dining hall, kitchen, and lounge, linking everything with metallic door frames that are both handsome and institutional. Not only does the set’s spaciousness provide emotional breathing room, but behind it all hangs a large, delicate globe suggesting a blossom—evoking, perhaps, the elusive wholeness the women are seeking. The set is en-

hanced by Adrian Muir’s delicate lighting; in one memorable scene, we see the other patients sleeping, each bathed in a gentle pool of light, while Samira talks with Louise. Christine Reimer’s costumes speak volumes about characters who can’t always easily share much about themselves. And Dorothy Dittrich’s original music underscores the emotions without ever being intrusive. Happy Place goes to places that are far from happy, but in this beautifully realized production, it does so with grace, generosity, a huge heart, and ultimately, hope. You should see it.

> KATHLEEN OLIVER

HONOUR: CONFESSIONS OF A MUMBAI COURTESAN Written and performed by Dipti Mehta. Directed by Mark Cirnigliaro. Produced by the Cultch and Diwali in B.C. At the Vancity Culture Lab on Saturday, October 21. Continues to November 4

Writer and performer Dipti

2 Mehta’s 70-minute, one-woman

show, Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan, is ambitious, smart, and a master class in character work. Chameli is a tough, shrewd sex worker in Mumbai. Her daughter, Rani, has grown up knowing that when she is 16, her mother will sell her “honour” and she will be forced into sex slavery. Rani’s grooming and training in how to please a man and open his wallet are stomachturning, but Mehta also manages to elicit a lot of laughs. Chameli’s opinions of men are at once funny and heartbreaking, astute and cynical, and the play opens with Rani offering a wonderful lesson in Hindi swear words. “What, you don’t know Fuck Lane?” she asks mockingly. “Your Lonely Planet doesn’t show it as a tourist attraction?” As Rani, Mehta sparkles and seduces, conveying contrasting personality traits with believability. Rani is wise beyond her years—she’s come of age in a brothel, of course— and she’s also hopeful, if naive, that she can find a way out of her impending sale. Mehta keeps Rani’s rage and uncertainty close to the surface at all times, and they flicker across her face even when she’s trying to be carefree or shocking. Mehta’s Chameli has a slight stoop to her back, and always sits with one leg drawn up and bent to her chest. She’s aging out of the business, and though she’s a hard woman, Chameli’s also the only prostitute without a pimp in the brothel. Hers died when she was younger, and she has raised his son, Shyam, who will ultimately become Rani’s pimp. There’s also Meena, a eunuch; Laal, a client; Pandit Rama, a corrupt priest; and Draupadi, a princess from the Indian epic Mahabharata, and if this sounds like a lot—well, it is, and this is where Honour begins to sag under the weight of all of its trappings. Draupadi, the princess, is one of two framing devices. The other is an unnamed white woman doing see next page


Dipti Mehta impresses while playing a mother and daughter in Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan, which depicts life in an Indian brothel.

research in the brothel, and to whom Chameli tells her painful back story—for money, of course. As Honour progresses, both devices begin to feel like unnecessary distractions. These add to the play’s slightly suffocated quality, resulting in moments of emotional flatness that stand out in sharp contrast to Mehta’s otherwise nuanced, vibrant performance.

> ANDREA WARNER

UNITÉ MODÈLE By Guillaume Corbeil. Directed by Philippe Cyr. A Théâtre la Seizième production. At Studio 16 on Thursday, October 19. Continues until October 28

This play is stylish and clever,

2 and it seems to like you back.

Could it be your dream date? Or is it just playing games with you? The tension between surface image and deeper identity, between the ideal and the real, is at the heart of Unité Modèle, which begins with an invitation from a couple of good-looking realtors representing Diorama, a planned community that seems capable of anticipating every step along your path to the perfect life. Not only will moving in enable you to enjoy the exquisite interior finishes and heated rooftop pool; it also seems to promise true love and happiness. Guillaume Corbeil’s satiric script abounds in hypotheticals, embodied in the man and woman who keep breaking out of their role as realtors to play lovers, then interrupting their romance in order

to sell us something. It’s a cool concept that often pays off comedically: as the lovers are about to kiss, the pair repeatedly pause just before their lips connect to give the audience a chance to take photos. Then they announce a special VIP offer for prospective buyers. Corbeil targets not only the commodification of experience—and could there be a better vehicle for that satire than real estate?—but the ways in which aspiration obstructs our ability to appreciate what we already have. Conjuring a hypothetical shooting star, the woman says, “You’d make a wish to live the moment you’re right in the middle of living.” Director Philippe Cyr’s production is as sleek as a marble countertop. Vincent Leblanc-Beaudoin and Emilie Leclerc explore multiple layers of fake sincerity, from the buoyant to the cynical, and both bring a playful physicality to their characters. Manon Veldhuis’s minimalist set is a spare canvas for Cande Andrade’s video projections and Itai Erdal’s lighting, which makes a tiny maquette on a plinth downstage glow like a sacred object. But do you buy it? Much as I appreciated Corbeil’s concept—and this play is highly conceptual— I longed for a little more heart. As the lovers’ trajectory began to twist into less predictable territory, I grew confused about who was playing and who was being played. Maybe that confusion is part of Corbeil’s point, but it left me less than satisfied. > KATHLEEN OLIVER

MOVIES ARTS MUSIC THEATRE FOOD Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get the latest entertainment scoop Signup at straight.com/newsletters

NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE ORCHESTRA

PRESENTS:

LIFE REFLECTED

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 7:30PM , THE CENTRE, 777 HOMER STREET, VANCOUVER Alexander Shelley conductor Erin Wall soprano Monique Mojica actor Donna Feore creative producer and director ZOSHA DI CASTRI Dear Life* JOCELYN MORLOCK My Name is Amanda Todd NICOLE LIZÉE Bondarsphere JOHN ESTACIO I Lost My Talk** *Words and lyrics adapted from the story by Alice Munro. Adaptation by Merilyn Simonds

Four Canadian composers have created compelling musical portraits of four exceptional Canadian women. Roberta Bondar, Rita Joe, Alice Munro, and Amanda Todd are the inspiration behind Life Reflected, a unique symphonic and multi-media celebration of youth, promise, and courage. The National Arts Centre Orchestra commissioned four works by Zosha Di Castri, Jocelyn Morlock, Nicole Lizée, and John Estacio to create its largest production ever. The staging includes stunning projections, which immerse the audience in sound, motion picture, photography, and graphic design. Opening Concert of ISCM World New Music Days 2017.

**Commissioned for the NationaL Arts Centre Orchestra to commemorate the 75th birthday of the Right Honourable Joe Clark, P.C., C.C., A.O.E by his family

The National Arts Centre Orchestra Canada 150 Tour is made possible with leadership support from Tour Patrons Gail and David O’Brien, Presenting Supporters Alice and Grant Burton, Supporting Partners Peng Lin and Yu Gu, Education Partner Dasha Shenkman, OBE, Hon RCM and Digital Partner Facebook MEDIA SPONSOR

@VSOrchestra

TICKETS: vancouversymphony.ca

604.876.3434

OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 31


straight choices

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THEATRE 2JUST ANNOUNCED

Queen Elizabeth Theatre balletbc.com PERFORMANCE SPONSOR

COMMUNITY BALCONY SPONSOR

HOTEL SPONSOR

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TWO VIEWS FROM THE SYLVIA Kol Halev Performance Society presents two original one-act musical plays about Vancouver’s iconic Sylvia Hotel. Nov 8-12, 7:15-9:30 pm, Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St., Granville Island). Tix $28, info www.sylviamusical.com/.

MEDIA PARTNERS

2OPENINGS

S BEEN GENER R OUSLY PROVIDED BY

DANCER BRANDON ALLEY. PHOTO MICHAEL SLOBODIAN.

MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL An allCanadian cast takes on the challenges of menopause in a show that makes fun of hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, wrinkles, not enough sex, too much sex, and chocolate binges. Oct 26, doors 7 pm, show 8:30 pm, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). The show also runs Oct 27 and 29 at the Bell Performing Arts Centre. Tix for the Oct 27 show SOLD OUT. Tix for Oct 26 and 29 shows $70.50/56/36 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. VICTORIA Massey Theatre presents Montreal artist Dulcinea Langfelder in the story of a wheelchair-bound, 90-year-old woman suffering from the loss of memory, autonomy, and just about everything else. Oct 27-28, Massey Theatre (735 8th Ave., New West). Tix $15-35, info www.massey theatre.com/. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Uncle Randy Productions presents the popular Broadway musical featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Oct 31–Nov 5, Centennial Theatre (2300 Lonsdale Ave). Info 604-984-4484, www.urp.ca/. A PIECE OF MY HEART Six women tell the often-ignored story of female soldiers, nurses, and civilians in wartime Vietnam. Nov 1-12, PAL Theatre (8th floor, 581 Cardero). $15-28, info www.facebook. com/events/131315067510049/.

2ONGOING HOMEWARD BOUND Western Gold Theatre presents director William B. Davis’s version of Elliott Hayes’s play about one family’s Sunday dinner. To Oct 29, PAL Theatre (8th floor, 581 Cardero). Tix $32/27, info homeward.bpt.me. UNITE MODELE Théâtre la Seizième presents Guillaume Corbeil’s play that takes an objective and unsettling look at gentrification and our relationship with image through a game of mirrors that constantly alters reality. To Oct 28, 8 pm, Studio 16 (1555 W. 7th). Info www.seizieme.ca/. KING CHARLES III The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Mike Bartlett’s political satire about what happens when Queen Elizabeth II dies and her son Charles ascends the throne. To Nov 19, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (2750 Granville). Info www.artsclub.com/. HAPPY PLACE Touchstone Theatre presents playwright Pamela Mala Sinha’s story about seven woman in an in-patient care facility. To Oct 29, Firehall Arts Centre (280 E. Cordova). Tix $17-33, info www.firehallartscentre.ca/onstage/happy-place/. HONOUR: CONFESSIONS OF A MUMBAI COURTESAN In association with Dipti Mehta, the Cultch presents a testament to the humanity and lives of sex workers. To Nov 4, 8 pm, Vancity Culture Lab (the Cultch, 1895 Venables). Tix from $35, info www.thecultch.com/events/ honour-confessions-mumbai-courtesan/. THE LONESOME WEST Pacific Theatre presents the story of two Irish brothers who eke out a squalid existence in the house of their deceased father. To Nov 11, 8-10 pm, Pacific Theatre (1440 W. 12th). Tix $20-36.50, info www.pacifictheatre.org/season/20172018-season/mainstage/the-lonesome-west.

DANCE 2THIS WEEK WORKSPACE III Amber Funk Barton and her contemporary dance company the response showcase works-in-progress. Oct 26-28, 8 pm, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (6450 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby). Tix $33-36, info tickets.shadboltcentre.com/ TheatreManager/1/login&event=0. META Deanna Peters/MutableSubject presents a new work that explores the idea that our bodies are fluid, messy, and

32 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017

SUPERSTAR’S NEW SPIN What’s the buzz? URP is putting a gender-blind twist on a classic Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera. The company formerly known as Uncle Randy Productions is giving the 1970s hit Jesus Christ Superstar a 2017 approach to casting. The result? Think Ali Watson, shown here, playing one of the key roles: the conflicted Judas. Nick Heffelfinger plays the title character as he journeys through his last days, not to mention a small mountain of hit songs like “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and the roof-shaking “Superstar”. The show runs from Tuesday (October 31) to November 5 at North Van’s Centennial Theatre. protean. Oct 27-28, Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie). Tix $26/22/20, info www.mutablesubject.ca/META/.

TERO SAARINEN COMPANY DanceHouse presents the Finnish dance ensemble in Morphed, an exploration of masculinity undaunted by the extremes of sensitivity and heroism, and all that lies between. Oct 27-28, 8 pm, Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton). Info www.dancehouse.ca/. THRILL THE WORLD VANCOUVER 2017 Annual dance event in which participants simultaneously emulate the zombie dance seen in the music video of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. Oct 28, 12-4:30 pm, Creekside Community Recreation Centre (1 Athletes Way). Admission by donation ($40 suggested), info www.ttwvancouver.ca/. DANCE ALLSORTS: SOUTH ASIAN ARTS South Asian Arts performs Bhangra and Bollywood dance numbers. Oct 29, 2-3 pm, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews). Admission by donation ($5-20 suggested), info www.newworks.ca/. RITMO Y SONIQUETE Kasandra Flamenco presents a show starring Spanish flamenco musicians Miguel Rosendo, Luis de la Tota, and Jose Manuel Alvarez. Oct 29, 3 & 8 pm, The Cultch (1895 Venables). Tix $45/40/25, info www.kasandraflamenco.com/.

MUSIC 2THIS WEEK ROLSTON STRING QUARTET Music in the Morning presents a concert by the 2016 First Prize winner of the Banff International String Quartet Competition. Oct 25-26, 10:30-11:30 am, Dunbar Ryerson United Church (2205 W. 45th). Tix $38/35/17, info www.musicinthemorning.org/. KAYOI KOMACHI/KOMACHI VISITED TomoeArts presents the world premiere of a noh chamber opera that reimagines Kayoi Komachi, a classic tale of unrequited love. Oct 26-28, 8 pm, The Cultch (1895 Venables). Tix from $20, info www.thecultch.com/. TZO’KAM AND SAWAGI TAIKO DRUMMING Collaboration of singing and drumming between the all-women Japanese drum group Sawagi Taiko and the First Nations performance group Tzo’kam. Oct 27, 7 pm, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (149 W. Hastings). Free admission, info www.sfu.ca/sfuwoodwards/events/events1/2017-2018-fall/ TzokamSawagiTaiko.html. EVELYN GLENNIE Conductor Bramwell Tovey leads percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and the VSO in a program of Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 in E Minor. Oct 28, 8 pm; Oct 29, 2 pm; Oct 30, 8 pm, Orpheum Theatre (601 Smithe). Info www.vancouversymphony.ca/. MONTEVERDI’S ORFEO Early Music Vancouver presents Pacific MusicWorks, led by Stephen Stubbs, in a performance of Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo. Oct 29, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Info www.earlymusic. bc.ca/events/monteverdis-orfeo/.

COMEDY 2ONGOING THE COMEDY MIX 1015 Burrard, Century Plaza Hotel & Spa, 604-684-5050, www. thecomedymix.com/. Comedy club with pro-am night Tue at 8:30 pm, showcase Wed at 8:30 pm, and featured headliners Thu at 8:30 pm and Fri-Sat at 8 and 10:30

see next page


pm. Cover $8 Tue, $10 Wed, $15 Thu, $18 Fri, $20 Sat. 2PHIL HANLEY Oct 26-28 2IAN BAGG Nov 2-4

YUK YUK’S COMEDY CLUB 2837 Cambie, 604-696-9857, www.yukyuks. com/vancouver/. Comedy club with Top Talent Tue at 8 pm, amateur night Wed at 8 pm, and professional headliners Thu-Fri at 8 pm and Sat at 7 and 9:30 pm. Cover Tue $10, Wed $7, Thu $10, and FriSat $20. 2DAMONDE TSCHRITTER Oct 26-28 2WINNIPEG COMEDY FESTIVAL SHOWCASE Oct 27 VANCOUVER THEATRESPORTS LEAGUE Some of the world’s most daring and innovative improv. Improv Wars: The Laugh Jedi (Thu and Fri, 7:30 pm); Halloween Monster Match 2017 (Sat, 7:30 pm); #NoFilter (Thu, 9:15 pm); Ok Tinder (Fri, 11:15 pm); Rookie Night (Sun, 7:30 pm); TheatreSports (Wed and Tue, 7:30

pm; Wed, 9:15 pm; Fri, 9:30 pm). Oct 25– Nov 1, The Improv Centre (1502 Duranleau, Granville Island). Info www.vtsl.com/.

on the web!

For up-to-the-minute, searchable Arts listings on your phone, visit

www.straight.com

ET CETERA 2THIS WEEK FIGHT FOR BEAUTY Exhibition features public art projects undertaken with worldclass creatives, architecture from architects who are artists in their own right, and fashion by some of the greatest designers in recent history. To Dec 17, Fairmont Pacific

Rim (1038 Canada Place). Free admission, info www.fightforbeauty.ca/.

to Alice Cooper. Oct 28, 8 pm, Rio Theatre. Tix $25/20, info www.riotheatre.ca/.

KURIOS: CABINET OF CURIOSITIES Cirque du Soleil presents a new production that takes you into the curio cabinet of an ambitious inventor who defies the laws of time, space, and dimension in order to reinvent everything around him. To Dec 31, Concord Pacific Place (88 Pacific). Tix from $49, info www.cirquedusoleil.com/kurios/.

2UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS

14TH ANNUAL DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE HEART OF THE CITY FESTIVAL Twelve days of music, stories, songs, poetry, films, theatre, dance, processions, spoken word, workshops, discussions, gallery exhibitions, mixed media, art talks, history talks, and history walks. Oct 25–Nov 5, various DTES locations. Info www.heartofthecityfestival.com/. WELCOME TO THE NIGHTMARE Kitty Nights West presents a burlesque tribute

SEASONS: A MAGICAL MUSICAL Prepare to be immersed in this inspirational and heart-warming epic production that includes choreographed contemporary dance, stunning magic and illusion, and a spectacular original score performed by the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. Nov 25, 8 pm, The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts (777 Homer). Tix from $38, info www.magicalmusical.ca/.

GALLERIES VANCOUVER ART GALLERY 750 Hornby, 604-662-4719, www.vanartgallery. bc.ca/. 2ENTANGLED: TWO VIEWS ON CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN PAINTING (exhibition offers insight into two distinctly

different modes of painting that have come to dominate contemporary painting in Canada) to Jan 1

MUSEUMS THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT UBC 6393 NW Marine Drive, 604-822-5087, www.moa.ubc.ca/. 2AMAZONIA: THE RIGHTS OF NATURE (Amazonian basketry, textiles, carvings, feather works, and ceramics both of everyday and of ceremonial use, representing Indigenous, Maroon, and white-settler communities) to Jan 28

TIME OUT ARTS LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit listings 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.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! WED NOV 8 2017 / 8PM

Texas Troubadours featuring

Ruthie Foster, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Carrie Rodriguez

PRESENTS

SPECIAL GUEST

C H A N C E N T R E AT U B C

HOSTED BY

RHYS DARBY

NICK VATTEROTT

Tickets and info at chancentre.com

the

Alternative comedy tour STARRING

T.J. MILLER

()0 ' , c *' VOGUE THEATRE TICKETFLY.COM

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> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < CHATTING ABOUT FINDHORN

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ASTORIA - SOUL NIGHT

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 22, 2017 WHERE: On the Bus Long shot here. We met on the bus, we chatted about Findhorn and Scotland. I had to go. Would love to chat more. Coffee?

10:24 PM 95 BUS TO SFU

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 22, 2017 WHERE: 95 Bus to SFU You were the beautiful lady with the reddish-brown hair, brown eyes, brown shoes, and I’m guessing brown jacket? And red pants. You were wearing pants. You and your friend got on the bus I’m not sure when. At one point you whispered something to her, looked at me, and said, “And you just heard everything I said!� I really didn’t hear any of what you had said. I got off at Willingdon. I doubt you’ll ever see this, but stranger things have happened. Coffee sometime?

WAS THAT SMILE FOR ME?

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 22, 2017 WHERE: JJ Bean on Main and 14th I was sitting with a friend by the bathroom and noticed you sitting at a table by the back door. You were dressed in all black and enjoying a drink. When I looked up, I saw you smile at me. I was in deep conversation with my friend and didn’t process the smile until after you left. Was that smile for me?

SWEET SEDUCTION

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 21, 2017 WHERE: Home Depot 8th/ Cambie We were discussing hammers when you invited me to Starbucks. When I said I was waiting for my husband, you just disappeared. Hey, doesn’t a girl get a second chance? I bought the big 22oz one you recommended but its almost more than I can handle.

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 22, 2017 WHERE: Astoria You were an amazing dancer at Soul Night Saturday, October 22. You: pink dress, white boots, blond hair. Me: polk-a-dots, no hair. I wanted to say you were beautiful and good night but too shy. Please let me know you noticed. We should dance together next time.

CUTE COUNTER GUY AT PALLET CAFE

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 21, 2017 WHERE: Kingsway @ Clark You are tall, with dirty blonde hair in a strange fellows hat. I am tall, blue eyed with curly hair and unique facial piercing. I thought you were super cute and loved your sweet smile. Maybe we could go for a beer sometime?

SMILEY GIRL AT THE 130/PHO D’LITE BURNABY

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 14, 2017 WHERE: 130 Bus/SOLO District/Pho D’Lite Burnaby You boarded the 130 going north. The bus was half empty but I did notice you looked at my direction. We got off at the same stop at Willingdon/ Lougheed and we crossed the street together. As we crossed the street, I looked at you, and you gave me a lovely smile. I smiled back and we went our separate ways. I thought that was that. Minutes later I went for some Vietnamese at Pho D’Lite and as I proceeded to leave, there you were again with your friend at the door. We both stared at each others eyes and then there was that lovely smile again. As far as I remember you ordered a table for 7. I would love to hear from you and grab a cup of coffee (or maybe some Pho?)

#25 BUS ON A RAINY AFTERNOON

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 19, 2017 WHERE: #25 Bus. I saw you today on the number 25 bus heading eastbound around three thirty. I said “Hi� to you after I caught your eye and you seemed to motion at yourself. I may have waved while I was sitting with a small child in a pink raincoat. We exited the bus at Cambie and you took one of our seats. I wanted to say something more before we departed but adventuring with a five year old can be complicated. For some reason I haven’t been able to let go of this brief connection. Maybe you remember me, I was wearing a black raincoat like everyone in Vancouver.

VSO@ISCM THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY PERFORMS AT ISCM WORLD NEW MUSIC DAYS 2017

I SAT IN THE FIRST ROW ON YOUR #16 RUN AROUND 2PM TODAY

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 19, 2017 WHERE: Arbutus and 41st This is the second time I’ve been on your route. The first time you assisted a walker off the bus with great kindness, and today your wonderful sense of the absurdity of life lit my heart on a rainy day. We exchanged eye rolls at that one fellow with a nonstop verbal “flow�. I wish I’d thrust my number at you although that would be a first ever!

IS YOUR MONKEY BULLET PROOF?

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: OCTOBER 17, 2017 WHERE: Davie St. Body Energy I walk in and you're looking as beautiful as the first time I saw you. This time just without glasses. I ask if you’ve bought your new ones yet. You say you're treating yourself for Christmas. We banter back and fourth, talking about how the YMCA is boring and way to busy. Through all this, my awkward attempt at flirting, I never asked for your number! How does rock climbing, a boxing class or just a coffee sound?

Visit straight.com to post your FREE I Saw You _

OTTO TAUSK

MOHAMED ASSANI

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5 7:30PM, ORPHEUM Bramwell Tovey conductor Mohamed Assani sitar* JOCELYN MORLOCK That Tingling Sensation CHARLOTTE BRAY At The Speed of Stillness FRIEDRICH HEINRICH KERN Indigo MOHAMED ASSANI & JOHN OLIVER Pressed for Time (World Première)*

@VSOrchestra

From November 2–8, 2017, Canada welcomes the world as Vancouver hosts the ISCM World New Music Days 2017. Since its founding in 1922, the International Society for Contemporary Music has been the world’s premier network for new music. In 2017, the Canadian League of Composers and Music on Main welcome nearly 50 countries for a festival of new music and a celebration of new ideas, new collaborations, and new fusions. This concert epitomizes this celebration, with extraordinary new music from Canada and around the globe.

Presented with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, the Deux Mille Foundation, the Hamber Foundation, the SOCAN Foundation.

TICKETS: vancouversymphony.ca

MEDIA SPONSOR

604.876.3434

OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 33


presents

PG

October 27-31 Ingmar Bergman’s

David Lynch’s

G

Herk Harvey’s

Coming Soon

Tuesday, October 31 - 7pm onwards Tickets $15 in advance, $20 at the door The Dark Eighties DJ Set + David Lynch’s Lost Highway

NEW FROM CINEPLEX EVENTS FROM STAGE TO SCREEN Bro ad wa yH

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E K E V INinK L IN

AR D’ S NO ËL CO W

PRESENT L AU G H T E R ® D WINNER TONY AWAR

OF THE BEST

ACTOR 2017

In cinemas nemas from November November 2nd Tickets on sale now. Visit Cineplex.com/Events/Stage

EVENTS

STARTS NOVEMBER 2

NOVEMBER 9

VANCOUVER The Park Theatre - 3440 Cambie St.

34 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017

NOVEMBER 12 & 15

For tickets and participating theatres visit Cineplex.com/TheParkNovember


MOVIES REVIEWS BREATHE Starring Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy. Rated PG.

“A bit of a bugger”: that’s how Andrew GarRobin Cavendish describes being paralyzed by polio at 28, unable to move from the neck down or breathe without a ventilator. That blithe understatement is characteristic of this movie’s entire approach to what could have become a maudlin subject. And, no doubt, some are going to be put off by the rose-coloured glasses that producer Jonathan Cavendish—Robin’s son—uses to look back on the life of his father, a pioneer in the field of disability rights. But it also makes a hard story bearable, even enjoyable, in the face of extremely shitty circumstances—and God knows, from all evidence here, Cavendish loved a good party.

2 field’s

Broken body, stiff upper lip

Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield) canoodles with the girl of his dreams (Claire Foy) before disease and paralysis strike in the never maudlin Breathe.

vitude and spent another century facing increasingly violent denial of their right to vote, work, and live where In Breathe, Andrew Garfield acts from the neck up as the they wanted. After helping to fight ranever-say-die polio victim and innovator Robin Cavendish cism in World War II, AfFaced with acting from the neck up for most of rican-Americans started pushing out of urban the movie, Garfield finds the right mix of courage ghettos for a chance to share the new suburban and humour. Life is sweet before his Englishman dream—only to be met by even more heated reis felled by polio: the woman of his dreams (Claire sistance from smiley-faced white Americans. AcFoy) is pregnant with their first son; his job as a cording to Suburbicon director George Clooney, trader in Kenya has him flying biplanes over the working from a script written with Ethan and savannah and playing tennis by his manse. Joel Coen, all this Holocaust-level history—in After polio hits, he’s put on a ventilator and this case, something based on a real 1957 incident given weeks to live. It’s one of the few moments in Levittown, Pennsylvania—exists only as an we see real darkness in Breathe; Robin can barely amusingly satirical backdrop to the problems of look at his wife and wants to die. greedy people who don’t even notice what is litFrom there, the biopic’s most compelling story erally happening in their own backyard. is about the way paralysis was treated up until the The ’50s folks in question here are Gardner 1970s and ’80s. It was unthinkable for someone to Lodge (Matt Damon), his invalid wife, Rose, and ever leave the hospital; society preferred to hide her visiting twin sister, Margaret (both played them away. by Julianne Moore). Early on, their ranch-style Luckily, back in England Cavendish has an tract home is invaded by thugs who say they’re almost impossibly plucky wife who steals him looking for loot. Rose is snuffed, then Margaret away from his medical prison into a crumbling moves in and little Nicky Lodge (cast standout but colourful country mansion. Even more for- Noah Jupe) starts to wonder if dear old Dad is tuitous, one of his best friends is an inventor— really what he seems. one who cobbles together a wheelchair with a At the same time, a black family called the respirator attached, and, later, a wheelchair- Myerses has moved into the house directly behind the Lodges, but only their son Andy (Tony friendly van. With his new contraptions, Cavendish is un- Espinosa) is given a real personality, since he’s stoppable. And no disaster can taint this ever- the same age as the bewildered but ball-playing eccentric family’s hopes: a road trip to Spain Nicky. The other neighbours quickly build a whiswhere his ventilator explodes turns into a fiesta per campaign against the newcomers into a fullscale riot, eventually bringing the police and the with flamenco dancers. The cheery approach catches us compellingly National Guard into the picture. For some reason, though, none of this is heard off guard: as Robin becomes an advocate for the disabled, fighting to get his wheelchairs out into or even glimpsed from the Lodges’ lodgings, and the world to free others from their iron-lung hell, the various crooks, relatives, and officials who we’re suddenly exposed to the inhumane conditions visit never seem to notice a frenzied state of emereveryone else like him is enduring, and it’s shocking. gency 100 yards away. Perhaps this nonsensical Has the film put too much gloss on its subject’s topography is meant to say something about the life? Only Cavendish would be able to say for sure, solipsism of America’s white middle class—an but it’s unlikely he would have gone to all the trouble overused trope handled with real edge in Blue he did to live it if he wasn’t having a jolly good time. Velvet. But mostly it seems like a social observa> JANET SMITH tion tacked on by Clooney in a failed attempt at the kind of stylistic eclecticism the Coen brothers SUBURBICON pull off in their own smarter efforts. This might not matter so much if viewers were Starring Matt Damon. Rated PG given some rooting interest in the alleged protagFor more than 300 years, the English and onists or some fresh twists to the noir conventions postcolonial Americans stole humans from in the foreground. But the whole thing feels like Africa, put them in chains, and worked them to an artifact from another era before evil clowns death on southern plantations. There was a war took over the circus and rendered satire obsolete. about it, but the ex-slaves and their “free” des- If the movie had centred on the Myerses’ Night cendants were soon forced into penurious ser- of the Living Klan ordeal and the “normals” next

2

door just happened to be crazy grifters—well, that could be something.

> KEN EISNER

HUMAN FLOW A documentary by Ai Weiwei. In multiple languages, with English subtitles. Rated PG

Recent years have seen the biggest, most con-

2 stant movement of people since the Second

World War. Most of us know something about the deadly traffic across the Mediterranean or the struggle that Syrians face when they reach North America. But it’s almost impossible to keep the scale and scope of this mass exodus in any one head. Well, Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has an excellent eye for proportions, and to make Human Flow he took 25 film crews to almost as many countries to capture this surge. The results justify the 140-minute running time not only for the geography covered but Ai’s restless eye for beauty. This is not to say that he merely aestheticizes the suffering of people caught in perilous situations. (These include: North African boat people landing on Italy’s Lampedusa; Pashtun expats being trucked from Pakistan to uncertain futures in their Afghan homeland; Palestinians living in favelalike squalor just outside of Israel’s massive walls; and Rohingya villagers fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh.) It’s simply that the intense physicality of his images—sometimes harsh but often filled with mystery—puts you in their places as surely as anything by Terrence Malick or Steven Spielberg. A project this comprehensive is bound to have crucial gaps, and some are papered over by words from experts from relief groups who explain the major forces behind these desperate migrations. Ai also spends time with ordinary people on their uncertain paths. The bearded, frequently smiling fellow is an avuncular presence, handing out cups of tea to freezing refugees, and kibitzing with moms juggling small children. Because, let’s face it: even when on the run, kids can be annoying. Although he’s better known as an artist of abstractions and subversive humour, Ai is a veteran filmmaker with a dozen features—whether documentaries or video installations—under his belt. Main takeaway from this epic effort? First-world nations are blowing their resources on disrupting the stability of poorer places, through war and commercial exploitation. Then we are shocked—shocked, I tell you—that they’d rather be here than there. Factor in rising seas, devastating weather, human-assisted drought and famine, plus the terror proffered daily by despots and religious fanatics, and you have a recipe for permanent disorder. Basically, we are fluxed.

S PAR K A N I MATI ON KI CK S O FF WI TH THE B R E ADWI N N E R

W

henever she was hit by the monumental pressure of directing a feature-length animated film—her follow-up to 2009’s Oscar-nominated The Secret of Kells, no less—Nora Twomey would tiptoe into the most peaceful room in the house. “I’d just lay my head on the pillow with my young son,” the filmmaker says, Skyping with the Georgia Straight from Los Angeles. “And that would quiet my brain down.” One can only imagine how fast Twomey’s brain was running as she grappled with the job of adapting The Breadwinner. Set in the late ’90s, Deborah Ellis’s novel tells the story of Parvana, an Afghan girl who disguises herself as a boy when her father is imprisoned by the Taliban, leaving the

11-year-old to support her family. Twomey was extremely mindful of the project’s “overwhelming” political and cultural sensitivities. Screenwriter Anita Doron was no less conscientious, bringing in Afghan artist Aman Mojadidi to help with the script while Angelina Jolie brought her formidable ambassadorial skills as executive producer, urging Twomey to cast Afghan voice actors wherever possible (and leaving video messages for cast and crew whenever the production reached an important milestone). But it was in those quiet moments alone with her son that Twomey landed on some of The Breadwinner’s most effective beats. Eventually, the image of a mother taking refuge in sleep was built into the film.

“In one sense, there’s a level of just small, universal things,” she explains. “Scratching a beard; sitting down with someone and not looking at them while you’re talking but just watching people go by—whatever. These kinds of things are what I and the rest of the animation team hung on to to create something that reached out toward the audience.” Most critical of all, like all of the work created by Twomey and her partners at Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon studio, The Breadwinner never talks down to its young (or not so young) audience. “I read one review where the critic was quite puzzled,” she reports with a chuckle. “It was like, ‘Why would you make an animated film about this? It’s a subject matter that doesn’t belong in animation.’ That, for me, is really shocking, that someone is so

blinkered that they can only look at animation that way; that you have to be able to plunk your kid in front of it and run off and do the vacuuming or whatever.” The Breadwinner goes into general release in early December, but attendees at this year’s Spark Animation 2017 festival can get a sneak preview at the Scotiabank Theatre on Thursday (October 26), with Twomey herself in attendance to receive one of the festival’s three Women in Animation Diversity awards. She’ll also be on hand at Friday’s business symposium (October 27) and Saturday’s industry conference (October 28) to discuss her own “meandering path” into the field, which took root in art school when anyone in Dublin with a pencil and some drafting skills was trying to get a job with former

> KEN EISNER

> BY ADRIAN MACK

Disney animator Don Bluth. Now based about a million miles from Hollywood, in Kilkenny, Twomey and her partners at Cartoon Saloon employ up to 150 people—an inspiring tale, no doubt, for Sparkheads imagining their own path into the business. And to that end, Spark’s career fair runs at the Vancouver Convention Centre over the weekend (October 28 and 29). The fest is rounded out with a spotlight on France and a host of other screenings, including the breathtaking, Ghibli-inspired Chinese feature Big Fish & Begonia and a closing-night premiere of Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s Mary and the Witch’s Flower. Spark Animation 2017 runs from Th u rs d a y t o S u n d a y ( O c t o b e r 26 to 29). More information is at www.sparkfx.ca/.

OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 35


MOVIES

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36 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017

A

few blocks outside of the so-called happiest place on Earth is the segregated Magical Kingdom of young Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), a semipermanent resident of a budget motel—actually called the Magic Castle—along the yellow-brick highway en route to Disney World. “It was when we were spending time in that area and getting to know some of the people in that community that we started to pull inspiration from people we met,� says writer-director Sean Baker, describing the research process behind his newest film in a phone call from Syracuse, New York, to the Georgia Straight. “It’s about starting at a particular location and then, through our interviews and interactions, figuring out where our characters would be hanging in real life.� The Florida Project (now playing) is a rhapsodic ode to this would-be wonderland, the literal remnants of a post subprime-mortgage-crisis wasteland along Route 192 in Orlando, Florida. Baker observes every nook and cranny of this world, creating a film as detailed as his 2015 breakout,

Tangerine, another work about endearingly abrasive people living on the economic margins. Here he is once again obsessive about regional detail, right down to the mischievous and endangered cranes that make a random appearance in the film. “It was something we wanted to point out, keeping it grounded in reality,� he says. “They lived on the property of the Magic Castle. They would come every morning, knock on the window, and get their Cheetos from the main clerks. They were addicted to junk food.� Moonee and her friends are raised on whatever the human ideological equivalent of that is. Their playground is surrounded by the advertisements of McWorld consumerism and tourist propaganda, and they’re exposed to this glossy and decadent environment with little guidance. There’s only so much the motel’s paternal manager, Bobby (Willem Dafoe), can do as he balances his professional responsibilities with his empathy for these kids, ones who were born in the recession and have only known extreme poverty their entire lives. The irony of rampant income inequality backdropped by the Disney

myth isn’t lost on Baker. “It’s always looming, even in our lives outside of that area,� he says. “It’s a cultural phenomena that’s unmatched. The only thing that beats it out is organized religion.� But the film eventually pushes us outside of the kids’ innocent perspective. In Baker’s own words: “It couldn’t always remain funny games; it’s as simple as that.� The Florida Project’s masterstroke is how it modulates this change in tone. The kids’ behaviour remains consistent; it’s our initial perception of their delinquency as comedic that changes. Moonee’s single mom, Halley (Bria Vinaite), is unemployed and barely making her weekly rent payments. The young girl slowly becomes aware of her oppressed existence, and it’s heartbreaking to behold. “I’ve been getting feedback from audience members saying that they were just simply waiting for one of them to get hit by a car, somebody overdosed—this stuff is something I think audiences are used to, and this is something we definitely wanted to avoid,� Baker says. “The lives of these families is already dramatic.� -


MUSIC

Looking back, Hannah Walker BY MIKE US IN G ER

and Jamie Elliott didn’t plan to make the record they ended up creating with Full Circle, the sophomore release from Twin Bandit. Sometimes, however, there are rewards to keeping an open mind. Reached in Winnipeg, the members of the country-tinged Vancouver folk duo acknowledge their initial goal was to make a stripped-raw album. What they delivered instead is a collection of songs illuminated with beautiful flourishes, including star-dusted pedal steel, down-home fiddle, and rollicking banjo. “Originally, Jamie and I had this dream idea of going up to a cabin in Pemberton and recording basically an acoustic album,” Walker says, speaking to the Straight on a conference call. When they pitched that idea to their label, Nettwerk Records, it was suggested that the two might better build on the momentum generated by their winning 2015 debut, For You, by instead shooting for something a little more user-friendly. The more Walker and Elliott talked to those around them— including fellow musicians, as well as producers Howard Redekopp (Tegan and Sara) and Tom Terrell (Rose Cousins)—the more they got excited.

Staying true to themselves

Twin Bandit initially hoped to follow up 2015’s For You with a stripped-down acoustic record, but that’s not at all how things turned out on Full Circle.

to the duo’s honey-dipped vocals. But listen to the lyrics, and you start to get the feeling that the Twin Bandit made a very different album than they past couple of years haven’t been all sunshine planned to, but Full Circle is as honest as it gets and unicorns for the two “We started realizing there was a beautiful op- friends and bandmates. There have been definite portunity to work with our friends, and maybe get highs, the shortlist being European tours and a a little bit more creative with the production and coveted appearance at the 2016 edition of the Vanincorporate that into the feeling and message of couver Folk Music Festival. the songs,” Walker continues. As anyone who’s ever dealt with depression What Twin Bandit eventually created was a love- knows, however, sometimes the darkness finds you ly companion to For You. Full Circle starts with the even when the sun seems to be shining. That’s been breezy soft-focus Americana of “Everything Under the case for both Elliott and Walker. There was the the Sun”, which is marked by gentle acoustic gui- loss of friends and loved ones. And then there were tars and the duo’s drop-dead-gorgeous harmonies. those days when the black clouds roll in completely From there it’s the little things that often stand out, unexpectedly for no easily explained reason. Those whether it’s the vocals briefly slowing down to a times would colour lyrics like “And I know, Lord, molasses-dipped crawl in the enchanting “I Try”, I know that life carries on/Not the way you might or the way the drums crash to the forefront in the expect/You learn to love and let go of the rest” from darklands ballad “Never Quite the Same”. “Gotta Make Sure”. Elsewhere, making it through “It was a slow progression of adding and sub- the haunting, soul-baring “To Stay” without being tracting and seeing what fit,” Elliott says. Walker picks up with: “When you’re in the Twin Bandit’s Hannah Walker studio with all of these different, really creative and Jamie Elliott sound off on minds, you kind of get into this real wormhole the things enquiring minds where everyone is really ramping things up and want to know. contributing to the project. You kind of lose sight of your original vision, but I don’t necessarily On intimate shows: think that’s a bad thing. Sometimes, when you [Elliott] “We like playing smaller venues, espetake a step back, you go ‘Wow, this went in a dircially house shows, because you can look ection that I wasn’t totally expecting.’ ” people right in the eye and connect with them That they were open to taking chances in the stuon a deeper level than in a loud, big room where dio for Full Circle is fitting, considering Walker and the lights are shining in your face. It’s just more Elliott mixed things up in other ways as well, includpersonal. Our next plan is to do a big houseing hooking up for the first time with outside writshow tour across Canada.” ers. In addition to working together on Saltspring Island and in Jamaica, they decamped to Nashville On Nashville: [Walker] “We learned that to team up with Neil Mason, who’s had chart suceverybody is there to do music, so no one cares cess with the likes of Miranda Lambert. Sessions if you’re down there to do music—which was in Music City would lead to four new songs, two of great in a way. Everyone was really nice, but them (“Everything Under the Sun” and “Little Big they’re like ‘Yeah, you’re here for the same reaLies”) making the Full Circle final cut. son as everyone else.’” After the insular process of sharing a house and writing For You together, the trip down south On the studio: [Elliott] “Songs like ‘Hard to would lead Walker and Elliott to realize that Know’ took on a different feel than we would there’s nothing wrong with bringing others into have planned. We added banjo, which gave it a the Twin Bandit mix. traditional feel. Then the slide guitar gives it a But at the same time, they maintain a bond dreamy vibe. We probably wouldn’t have thought where their loyalties are first and foremost to each of that. It used to be more of a rock-’n’-roll song other. As on For You, Full Circle finds Elliott and when we played it live—and when I say rock ’n’ Walker using art to work through some oftenroll, I mean Twin Bandit rock ’n’ roll.” heavy personal stuff. The record is an uplifting one, thanks in part

in + out

moved to tears is pretty much impossible. “Challenges come up in life that lead you astray from your path, and it’s important to recognize when that happens,” Elliott says. “You have to examine yourself, and your struggle, and work through it as best you can. ‘To Stay’ is about trying every day to stay true to yourself—to stay brave and to stay faithful. I was working through some pretty tough things in my life but staying hopeful.” Understandably, she’s of the opinion that sometimes specific details are best kept to yourself, even when you’re okay addressing them in your art. “I was working through a lot of troubles in a relationship that I was going through, but I was also working through troubles in my relationship with myself,” Elliott allows. “There were a lot of mental-health issues going on for me.” But for a good sign of where the two friends ended up during the writing of Full Circle, check “So That’s Just the Way”. “I wrote that when I was completely healthy and stable,” Elliott says. “I was trying to get across a message of acceptance. There is an ebb and flow to life, ups and downs, and good and bad. You have to work through daily struggles, personal insecurities, and those kind of things.” Ultimately, Walker says, the best one can do as an artist is be open to all ideas. Sometimes that involved giving up on the dream of making a skeletal album in a cabin in Pemberton. More to the point, it means being true to oneself, something that Twin Bandit has recognized the importance of since starting out playing tiny house shows in Vancouver. The vision for Full Circle might have changed, but Walker and Elliott never forgot the importance of being themselves. “We try and write from our own experience and keep things as authentic as possible,” Walker says. “Sometimes there are those days where you just don’t know. And the best thing to do in those circumstances, for both Jamie and I, has been to admit what you’re going through. And to be really honest about the fact that you’re struggling, and that’s the way it is today. Maybe you don’t want to get out of bed. You take those things in stride and learn to not get overwhelmed or give into those feelings in the long term.” Brightening up, she continues with: “You have to find those messages that are true. They do end up sounding corny sometimes, but you have to think about what things are at the core of life, and how they do get you up and going again.” Twin Bandit plays a Full Circle album-release party at St. James Hall on Friday (October 27).

KASKADE THANKS FATIGU E F O R E DM’S RIS E >>> In the last five years, Kask-

2 ade has garnered six Grammy nominations, single-handedly sold out 20,000-person-capacity venues, and made Forbes’s list of the highest-paid DJs in the world. Record-breaking spots at Coachella and repeat bookings at Electric Daisy Carnival are footnotes on his résumé. Mention achievements like those in 2005 when Ryan Raddon first took on the Kaskade moniker, however, and he would have said it was impossible. So what changed? Learning to spin records in his hometown of Chicago before landing a residency in San Francisco, the performer always wanted to push the envelope. Coming up in “grimy little 200-person clubs”,

he enjoyed the freedom of long set times at underground parties, which allowed him room to write melodic deep house that soon landed him a deal with Om Records. A few years later, as the EDM boom started gathering momentum, Raddon found himself leading the charge with hits like “I Remember” with Deadmau5, and becoming the first electronic-music DJ to secure a residency in Las Vegas. Modest about his achievements, the performer ascribes much of his success to the changing musical landscape. “I think a big catalyst for the commercial rise of dance music was fatigue,” he tells the Straight on the line from his Los Angeles home. “That urban sound, hip-hop

Dance music bubbled underground for decades, according to Kaskade.

and rock ’n’ roll, was just rinsed. People were looking for something new, and dance music had been bubbling in the underground for

decades, literally, since disco died. Dance music really wasn’t on the radio for a really long time. I think pop stars emulated what was going on in the clubs, like Madonna and Deee-lite, but you didn’t have producers who were focused on the underground breaking through, like Chainsmokers or David Guetta. Now all the lines are blurred.” As EDM’s profile grew, so did the venues and production, largely eclipsing the genre’s grassroots origins. For Raddon, a man proud to be “all about the music”, that obscured one of the most important aspects of DJing: the ability to play without boundaries. In response, he’s decided to step back from the megacapacity shows. Releasing

Redux EP 001 in 2014, and following it up last month with Redux EP 002, the performer wanted to revisit the scene’s genesis, and the start of his own story. “So much of dance music is considered pop music now,” he says, “Don’t get me wrong—I love that music too, but I think a lot of young kids discovering dance music think that’s what it is. They’re not aware of Carl Cox and Richie Hawtin and these guys that have been around for decades doing it. That sound is a part of my life. “When I came up with the Redux idea in 2014 it was a bit of a shock,” he continues, “but I feel like a lot more people have followed that trend in see next page

OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 37


Kaskade

Ciwko & Cristall present

Ani DiFranco and her band

(Terence Higgins and Ivan Neville) with special guests Gracie and Rachel

Monday November 6 8pm Vancouver Playhouse An evening of raw truth and trouble at a time of global chaos and confusion

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from previous page

the last couple of years. I think people realize that nightclub music in a nightclub is not a bad thing. It’s still really fun. For me it was about exercising that muscle, and still staking the claim that I’m here and I’ve always been here, and I’m still doing this thing. I’ve written a lot of more melodic stuff over the years, and a lot of people know me for that, but really and truly I came up through the clubs, and it’s important to celebrate it.” Trading drops and upbeat chords for the more downtempo, repetitive bars of deeper house music, Redux EP 002 sees Raddon collaborating with long-time associates Late Night Alumni and up-and-comer LoKii, an artist who has, as the DJ puts it, “a fresh take on what’s happening in the club world”. Between the grimy classic house of “Show of Hands” and the smooth, vocal-driven lead single “Nobody Like You”, the result is a varied, heartfelt record stripped of the fashionable sounds that boost the big buildups of EDM singles. Putting the seven-track EP out on his own label, Arkade, afforded Raddon the freedom to release the record without worrying about marketing, and to tour the songs in intimate venues. “In Vancouver, I’m playing Celebrities,” he says. “I’ve performed in the city more times than I can count, but it’s one of the very few rooms I haven’t played before. Vancouver is such a forward-thinking place, it was one of the first spots in North America where I started playing hard-ticket venues. I jumped from performing in these tiny clubs right to the Commodore, and I sold out two nights there, which I was told was a really big

Maria Schneider’s most recent music has been her reaction to Big Data.

deal. I skipped right over Celebrities, and I don’t know how that happened. Everyone I sit and talk to says that I’m going to love it because it’s exactly what I’m going for on this tour.”

> KATE WILSON

Kaskade plays Celebrities next Thursday (November 2).

Schneider probes life in our weird wired world The next-generation jazz musi-

2 cians in Capilano University’s

“A” Band and NiteCap choir will be pushed to the limit this week, when Maria Schneider drills them before leading them on-stage for a BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts concert. But working with students, Schneider says, isn’t really that much different from collaborating with pros like saxophonist Donny McCaslin, soprano Dawn Upshaw, and the late rock legend David Bowie, all of whom have performed with the

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five-time Grammy winner. “I really try to push them beyond their expectation of what they think they can play, and usually I manage to reach that,” Schneider says on the line from her Manhattan home, speaking specifically about her work as a jazz educator but also giving some insight into her musical philosophy. “So it’s fun when the students, at the end, feel surprised by what they’ve done.” During her visit to Cap U, Schneider plans to cover a few key topics. “For composition students, I talk about how to make something that’s compelling and that reaches an audience—and about the creative process, which is very complex and difficult,” she says. “A lot of students think that any great music that they hear just appears, so I try to be really honest about how difficult it is to write music and describe my process, so that they understand that hard work is necessary, and that they’re not alone in that if that’s how they’re feeling. “I also work with ensembles on playing in an effective way, and about musicality in the jazz ensemble… There’s just a thousand different subjects,” she adds. It’s likely, though, that the most important lesson Schneider hopes to impart has less to do with music than with life, especially life in our stressedout, wired, and eternally on-call times. American theatre teacher Linda Putnam likes to talk about the creative cycle being made up of four elements— research, production, presentation, and fallow time, with the last being criminally overlooked—and that’s something Schneider also endorses. “I talk about that a lot, actually, because I’m from southwest Minnesota, where it’s agriculture country,” Schneider explains. “It’s prairie and farms, and anybody who has worked around farms knows that if a field is constantly put into production, the soil can’t keep up. The soil has to go fallow. Things have to lay there; they have to decay and die a little bit to give the soil new energy.” The moral, she continues, is that everyone needs to give themselves some space in their lives, even if that means taking a break from social media. “You have to be diligent, you have to practise, you have to work,” she says. “But if you don’t also give yourself time to do other things, things outside of music, then what does the music have to speak about? “You know how they say ‘You are what you eat?’ Well, your music is what you fill your time with. And if people are just constantly filling their time with text messaging and this and that, then what do they have to say? What questions does that put in their minds?” Admittedly, Schneider doesn’t always practise what she preaches. While her most recent Maria Schneider Orchestra album, 2015’s gloriously golden The Thompson Fields, was inspired by time spent in the country and her memories of long Minnesota summers, she’s more recently devoted her off-hours to campaigning against the way Big Data is impoverishing musicians through omnipresent copyright violations. That’s not exactly taking a break—and, unsurprisingly, her efforts are spilling over into the music she’s writing now. Sample titles? “Datalords” and “Don’t Be Evil”. “I think the next chapter is going to be a little different,” Schneider allows. “And there was also an inf luence in working with David Bowie [on the track “Sue (Or Nothing Has Changed)”, from the singer’s 2014 compilation Nothing Has Changed]. He was really attracted to my more dark and intense music, and as we were working together, I was kind of tapping into that part of myself, too. And I was like, ‘You know what? This is fun!’ I kind of like the dark—and it’s time to unleash holy hell.” > ALEXANDER VARTY

Maria Schneider plays the BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts on Friday (October 27). see page 40


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The Georgia Straight Confessions, an outlet for submitting revelations about your private lives—or for the voyeurs among us who want to read what other people have disclosed.

Previews

from page 38

The Glorious Sons are bonded by brotherhood Sibling rivalry might have pushed

2 Brett and Jay Emmons, singer

Scan to confess Thank God I’m not in Winnipeg No matter how low it gets during the ups and does I always remind myself: At least I don’t live in Winnipeg anymore.

Did you see me? I often check the “I saw You” in hopes that I show up. Sigh.

Slow Reaction Time Why is it so hard for me to comprehend that others like me until after the fact? There were so many missed connections because I doubt that others find me attractive enough to want to make a connection with me based on my looks.

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we were in the studio that we didn’t lose the heart and soul of what we do, which is music derived from guitars and vocals,” Emmons says. “But we also wanted to expand on that and create something a little more modern than what we had done before. Part of the problem is that people think that rock ’n’ roll nowadays has to sound like a band from the 1960s. I think that is such backward thinking. If people think that rock is ever going to be relevant again, it’s not going to be a band that sounds like Lynyrd Skynyrd. It’s going to be a band that can encapsulate and repCONCERTS < resent modern times. And that was CLUBS & VENUES < a very important thing to us writing OUT OF TOWN < the album.” First and foremost, he says, the CONCERTS band is a blue-collar group of performers who encompass the spirit 2JUST ANNOUNCED of rock. Selling out three of their B3 FOR BUNNY: FROM NEW shows in Toronto on this tour—two YORK, AKIKO TSURUGA FEAT. JOE on consecutive dates—the Glori- MAGNARELLI Since landing in the mecca ous Sons know what the fans have for jazz, New York City, Akiko has been embraced not only by audiences, but by her come to expect: a rough-and-ready fellow musicians, as one of the top organ but tightly drilled set from a group players in the city. With guest Joe Magnarelli whose members are no strangers to on trumpet. Presented by Coastal Jazz. Nov 3-4, 8 pm, Frankie’s Jazz Club (765 Beatty). Tix hard partying. $20, info www.coastaljazz.ca/. “I think that people are genuinely entertained by six guys going EAST VAN OPRY Country-roots music by the Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, out there and smiling and sweating Dawn Pemberton, C.R. Avery, Geoff and having fun,” Emmons says. “It’s Berner, Carolyn Mark, Kim Beggs, Eli West, hard to explain what we do differ- Anne-Louise Genest, Marin Patenaude, DJ ently to other people to make us Elliot C Way, the Airstreams, Squirrel Butter, the Alimony Brothers, and the East Van popular, but I know that when we’re Country Band. Nov 4, 8 pm, Rio Theatre on-stage we’re all being ourselves. (1660 E. Broadway). Tix $28/24, info www. I think that there’s a certain vibe facebook.com/events/991247444358918/. that we have with the people we’re QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE American performing to, and I think that’s the alt-rock band performs on its Villains main thing that’s propelled our ca- World Tour 2018. Jan 24, doors 7 pm, reer forward, because we’ve spent a show 8 pm, Pacific Coliseum (Hastings Park, 100 N. Renfrew). Tix on sale Oct 27, lot of time on the road. 10 am, $69.59/59.50/49.50 (plus service “I think that Jay and I have al- charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. ways had a certain belief in the TUNE-YARDS Experimental band tours band, and in ourselves,” he con- in support of upcoming release. Feb 7, tinues. “We’ve had a lot of help doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Commodore along the way, and caught a lot of Ballroom (868 Granville). Tix on sale Oct breaks, but we’ve also worked hard 27, 10 am, $28.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketmaster.ca/. for our opportunities. It’s really PARQUET COURTS AND THURSTON paid off for us.”

and guitarist in the Glorious Sons, to pursue different musical opportunities at first, but it was the bond of brotherhood that brought them back together. “Before I joined the group, I was doing music by myself out east in Halifax,” Brett tells the Straight on the line from Toronto. “It wasn’t really working out. I came home to Kingston for Christmas and went to one of Jay’s band’s shows, and realized, ‘Holy shit, these guys are really good.’ They’d been asking me for a little while to join the band, but I stubbornly wanted to do it my own way. Honestly, I didn’t actually know they were that impressive. So I went back out east for a month and a half longer, and when shit really hit the fan for me, I called Jay and asked if his offer still stood. He said, ‘Yeah’. I booked a flight home, and I joined the group.” Playing heartfelt, high-energy rock ’n’ roll, the six-piece soon found itself one of the genre’s most in-demand bands in Canada. Selling out shows coast to coast, picking up a Juno Award nomination for its first album, The Union, and securing its status as the most-played artists on Canadian rock radio in 2015, the group set out to prove that—despite what commercial radio might lead listeners to believe—the rock-music scene is thriving in this country. Now with the release of its second album, Young Beauties and Fools, the band has offered up a batch of new tracks for heavy rotation on Canada’s stations. Adopting a more contemporary approach to the genre by mixing its anthemic singles with the > KATE WILSON occasional subtle string synth line or brass stab, the group wants to be at The Glorious Sons play the Vogue the forefront of rock’s evolution. “It was so important to me when Theatre on Friday (October 27).

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40 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017

music/ timeout

MOORE American indie-rock bands coheadline, with guests Heron Oblivion. Feb 15, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, The Imperial (319 Main). Tix on sale Oct 27, 10 am,

see next page

…and making this a record-breaking year for Strike A Chord benefiting Music Heals.

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$30 (plus service charges and fees) at Red Cat, Zulu Records, and www.ticketweb.ca/.

160 (plus service charges and fees) at www.ticketmaster.ca/.

BROCKHAMPTON American hip-hop collective performs on its Love Your Parents Tour. Feb 26, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). Tix on sale Oct 27, 10 am, $27.25 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/.

MARIA SCHNEIDER The multiple Grammy-winning jazz composer and conductor brings her genre-bending invention to collaborate with CapU’s “A” Band & NiteCap for a night of breathtaking artistry. Oct 27, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts (2055 Purcell Way). Tix $45, info www.capilanou.ca/centre.

DECIBEL MAGAZINE TOUR Metal music by Enslaved, Wolves in the Throne Room, Myrkur, and Khemmis. Mar 5, doors 6 pm, show 7 pm, Rickshaw Theatre (254 E. Hastings). Tix on sale Oct 27, 10 am, $32.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www. livenation.com/.

ROGER WATERS Prog-rock legend and former Pink Floyd member performs on his Us + Them Tour. Oct 28-29, 8 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix from $52 to $247 (plus service charge and fees) at www.ticketmaster.ca/.

on the web!

For up-to-the-minute, searchable Music Time Out listings, visit

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BRANTLEY GILBERT American country singer-songwriter performs on his Ones That Like Me Tour, with guests Tim Hicks and Josh Phillips. Mar 10, doors 6 pm, show 7 pm, Abbotsford Centre (33800 King Rd., Abbotsford). Tix on sale Oct 27, 10 am, $65/59.50/39.50 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. THE STRYPES British rock ’n’ roll band performs on its Spitting Image Tour. Apr 4, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Biltmore Cabaret (2755 Prince Edward). Tix on sale Oct 27, 10 am, $15 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. DR. JOHN COOPER CLARKE English punk poet and artist. Apr 14, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm, Biltmore Cabaret (2755 Prince Edward). Tix on sale Oct 27, 10 am, $15 (plus service charges and fees) at Red Cat, Zulu Records, and www.ticketfly.com/.

2THIS WEEK DEPECHE MODE English electronica band performs on its Global Spirit Tour. Oct 25, doors 6:30 pm, show 7:30 pm, Rogers Arena (800 Griffiths Way). Tix $125/95/75/49 (plus service charges and fees) at www.livenation.com/. JESSE COOK Canadian world-fusion guitarist tours in support of new album Beyond Borders. Oct 26, 7:30 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton). Tix $65-

EMPLOYMENT

ZAKIR HUSSAIN AND DAVE HOLLAND The Indian tabla master coheadlines with the English jazz bassist and bandleader. Oct 28, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (6265 Crescent Rd., UBC). Tix $46-94, info chancentre.com.

TEGAN AND SARA Canadian indiepop duo, composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin, performs on its Con X: Tour. Oct 28, doors 8 pm, show 9 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton). Tix $67.50/47.50/33 (plus service charges and fees) at www. livenation.com/.

CLUBS & VENUES BACKSTAGE LOUNGE Arts Club Theatre, 1585 Johnston, Granville Island, 604-6871354. Hot Jazz Jam night on Tue. 2BONES 2 FLOOR HALLOWEEN PARTY Oct 27 2HALLOWEEN PARTY WITH BABY HARRY Oct 28 BILTMORE CABARET 2755 Prince Edward, 604-676-0541. 2SONGHOY BLUES Oct 27 2KALI UCHIS Nov 1 2HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER Nov 3 BLUE MARTINI JAZZ CAFE 1516 Yew, 604-428-2691. Live jazz, soul, and blues. Closed on Mondays. COBALT 917 Main, 778-918-3671. 2THE BABE RAINBOW Oct 25 2HOCKEY DAD Oct 28 2LEE RANALDO Oct 29 COMMODORE BALLROOM 868 Granville, 604-739-4550. 2TASH SULTANA Oct 25 2SILVERSUN PICKUPS Oct 26 2ACTION BRONSON Oct 27 2THE BACARDI BOOHAHA Oct 28 2IN THIS MOMENT AND HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD Nov 2

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ACCOUNTING CLERK The Georgia Straight is currently accepting applications for the position of Accounting Clerk. Th is role is responsible for payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable. KEY ACTIVITIES AND DUTIES • ADP payroll administration • Billing • Collections • Accounts payable • Cash outs & daily bank deposits • Bank reconciliations • Credit reference checks • General journal entries • Customer inquires • Government remittances • Other duties as assigned • Benefit plan maintenance KNOWLEDGE & SKILL REQUIREMENTS • 2-3 years’ experience in a similar position preferred • Experience with payroll administration • Knowledge of credit and collection policies and procedures • Some post-secondary accounting training • High level of attention to detail • High level of discretion and professionalism in dealing with confidential information • Ability to multi-task and prioritize effectively in a deadlineoriented environment • Strong work ethic and positive attitude essential If you meet the above requirements and are interested in joining our team, please submit your resume and cover letter to careers@straight.com, quoting Competition #AC_GS1017 in the subject line. No phone calls, please. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

FRANKIE’S JAZZ CLUB 765 Beatty, 778-727-0337. 2FROM NEW YORK: ERIC ALEXANDER Oct 27 2ERIC ALEXANDER Oct 28 2B3 FOR BUNNY Nov 3

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THE IMPERIAL 319 Main, 604-868-0494. 2MARTHA WAINWRIGHT Oct 29 2WITT LOWRY Oct 31 2ALEX CLARE Nov 9 IVANHOE PUB 1038 Main, 604-608-1444. Pub with live bands on weekends and open jam night Sun from 4 to 8 pm. Open at 9 am with breakfast and daily food specials. Pool tourney Thu. No cover. 2HALLOWEEN PARTY Oct 28

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brings you QUEER AS FUNK + the chance to support progressive social change

Tickets: Eventbrite.ca

RAILWAY STAGE AND BEER CAFÉ 579 Dunsmuir, 604-564-1430. 24 taps of local craft beer. Comedy Tue, darts Wed, live music Wed, Thu, Fri, and all day/night Sat. 2MUD FUNK Oct 26 2DOPEY’S ROBE, INTELLIGENCE SERVICE Oct 27 2BRIAN O’BRIEN Oct 28 2BLUES BRUNCH Oct 28 2MUSICAL BINGO Oct 31

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RICKSHAW THEATRE 254 E. Hastings, 604681-8915. 2WASTED YOUTH: THE SEQUEL Oct 25 2SECONDHAND SERENADE Oct 26 2GENITORTURERS Oct 27 2BLING OUT THE DEAD TOUR Oct 28 2THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Oct 31 2BUTCHER BABIES Nov 1 ST. JAMES HALL 3214 W. 10th, 604-7363022. 2RUSSELL DECARLE Oct 26 2TWIN BANDIT Oct 27 2BEÒLACH Nov 3 VENUE 881 Granville, 604-646-0064. 2CHELSEA WOLFE Oct 31 2MADEINTYO Nov 4

All proceeds go to the Pivot Foundation, Pivot Legal Society’s charitable partner.

VOGUE THEATRE 918 Granville, 604569-1144. 2HOODIE ALLEN Oct 25 2MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL Oct 26 2THE GLORIOUS SONS Oct 27 2CRYSTAL CASTLES Nov 3 2$UICIDEBOY$ Nov 4 WISE HALL 1882 Adanac, 604-2545858. 2WE FOUND A LOVEBIRD Oct 26 2DAVID MYLES Oct 29 2HALLOWEEN HOWL Oct 30

TIME OUT MUSIC LISTINGS are a public service provided free of charge, based on available space and editorial discretion. Submit listings 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.

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COMING EVENTS Fraser Monthly Japanese Community Magazine presents a BC WILDLIFE RECOVERY FUNDRAISING CONCERT in support of the CANADIAN RED CROSS BC FIRES APPEAL. Friday, October 27th @ 7:00pm (Doors 6:30) Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver. Vancouver Trio: Cello, Clarinet & Piano. Barry Waterlow: Pipe Organ. AdvanceTickets at: fraser 2017.eventbrite.com or call 604-939-8707 $30 General $25 Student in advance $40 General $35 Student at the door.

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savage love In a frank exchange early in our courtship, I told my girlfriend that I have no kinks. As a faithful reader of Savage Love, I’m obviously not opposed to kinks—but I’ve never had any inclinations in that direction and am probably a typical hetero vanilla. As a result, I’m damn near clueless in that area. Last night, my girlfriend placed my hands around her neck and asked me to choke her. My instant reaction was to say no, not out of any objection in principle but because I thought it might be dangerous in my inexperienced hands. Later I did comply, but I was definitely holding back. I dearly love my main squeeze—clever pun there, huh?—and I want to be GGG, but, well, you see my misgivings. I know about safe words, but can we count on them when the recipient’s larynx is being compromised and she may be close to passing out? For the record, I had no difficulty in acceding to her request to be bitten, as I know where and how hard I can do that without causing damage, but choking is an area of darkness for me. And let me note that my girlfriend has no grounding in medicine, physiology, or anything that would lead me to be comfortable trusting her judgment about choking. > CHOKE HOLDS OBLIGATE KINK EDUCATION

I have friends who are professional Dominants—women who will stick needles through the head of their client’s cock and post the bloody pics to Twitter—who refuse to do breath play and/or choking scenes. “It’s impossible to control for all the variables,” said Mistress Matisse, a professional dominatrix with more than 20 years of experience. “People think

choking isn’t kinky, but it is. People think it’s a low-risk activity, but it’s not. Choking isn’t just about the lungs. It can affect the brain and the heart—it can affect the whole body—and if the bottom has underlying health issues, things can go disastrously wrong. I feel strongly about this.” Wrapping something around someone’s neck—your hands, a belt, a rope—is the most dangerous form of breath control/play, Matisse emphasized, and simply cannot be done safely. Fragile bones (like the hyoid bone), nerves, arteries, veins—the neck is a crowded place, it’s vulnerable, and putting sustained pressure on someone’s neck is extremely risky. Matisse also noted: “The person doing the choking needs to be aware that they’re on the hook legally—for at least manslaughter charges—if the person who asked to be choked should die. People have gone to jail for this kind of ‘play’.” Jay Wiseman, author of SM 101, not only takes a similarly dim view of choking, CHOKE, he has served as an expert witness at the trials of people who choked someone to death during sex. “It’s always inherently life-threatening, and it’s always inherently unpredictable,” said Wiseman. “It’s more dangerous than suffocation, as you can get into deeper trouble more quickly. People have died from a few seconds of being choked. There simply are no landmarks—meaning you can’t say to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that if you ‘only’ choke someone for 30 seconds, they’ll be okay. People have died after being choked for less than 30 seconds.” I’m tempted to leave it there, CHOKE, because I worry that

> BY DAN SAVAGE anything else I might say—anything remotely equivocal—could result in one idiot choking another to death. But the fact of the matter is that choking, despite the risks, is a relatively common kink, and almost all deaths related to breath play occur during solo scenes, not partnered scenes. So I’m going to give you a little advice about meeting your girlfriend’s particular needs safely, i.e., without wrapping your hands around her neck. So your partner wants to be choked? “What most people who are into choking want is to feel controlled,” said Matisse. “So put your hand over her mouth. Grab her hair, wrap an arm around her shoulder—not her neck— and put your other hand over her mouth. That should satisfy the urge.” Another option, CHOKE, is a gas mask. If it’s not too disturbing a look—if it’s not a boner-killer—you can put a gas mask on someone, cover the breathing hole with the flat of your hand, and cut off your partner’s air. All they have to do when they need a breath is shake their head, which will break the seal created by your palm and allow them to breathe. And fi nally, CHOKE, you could— if you really like this woman—take a stage-combat class or book a session with a fight choreographer. There are safe chokeholds used on-stage, where the person being choked is in control and no actual pressure is placed on the neck. Follow Mistress Matisse on Twitter @mistressmatisse. Follow Jay Wiseman on Twitter @JayWiseman.

man takes my boyfriend out once or twice a year for a fancy lunch and gives him a lot of expensive new underwear. At these lunch “dates”, my boyfriend returns the underwear the man gave him last time, now used and worn. It seems obvious to me that Underpants Pervert, as I’ve dubbed him, is masturbating with these old pairs of underwear. This has been going on for seven years, and it makes me so uncomfortable that I asked my boyfriend to stop. He agreed, but he went back on the agreement the next time Underpants Pervert snapped his fingers. My boyfriend says he likes this guy, doesn’t feel objectified in a bad way, enjoys their lunches, and thinks of him as an old friend. When I see my boyfriend in his underwear, all I can think is, “That pervert is going to be masturbating into those soon,” when I should be thinking, “My boyfriend is so sexy.” You’ll probably take Underpants Pervert’s side—since you’re pro-kink and an older gay man yourself—and tell me to get over it. But what if I can’t? > HAVING ISSUES STOPPING BOYFRIEND’S UNDERPANTS MAN

P.S. My boyfriend is 28 and straight. I’m a 25-year-old cis bi woman.

Get over it. P.S. And if you can’t get over it? Well, I guess you could issue an ultimatum, HISBUM: “It’s me or Underpants Pervert.” You would essentially be asking your boyfriend to end a successful long-term relationship (seven years)—a relationship of a different sort, yes, but a relationship nonetheless—in favor of a short-term relationMy boyfriend of four months ship (four months). You’ve already is great, we’re in love, and the sex is asked your boyfriend to stop seeing amazing. Now for the but: a strange this man, and he chose the perverted

fag over the controlling girlfriend. If you can’t get over it and you decide to issue that ultimatum, HISBUM, don’t be surprised if he chooses the pervert over you a second time.

Just wondering why I can’t find

any coverage in your many years of letters concerning the effects of pubic lice on sexual health and relationships. > ASKING FOR A FRIEND

No one has ever asked me about pubic lice, AFAF. Some people believe pubic lice have been driven to extinction— at least in the West—by the shavingyour-pubes trend, which is now in its second or third decade and shows no sign of abating. But that theory, which I once believed myself (and could explain why no one asks me about it), has been thoroughly debunked. So I can’t tell you why pubic lice haven’t come up in the column. It’s a mystery.

The one thing I would have added to your advice for MISSCLEO, the mom who caught her son stealing panties: if she can afford it, after the talk about where the bra came from, she should give him an Amazon gift card. Maybe $50 to $100? No matter how close they are, he’s not going to ask his mom to buy panties for him, but she can give him the means and then assiduously ignore boxes that show up with his name on them. > PEOPLE ARE NICE TO YOU

Thanks for sharing, PANTY. On the Lovecast Dan interviews victims’-rights lawyer Carrie Goldberg: savagelovecast.com. Email: mail@savagelove.net. Twitter: @fakedansavage.

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OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 2 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 43


44 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2 / 2017


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