The Georgia Straight - Culture Crawl - Nov 14, 2019

FREE | NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

Volume 53 | Number 2704

EDUCATION PAYOFF

Postsecondary economics

MINDFUL SEXUALITY

Empathy elicits desire

LAS ESTRELLAS DE VANCOUVER

Spread magic of mariachi

Culture Crawl

Artists Heather Craig, Rojia Dadashzadeh, and Monica McGarry’s collaborative puppets express the theme of displacement at this year’s huge open-studio event

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NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 3

CONTENTS

November 14 – 21 / 2019

21 COVER

At the Eastside Culture Crawl, artists learn to work together in the face of shrinking studio space.

By Janet Smith Cover photo by Emily Cooper

9

SEXUALITY

Mindfulness as a stress-relieving technique is well known, but it can enrich women’s sex lives as well.

By Gail Johnson

11

EDUCATION

If you look at education as an investment in your future, here are programs that can provide rewarding returns.

By Charlie Smith

37 MOVIES

Interest in the region and a rep for great cinema means more eyes on the Vancouver Turkish Film Festival.

By Adrian Mack

39 MUSIC

Las Estrellas de Vancouver makes a case that mariachi isn’t just something to be experienced in Mexico.

By Mike Usinger

Explorer Speaker Series at the ORPHEUM theatre

BIRDS OF PARADISE Featuring

Tim Laman & Ed Scholes February 4, 2020 7pm

e Start Here 35 ARTS HOT TICKET 10 BOOKS 19 THE BOTTLE 41 CONFESSIONS 19 FOOD 17 HOROSCOPES 35 I SAW YOU 38 MOVIE REVIEWS 6 NEWS 43 SAVAGE LOVE 33 THEATRE

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e Listings 35 ARTS 41 MUSIC

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Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 53 | Number 2704

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

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Rogers had no corporate alternative but to fire Don Cherry.

Missing person: 16-year-old female last seen on November 8.

Adrian Crook: Partner with housing providers on rental shortfall.

Sportsnet’s Don Cherry firing was a long time coming.

Slide activity closes Highway 99 north of Lillooet.

GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight @GeorgiaStraight

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

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y early 2020, fully electric ferries will connect the Canadian mainland with Amherst Island in Lake Ontario. The following year, a similar service will be available for travellers to and from Ontario’s nearby Wolfe Island.

Here at home, B.C. Ferries will deploy two electric vessels connecting Powell River and Texada Island by mid-2020.

Four more so-called Island Class ferries are expected to sail by 2022 in B.C. These will connect Campbell River and Quadra Island, and Nanaimo with Gabriola Island.

Powered by clean energy, these transportation systems are lowemission alternatives to conventional diesel ferries.

According to planners with Metro Vancouver, the region can have allelectric vessels too, servicing cities along the Fraser River.

Planners Joshua Power and James Stiver have prepared a report recommending that the region pitch the idea of a electric river bus service to TransLink.

TransLink is currently putting together Transport 2050, its longrange transportation plan for the next 30 years.

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“Using clean electricity, an electric river bus service for Fraser River communities could be a low-emission transportation alternative that is consistent with the goals of various Metro Vancouver planning processes that are underway,” Power and Stiver wrote in their report.

Potentially benefiting from the new service are the Township of Langley; the cities of Surrey, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Burnaby, Richmond, Delta, New Westminster, and Vancouver; Electoral Area A; and the Tsawwassen First Nation.

“Passenger ferries make good candidates for battery powered systems since they tend to operate on short and consistent routes, which simplifies the planning and installation of

B.C. Ferries will have two electric ferries by 2020. Photo by B.C. Ferries

the necessary charging infrastructure at the docking locations,” according to Power and Stiver.

The Metro Vancouver planners also noted that electric-powered vessels might be “more expensive at the outset, but may have lower maintenance costs and fuel consumption over time, as well as lower engine noise and emissions”.

They also mentioned that the region is “home to businesses that specialize in developing and manufacturing maritime energy storage systems”.

Power and Stiver’s report is included in the agenda on Friday (November 15) of Metro Vancouver’s climate-action committee.

On September 20 this year, the committee directed staff to report back on an electric bus service that would link Fraser River communities.

Committee member and Maple Ridge councillor Ahmed Yousef recalled that it was he who brought forward the idea of a low-emission river bus service for discussion.

“We’ve seen over the years that our carbon footprint as a region continues to increase, and with the majority of our population commuting to work and back, I believe the time is now of the essence to be able to provide the service for our residents and commuters,” Yousef told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview.

According to Yousef, an electric river bus system will help move people in the region in a “very environmentally conscious, safe, and sustainable manner”.

“I certainly hope that TransLink will not wait until 2050 to start implementing this idea,” Yousef said when asked to assess the chance that the transportation authority will include a Fraser River bus service in its Transport 2050 plan.

In their report, planners Power and Stiver observed that riverfront lands are typically industrial and port-related and have not been planned for residential or mixed uses.

“Staff note that a land use and infrastructure framework that includes appropriate origins and destinations that would support ridership on a river-based transit system does not exist today,” Power and Stiver wrote. g

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NEWS

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Manly takes a pass on Green party leadership

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reen politician Paul Manly ran in two elections within five months of each other this year. Understandably, the Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP-elect is not keen on waging another campaign, even if it’s for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada.

“I have so much on my plate right now that to take off on a leadership race and travel across the country to do that just doesn’t seem like it’s the right thing for me,” Manly told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview.

Not interested as well is Jenica Atwin, who became the third elected Green MP after winning Fredericton in the October 21, 2019, ballot.

This could mean that no Green elected MP will be vying for the post vacated by former party leader Elizabeth May. May, who has secured a third term as MP for Saanich–Gulf Islands, will remain parliamentary leader of the threemember Green caucus.

Former CBC broadcaster Jo-Ann Roberts serves as interim leader.

The next leader will be chosen at a convention in Charlottetown in October 2020.

“I’m a new MP, and there’s a lot of issues that we face here in NanaimoLadysmith,” Manly said. Manly first won Nanaimo-Ladysmith in the May 6, 2019, by-election. He was reelected on October 21.

“I already heard about a couple of people stepping up,” Manly said without mentioning names.

One of them is David Merner, who ran and lost in the last election as Green candidate in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke. Merner has confirmed to Straight editor Charlie Smith that he will be running for leader of the Green

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Party. A former Justice Department lawyer, Merner was a member of the Liberal Party for many years.

Merner switched to the Greens last year, citing the broken election promises of the Liberals as his reason. He claimed that the government’s purchase of the Kinder Morgan oil pipeline was the last straw.

Alex Tyrrell, leader of the Green Party of Quebec, has also expressed interest in May’s former job.

Tyrrell wants to see the party transformed into an electoral organization that espouses ecosocialism, a train of thought that holds that the protection of the environment is incompatible with capitalism.

When asked how ecosocialism is relevant to the future of the Green Party, Manly said that although leaders can bring forward certain ideas, the party members “still have the final say on what the policies of the party are”.

“The Green Party is a big tent, so there are people who like the idea of ecosocialism,” Manly said. “I don’t think we’re an ecosocialist party. We don’t follow that kind of ideology.” g

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NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 7

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON SIGNS IN THE CITY Signs are all around us, on our buildings, streets and landscapes. Because they have an impact on everyone, we’re looking for your input for our review of the Sign By-law.

Phase 1 of the review in 2016-17 led to new regulations for business signage.

We’re now working on Phase 2 which will focus on billboards, advertising signs and electronic signage.

Drop by one of our open houses to learn more, ask questions, and let us know what you think.

OPEN HOUSES: Saturday, November 23, 2019, 11 am – 2 pm Wednesday, November 27, 2019, 4 – 7 pm Both open houses at: CityLab, 511 West Broadway SURVEY: Take the online survey to share your views at vancouver.ca/sign-review starting November 22.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: vancouver.ca/sign-review sign.review@vancouver.ca

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is a photographer, writer and adventurer. He has studied and taken Master Classes with the likes of Ralph Gibson and Greg Gorman. We are excited to share his 10 years of award winning photography.

Show runs until December 31, 2019 8 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

SEXUALITY

Mindfulness can boost women’s libido

W

by Gail Johnson

hether it’s in a yoga class or meditation session, mindfulness is a well-known technique for relieving stress. It turns out it can enhance women’s sexual desire, too.

With roots in Buddhism, mindfulness essentially means being fully aware of the present moment and accepting your thoughts, physical sensations, and the surrounding environment without judgment. Jon Kabat-Zinn, who founded the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979, is credited for bringing the concept to the North American mainstream.

Four decades on, mindfulness has been taught in schools, prisons, major corporations, hospitals, and beyond.

Vancouver sex researcher and clinical psychologist Lori Brotto, director of the UBC Sexual Health Laboratory, has studied and taught mindfulness extensively since 2003.

The Canada Research Chair in Women’s Sexual Health, she treats various sexual concerns, including low sexual desire—a.k.a. loss of libido—which affects up to half of women at some point in their lives.

Causes of sexual dysfunction in women are complex, multifactorial, and often unclear, says Brotto, the author of Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire. Some medications diminish libido, as can certain physical and mental-health conditions, including depression. For some women, sex is uncomfortable; for others, it’s unrewarding. Difficulty becoming or feeling aroused might be exacerbated over time, as anxiety builds about being able to respond sexually. That can lead to a cycle: unsatisfying sex might

Mindfulness meditation trains the brain to stay in the here and now. – Lori Brotto

Vancouver sex researcher and psychologist Lori Brotto is the author of Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire. Photo by Martin Dee

lead some women to avoid it, and the more they avoid it, the less likely the body will remember arousal cues, making it even harder to become sexually excited.

Being mindful is more than an effective tool to reawaken and recharge sexual craving, Brotto says. Her research has found that mindfulness significantly improves sexual desire, arousal, orgasms, satisfaction, and mood in women seeking treatment for low libido. She describes it as transformational. “In my opinion, sensational and satisfying sex is simply not possible without mindfulness,� Brotto says. “Mindfulness meditation trains the brain to stay in the here and now,

fending off distractions and negative self-judgment. Attention and focus have been found to be mission critical for cultivating a sexual response and sexual desire. Skills such as mindfulness teach the brain to connect more completely with the body, allowing us to experience all of the sensations of sex.�

With the brain being the most powerful sex organ, present-moment, nonjudgmental awareness benefits sexual relations in other ways. Evidence shows that mindfulness leads to better communication in couples.

When people practise mindfulness, they become more attuned to a partner and feel more empathy for them, Brotto says.

One of the exercises Brotto and her team teach in small groups is “mindfulness of breath�, which involves guiding women to notice their breathing, including the individual sensations that make up each inhalation and exhalation. Sitting comfortably with their eyes closed, women learn to pay attention to where they feel sensations in the body associated with breathing, such as at the belly, chest, and nose. They might also be guided to observe sounds associated with breathing, and any smells. The exercise lasts about 20 minutes, allowing women to experience what happens when their mind gets pulled into different directions. When their attention wanders, they practise redirecting it back to the sensations associated with breathing. “As your mind wanders or gets distracted, be kind to yourself and escort your mind back to noticing the breath,� Brotto says. “It is normal and expected for the mind to wander.

Just refocus on the here and now.�

Better Sex Through Mindfulness includes other simple exercises women can do to build mindfulness into their

daily lives, ultimately improving their sex lives. And healthy, satisfying sex is a crucial part of overall well-being.

While the practice of mindfulness has been proven to help boost desire, many women find it difficult, if not impossible, to meditate for 30 minutes or more every day. In today’s multitasking world, they say they just don’t have the time or energy. “My response to that? Prioritize it,� Brotto says. “In the same way that we prioritize other important areas of our life, sex should also be prioritized and planned. By extension, when there are sexual concerns, we need to prioritize the time to make improvements to sex. “This can be a struggle in today’s era of quick fixes and pill pushes; however, these are not found to be effective in the long term, and most countries do not have approved medications to tackle women’s waning libidos,� she says. “When you view mindful practices as contributing to a greater overall sense of your sexual self, while also having the benefits to mood, stress, and overall well-being, then it might make the prioritizing a bit smoother.�

Several resources exist to help women build mindfulness into their lives, Brotto notes. Several community centres offer groups; there are also apps like Headspace, Happify, Calm, and Buddhify.

Brotto maintains that it’s not acrobatics or stamina that makes for mindblowing sex; it’s being fully present with each sensation without judgment. “A fulfilling sex life is within reach,� Brotto says. “In fact, it is a mere breath away.� g This article was created in partnership with Womyns’ Ware.

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Outsider voices spit poetry in Verse

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by David Chau

ex workers, insist Amber Dawn and Justin Ducharme, need accurate representation. Public discourse leans on narrow ideas. Together, the two have had many conversations on how mainstream media supports toxic portrayals of their cohort.

“Somehow, that particular argument around labour and exploitation and fairness gets heavily laid upon sex workers,” Amber Dawn says. “I just think if people are going to talk about sex work, they need to better learn how to talk about the world, and talk about the systemic barriers that we all face as people trying to survive.”

Certainly, “there are outsiders that have a great critical analysis, but,” the acclaimed author and advocate adds, “they’re still outsiders.”

Over coffee with the Straight in Vancouver’s Chinatown, Amber Dawn and Ducharme are discussing the volume they edited, Hustling Verse: An Anthology of Sex Workers’ Poetry. Featuring more than 50 contributors from North America, Europe, and Asia, the book offers diverse and nuanced glimpses into the lives of self-identified sex workers, past and present.

The selections span form and content and are the efforts of emerging writers and established names, including Gregory Scofield, Tracy Quan, and Mercedes Eng. One of the aims here, Ducharme remarks, was to show “varied experience with

sex work. We also knew that we were taking poems that weren’t even about sex work, just by sex workers— poems about community, poems about trauma, poems about love.”

The venture grew from talks Amber Dawn and Ducharme, a filmmaker and published poet, had after he shot “Positions”, his 2018 short that drew on his time in the trade.

(Amber Dawn chronicled her experiences as a sex worker in her 2013 autobiography, How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler’s Memoir, which won the City of Vancouver Book Award. Writing in multiple genres in her literary career, she was nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for her 2015 collection, Where the words end and my body begins.)

By that point, the two, then colleagues at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, were aware of their respective backgrounds and soon devised an outreach strategy for the project.

Contacting community-builders and sex-worker-led organizations in Canada and abroad as part of their call for submissions, they were encouraged by the response. “The

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utmost important thing to the both of us as editors,” Ducharme says, “was the work that we were getting, that we were being trusted with by this community. It was overwhelming how many people were wanting to take up space in this narrative.”

As Amber Dawn writes in her foreword to Hustling Verse, “Just read the ad copy for our business hustle and you’ll find poetry. Just follow #sexwork on Twitter and you’ll find poetry. Just visit the staff room of a club or parlour or porn studio (well, don’t, actually, unless you work there) and the workers will be spitting poetry.”

The “for us, by us” ethos behind the collaboration eschews sensationalism and demonstrates real flair and depth of feeling. Pluma Sumaq’s “You especially” blazes with imagery and lyricism, describing the larger world as it attests to the regard the narrator holds for peers.

Reflecting the link between environment and labour, Raven Slander’s “West End Sex Workers Memorial” addresses public space and personal history. In “beatitudes”, by kiran anthony foster, a letter from child to parents emphasizes that ignorance about gender has resulted in distance.

“Queerness is very prevalent throughout the book,” Amber Dawn says, “and we didn’t know that would happen. But it turned out that so many of our contributors were somewhere queer-spectrum-identified.

Nonnormativity was a very high theme in so many of those poems.”

The transactional aspects of the profession are broached in pieces like Akira the Hustler’s “Excerpts From a Whore Diary”. Kay Kassirer’s “Sex Work Client” discloses the conscious and unconscious forces influencing an escort and the eponymous figure.

Though wit and bawdiness dance through Hustling Verse, as in Keva I Lee’s “Triple F Threat”, perhaps the strongest impression of these pages is of care, whether for oneself or another. “C y n i c i s m” , by Lester Mayers, is a smouldering depiction of a provident high-school student juggling violent johns and homework. Naomi Sayers writes hauntingly, in “A Memory I Need to Talk About”, of a now deceased father who drove his daughter to her job at a strip club so as to avoid her hitchhiking to work.

The anthology, Ducharme notes, “is testament to how brilliant and thought-provoking writing by sex workers is, whether they’re writing about sex work or not. It’s just good poetry. We wanted it to exist so badly, for us and for everyone else that was famished for these types of stories coming from this community—narratives that are controlled by the people they’re about.”

There are plenty of reasons, Amber Dawn observes, why sex workers remain invisible. “And out of all the different types of art forms, to call yourself a poet—there are a lot of barriers to that.

“Poetry is, by some, considered very niche, or a very rarefied art form,” she continues. “So it’s like we’ve brought these two underdog or invisibilized things together, and it absolutely works.” g A book launch for Hustling Verse: An Anthology of Sex Workers’ Poetry takes place on Tuesday (November 19) at the Roundhouse Arts and Recreation Centre. To see details and to register, go to writersfest. bc.ca/.

10 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

education

Investing in a degree yields dividends

W

by Charlie Smith

hen it comes to postsecondary education, students often want to know the return on investment. And there’s no shortage of economic data that can boil this down to dollars and cents.

In 2017, for example, Statistics Canada reported that men with an apprenticeship certificate in the skilled trades had median earnings of $72,955 in 2015. That was 31 percent higher than the average earnings of a high-school graduate but 11 percent less than those of men with a bachelor’s degree.

For women, there was a big payoff in obtaining a bachelor’s degree, according to the same report. Those who did earned a median of $68,342, 40 percent more than those with a college diploma and 60 percent more than those with a high-school diploma.

“Completing an apprenticeship did not result in higher earnings for women as it did for men,” Statistics Canada reported. “In fact, women with an apprenticeship certificate earned 12% less than women with high school as their highest educational qualification.”

Among B.C. residents between 15 and 64, those with a bachelor’s degree had a median income of $62,985 in 2015, compared to $48,353 for those with a college diploma, $43,327 for those with an apprenticeship certificate, and $45,563 for those with a high-school diploma.

But postsecondary education is about more than the salary one receives after graduating. It can forge

lifelong friendships, produce more informed citizens, and even offer an opportunity to meet a spouse.

From a labour-market perspective, degrees increase income over the course of a person’s life, according to the Conference Board of Canada, as well as providing societal benefits.

“The total return (net present value), both private and public, for a Canadian man who completes tertiary education is $220,365 ($153,520 in benefits to the individual and $66,845 to society),” the Conference Board of Canada states on its website.

“And for a Canadian woman, the total return is $158,036 ($111,487 to the individual and $46,539 to society).

“These significant positive returns—both for individuals and the country—demonstrate the value that Canadians and the Canadian economy place on educational achievement.”

In 2011, UBC economist W. Craig Riddell and York University economist Xueda Song published a paper in a journal called Labour Economics looking at the relationship between education levels and bouncing back from being unemployed.

They examined data for Americans 12 months after losing a job and for Canadians six months after becoming unemployed. It marked the first time that a “causal effect”, rather than a mere correlation, could be demonstrated between education level and the amount of time that someone was out of work.

“Results indicate that education significantly increases reemployment

But it’s also worth noting the message from the research cited above: investing in education can pay handsome dividends.

ADLER UNIVERSITY FOCUSES ON RESEARCH SKILLS

Adler University in Vancouver offers a master of arts and a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology, with an emphasis on social justice.

rates of the unemployed,” Riddell and Song wrote in a discussion paper for the Institute for the Study of Labor.

“Particularly large impacts are found in the neighbourhoods of 12 and 16 years of schooling.”

In this week’s Georgia Straight, we’re highlighting 10 educational

initiatives in Metro Vancouver and other parts of the country.

It’s not all about the money, of course. It’s imperative that prospective students search out programs that are a good fit for their personality and that will help them reach their potential as human beings.

d ADLER UNIVERSITY professor Shawn Ireland readily acknowledges that there are some misconceptions about his chosen field of industrial and organizational psychology.

“Somehow, when you say the words psychology or psychologist, people automatically think you’re a shrink or you’re going to come in and do psychoanalysis,” the Vancouver campus program director of the organizational-psychology program told the Straight by phone. “While we may be trained as clinicians, we’re not doing clinical work in organizations.

That’s an important distinction.”

Ireland said that this discipline involves examining the interaction of systems and structures to help manage and enhance the performance and well-being of those within an organization.

“If there’s passion about the mission, people will work for you and commit to doing the work at a much higher and more committed level than they would if it’s just a job and they’re getting a paycheque,” Ireland noted.

Adler University offers a master of arts and a master’s in industrial and organizational psychology.

“The difference is the master of arts

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core assumptions that our Canadian students are holding about how the world works and about what are the priorities and what’s important.�

Another exciting development, from his perspective, is the role of neuroscience in helping psychologists better understand the structure and functioning of the brain. Ireland pointed out that this is opening up avenues of inquiry around how people make decisions, process information, and respond to various types of environments. “We’ll always go back to some of the latest research and scientific breakthroughs as a way of helping a client understand the recommendations we make—or when we facilitate the client coming up with recommendations,� he said. “We add that to the mix for them to consider in their decision-making process.�

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LANGARA SETS STANDARD FOR STUDENT VOLUNTEERS

Langara College’s manager of student engagement, Reba Noel, oversees a vibrant volunteer program that builds connections between the staff and students.

In their final term, students must complete a second practicum, this time focusing on organizational psychology. This must be done within a commercial, nonprofit, or governmental organization, offering students an opportunity to apply skills that they learned during their program. “I would say half our students come in already working in government, nonprofits, or the commercial sector,� Ireland said. “So they come in to enhance their credentials and enhance their experience—ideally, from what we see happening, to help their professional advancement or career advancement.�

Some students enroll who don’t have a lot of work experience but have the necessary undergraduate degree to gain admittance. Ireland said that after they graduate, they often work in small to medium-size enterprises, though some find jobs in the nonprofit or governmental sector.

Adler University requires a 3.0 grade-point average, though it’s fairly flexible when it comes to people who have been in the workforce for many years and might be in senior human-resources positions. “We have some basic criteria and then we work from there,� Ireland explained, “basically because experience trumps academic quality of work if there’s a long period of time in between.�

Adler University tends to cap each cohort at 20 students. They can begin their program in September, January, or May. In recent years, there has been a growing number of international students, which pleases Ireland.

That’s because this stimulates more cross-cultural learning. “Students are coming in from a wide variety of backgrounds,� he said. “The conversations are much more robust and are challenging the

SPRING2020

has a research thesis and the master’s in organizational psychology has a capstone project,� Ireland said.

Each is a full-time program lasting two years.

Organizational psychology has traditionally focused on the work environment, health and wellness of employees, and the culture of a company, nonprofit, or government body, according to Ireland. He added that the industrial side is rooted in research, evidence, and assessment.

Industrial and organizational psychologists are sometimes retained when there are company mergers or corporate acquisitions. “For instance, after the bankers leave, we try to put these organizations together,� Ireland said. “I, as a psychologist, will be part of the team that helps manage that transition. For nonprofits or government agencies, we will be part of the assessment piece to provide data to those in positions of authority to make decisions.�

There are three dimensions to Adler University’s master of arts and master’s in industrial and organizational psychology programs.

The first is course work, including a strong emphasis on research and statistics, strategic human-resources management, training and development, organizational assessment, leadership, and coaching.

Ireland called the research component “absolutely critical�. That’s because an industrial and organizational psychologist’s recommendations are rooted in the quality of research methodologies.

The courses are augmented by experiential work in the community.

Adler University requires every student in the two programs to go on a practicum advancing social justice.

The school has 150 organizational partners across Metro Vancouver and students have contributed about 150,000 hours of community service. “We’re leaders in that area,� Ireland said. “That happens in the very first term of the program. They go right into it.�

CONTINUING STUDIES Register at ecuad.ca/cs

d VOLUNTEERING HAS BEEN a lifelong passion for Reba Noel. As a Memorial University student in Newfoundland, she and her friends spent their Halloweens bringing treats to kids in hospital. She’s on the board of a community-support agency, volunteers with her church, and spent lots of time helping out when her son was involved in sports. “Volunteering and giving back is a really big part of my life,� Noel told the Straight by phone. “I think that was instilled in me at a very early age watching the things that my mom did.�

Now the manager for student engagement at Langara College, Noel was among 49 Langarans honoured at a recent ceremony for their impact on the school and the community during the school’s 49-year history. She was hired in 1995 as an assistant in the counselling department. In 2014, she became responsible for Langara’s VOLT volunteer program, which was founded by two students four years earlier. “It provides opportunities for students to volunteer both on campus and off campus,� Noel explained.

The humanities aren’t this‌backward-looking classical analysis of history. It’s what we have learned about human behaviour. – Matthew Stiegemeyer

Noel pointed out that VOLT is not an acronym but a “unit of potential�. “All of our students are a unit of potential,� she declared. “So, everybody has the potential to give back.�

Students register for the VOLT program and the school keeps track of the amount of time they each spend volunteering. When they reach 50, 100, and 200 hours, they are honoured with a celebration. Recent statistics showed that the students have donated 14,200 hours so far in 2019.

The goal for some is to be designated a “volunteer ambassador�. “That is presented to you based on the type of hours, how many hours you give back, and in what capacity,�

Noel said. “Students are also awarded a certificate, and they’re able to apply for some financial rewards that are available just for volunteers.�

She noted that students in the VOLT program receive a “coveted VOLT T-shirt�, which they only wear while volunteering. Even the employees of Langara don’t receive this.

Participants can also receive letters of reference from Noel’s office as well as from the organizations that they’ve assisted. “I think the VOLT program is an incredible complement to the Langara culture, having been here for so many years,� Noel said. “Langara really is about community.�

She credited the VOLT volunteer program coordinator, Maggie Stewart, for helping turn it into one of the college’s signature initiatives. The website lists places where students can donate their time and energy while gaining valuable experience and forging connections in the community.

It can be at a Langara immunization clinic or with a long list of outside agencies, including the Richmond Music Festival, Latincouver Cultural and Business Society, B.C. Achievement Foundation, Vancouver Coastal Health, and Canadian Red Cross. And Stewart provides the students with extensive training, according to Noel. “Students build relationships with other students whom they might not otherwise have come in contact with,� Noel said. “And they find out that at the base of it, there are similarities and they do have things in common. So they start to build a community that way.�

To ensure that the school is a good neighbour, some students in the VOLT program pick up trash within a two-block area around the main campus on West 49th Avenue. Or they’ll remove invasive plant species from the grounds.

The office of community engagement also provides three low-risk and low-barrier group volunteering opportunities per term through a program called C Change, which is short for “community change�.

These initiatives are aimed at improving neighbourhoods either socially, environmentally, or economically. As an example, a school bus took students from the college to Iona Beach Regional Park in September to see next page

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remove invasive plant species and replace them with native plant species.

The same month, another group of students visited VanDusen Botanical Garden to help fill bags of soil for its soil sale.

On Monday (November 18), C Change volunteers will travel together to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank depot in Burnaby to help sort food and check expiry dates, thereby assisting low-income people.

Noel said that in conjunction with the VOLT program, Langara launched a new program this year called LIST, which is an acronym for Langara International Service Trip.

It enabled 11 students to go to Kenya in August to volunteer on a sustainable-farming initiative and a school project in the East African country.

“They were helping carry water for some of the mamas,” she revealed.

That’s not all. The office of community engagement also worked with other departments to encourage 100 student volunteers to join the GO team. GO is an acronym for “Get Oriented”.

GO team members played a big part in the school’s first community day in June, which featured a free concert by local rockers 54-40, as well as at the recent 49 Langarans celebration.

“You’ll see volunteers at pretty well any and every event on campus,” Noel said.

The president and CEO of Langara College, Lane Trotter, likes to quote former U.S. president John F. Kennedy’s famous statement in his inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”

The same spirit permeates the VOLT program, which is designed to build a sense of community among the volunteers by breaking down barriers on campus.

“It allows them to see an instructor in a different light and to see our president marching up the street instead of how they would envision a president, sitting behind a desk,” Noel said. “People get to know and appreciate each other.”

CONCORDIA STUDENTS FORGE BROADER CONNECTIONS d MATTHEW STIEGEMEYER, director of student recruitment at Concordia University in Montreal, is an unabashed fan of the humanities. It’s why he obtained his undergraduate and master’s degrees in communications before obtaining a PhD in education.

“We focused on human relations and organizational communication,” Stiegemeyer told the Straight by phone from his office. “Communication is key to everyday life.”

In a similar vein, he likes telling a story about how the school’s vice president, academic—Anne Whitelaw—responded to a father who worried about his daughter enrolling in a fine-arts program. The man wondered if she would end up working in Walmart.

“Anne, our interim provost, says: ‘Well, think about what a bachelor of fine arts or a bachelor of arts does for you. You’re looking at creative problem-solving. You’re looking at synthesizing arguments. You’re looking at approaching the world with a lens and adding value from a perspective, whether that’s psychology or sociology or history,’ ” Stiegemeyer recalled. “These are lessons that are connected into our modern world.

“The humanities aren’t this sort of backward-looking classic analysis of history,” he continued. “It’s what we have learned about human behaviour over the years within these spheres of expertise. And how do we continue to advance our culture, our world, and our community?”

Stiegemeyer admitted that his father laughed when he learned that he chose to major in communications.

“But in my case, I went on to graduate school and ended up with a job within six months. I used those skills to help me stand out in my career and put me on the path I’m on today.”

With almost 47,000 undergraduate and graduate students at its Loyola and downtown Montreal campuses,

Concordia is one of the larger English-language universities in Canada, with two campuses in Montreal, including this complex in the city’s downtown core.

Concordia is one of the largest English-language universities in Canada.

It has established a national reputation for business education at the John Molson School of Business, as well as for its engineering and actuarialmathematics programs.

But Stiegemeyer is equally enthusiastic about other programs that make Concordia unique, like its District 3 Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It embraces an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach in helping students launch startups to benefit the community in a wide range of areas, ranging from life sciences to artificial intelligence to fintech.

“Brilliant mathematicians aren’t always the best folks to take those statistics and figure out how to implement changes in our workforce or improve efficiencies,” Stiegemeyer noted. “You need somebody else to help make that human connection.”

Concordia also has a highly regarded bachelor of arts program in urban studies and urban planning.

Students learn how to gather and interpret statistical data and gain an understanding of the relationships between sociocultural, economic, and physical aspects of urban development. There’s also an emphasis on applying this knowledge to

addressing problems identified in neighbourhoods in Montreal.

Last year, Concordia launched a bachelor of arts in interdisciplinary studies in sexuality, which is offered by the school’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute. According to Stiegemeyer, this program examines how human rights, gender identity, and sexuality intersect and what that means for government policies.

Courses focus on the experiences of people of African ancestry, migrants, diaspora communities, and those with disabilities. Issues are examined through transnational, decolonizing, and postcolonial lenses, linking sexuality to art history, film, biology, religion, and sociology.

The interdisciplinary studies in sexuality bachelor’s degree offers internships to help students gain firsthand experience to learn the impact of different communities on the arts, public health, advocacy, and activism. Queer theory, sexuality theory before the 1969 Stonewall riots, sexual representation in cinema, and trans feminism are all part of the curriculum.

“Our Simone de Beauvoir Institute has been at the forefront of these issues for quite some time,” Stiegemeyer said.

Another unusual offering at Concordia is its bachelor of arts in religion and cultures. Stiegemeyer acknowledged that this is not something that most people initially consider studying. However, he pointed out that these two subjects are having a profound impact on the world.

“How does understanding religion and its intersection with culture influence both why we are where we are today and how we might move forward toward a more harmonious future?” he asked.

The study of religion at Concordia reflects the school’s “deep respect for diversity of culture, gender, and sexual orientation”, according to the website.

“You’ll have the opportunity to visit places of worship and meet people connected to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism in Montreal,” the website states. “You will have the opportunity to study languages spoken across the world.”

Stiegemeyer stated that anybody can conduct their own research by going onto Linkedin, and clicking the bachelor of arts entry of a Concordia graduate, and then observing other profiles of people with the same degree.

“You’ll see it’s a real spread of people: in the finance industry, in creative industries,” he said. “It isn’t the best-paid barista at Starbucks who has the bachelor of arts. I’m proud of my degree because I think it did help me.”

Some of North America’s highest-profile executives, like former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Flickr and Slack founder Stewart Butterfield, studied liberal arts in university. Schultz’s major was communications, whereas Slack majored in philosophy.

“It’s what kind of learner you are,” Stiegemeyer added. “Do you want to laser in on something or are you looking to make those broader connections across things that others aren’t making?”

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in Montreal is its relatively low cost of living.

The 2018 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation rental report for Montreal pegged the average price of a two-bedroom purposebuilt rental apartment in the central metropolitan area at $809 per month. A one-bedroom was available, on average, for $720 per month, and bachelor suites rented on average for $641 per month.

In addition, Montreal was recently deemed the most livable city in Canada in a survey by Fitbit, which looked at 15 variables, including living costs, green spaces, mental health, happiness, and LGBT acceptance.

VCC EASES TRANSITION TO UNIVERSITY d FOR SECONDARY students, it can be extremely stressful waiting to find out if they’ll be admitted into university. What some of them don’t realize is that it’s still possible to pursue a university education even if their grade-point average falls short.

That’s because some postsecondary institutions, like Vancouver Community College, offer transfer credits. This enables students to move to university in their second year.

“We have these transfer pathways, including a good number of them with assured admission to SFU,” Jennifer Kelly, department leader of science at VCC, told the Straight by phone.

According to the VCC website, university transfer courses are offered in September, January, and May in the following subject areas: biology, chemistry, physics, human anatomy and physiology, geography, First Nations and Indigenous studies, criminology, ecology, sociology, computer programming, English, algebra, calculus, psychology, environmental science, and engineering. It’s possible for prospective students or their parents to ask any questions online or book an appointment with a VCC adviser.

“We have really great instructors,”

Kelly emphasized. “They’re here because they love teaching and they care about students.”

One of the advantages of attending VCC for university-transfer courses is the cost: it’s far lower per class than attending the same course on a university campus. Another benefit of VCC is the small class sizes in comparison to many first-year courses at larger institutions.

“Maybe it’s hard for a student to understand if they haven’t been in those 200-person lectures what a difference it is to be in a class with 20 students,” Kelly noted. “The instructors know their names.”

According to her, this creates more accountability for students because instructors will immediately notice if an assignment hasn’t been submitted on time.

VCC has been offering universitytransfer courses for several years at its Broadway campus. To gain admission, Kelly said, students need grade-point averages between 2.6 and 3.2, depending on the program.

“The high end is for computing science and software systems at SFU,” she added.

Those students aspiring to become university-educated engineers, they can take the same types of first-year courses at VCC as students at UBC or SFU, including math and physics.

VCC also offers a mechanics class, which is a requirement at UBC. “Then we have three courses that are engineering-specific classes,” Kelly said.

One is called engineering, technology, and society. Another is professional communication, which is geared toward engineering students, and the third is introduction to engineering analysis.

“For engineering, they have to have taken Precalculus 12, Physics 12, and Chemistry 12—and all of those with specific grades,” she stated. “But there aren’t any essays or interviews.”

There’s also no need to submit SAT scores to be accepted into the engineering classes at VCC. Most of the courses last four

14 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

Emily Carr University of Art + Design enables students to major in interaction design.

months. Students must have a C+ in English 12 to qualify for admission into university-transfer courses at VCC. “The way the assured pathway works, students have 16 months to complete the courses, but for the most part they can be done within a year,” Kelly said.

Students can also take transfer courses at VCC to obtain assured admission into SFU’s bachelor of environment and bachelor of science in environmental studies programs.

According to Kelly, students would take classes in subjects like geography, Indigenous studies, and ecology. “The bachelor of science in environmental studies is similar, but there are more science classes, as you can imagine—more chemistry and physics,” she said.

EMILY CARR SPURS DESIGN CAREERS IN HIGH TECH d LIKE MANY YOUNG adults, Jaclyn Phillips felt an urge a few years ago to make a career change because she wasn’t feeling enough creative satisfaction. She was working as a flight attendant, which had its share of advantages. She was meeting

people, solving problems in the air, and travelling to different cities. But after five years, she decided to take the plunge and go back to school.

Phillips chose Emily Carr University of Art + Design because she had an urge to create things. “I applied thinking I would take some arts classes,” she told the Straight by phone. “Luckily, in the first year, they let you try out different disciplines.”

She discovered a love of interaction design, so she chose this as her major. This discipline has been defined by author Jon Kolko as “the creation of a dialogue between a person and a product, system, or service”, which can be physical and emotional.

Historically, it’s been humans and computers, Phillips said, but with the development of different interfaces, interaction design is no longer confined to screens. Hence, the emergence of terms like UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) design.

For her grad project, Phillips and another student created an online system for B.C. Children’s Hospital to enable patients or their family members to input medical information.

“Previously, they had been sent out hours’ worth of forms to fill out,” Phillips explained. “It was a very,

very heavy burden, especially if you were a parent with a sick child or you were a teenager who yourself was experiencing mental-health or health complications. So just digitizing it to something that cut down on the volume of questions made it clear and easier to understand.”

After graduating in 2018, Phillips was hired by Microsoft as a UX designer and moved to the Seattle area.

“I’m working on two new products right now,” she revealed. “They’re both enterprise products. One is a virtual agent designer, so it helps companies build chatbots using AI [artificial intelligence] technology. So it’s trying to make it easier for people that don’t know how to code but want to provide good customer service by allowing them to create chatbots.”

She’s also doing some work on a framework for AI and ethics, which is a subject that keenly interests her.

“I’m really lucky to be in a part of Microsoft where that kind of exploration and personal growth is absolutely encouraged.”

She enjoyed her time at Emily Carr University because in addition to learning about different technologies and tools for executing design, she also had a chance to spend a lot of time discussing the ethical impact of design. Phillips described Caylee Raber, director of the school’s health design lab, as an “amazing mentor and guide”. Phillips also praised Celeste Martin, now the undergraduate dean of the Ian Gillespie Faculty of Design + Dynamic Media, as a teacher who offered “incredible advice” during her first year. And the school’s director of career and professional development, Shannon McKinnon, helped Phillips secure internships and co-op placements, including with Microsoft. That’s what led to an interview for a full-time position.

“Because Emily Carr isn’t as big as UBC or other larger universities, you really get to know everyone in your year,” Phillips said. “You know the faculty pretty intimately, not only at the end of your first year but especially by see next page

the end of your fourth year.”

When asked about the difference between being a UX designer and working as a flight attendant, Phillips revealed that the shift isn’t as great as some people might think.

“Both are people-oriented jobs,” she said. “You have to be empathetic.

You have to be willing to problemsolve with other people at the core of your decision-making process. It’s amazing how that time in my life of working with the general public and getting to meet hundreds of people a day has created this foundation for user-experience design.”

CENTRE FOR DIGITAL MEDIA GRADS FIND WORK d FOR DECADES, Great Northern Way was home to a key player in the Canadian resource sector. The head office of Finning International, which is the world’s largest Caterpillar heavy-equipment dealer, was on the site now occupied by the Centre for Digital Media. It’s a consortium of UBC, SFU, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and the B.C. Institute of Technology that offers a 16-month master of digital media.

Dennis Chenard, director of industry relations at the Centre for Digital Media, sees the location as a metaphor for the entire economy.

The old 20th-century industrial activities that took place there have been replaced by the production of digital applications in a range of sectors. One indication of that is that the school, along with neighbouring Emily Carr University of Art + Design, recently hosted an interface health summit to examine digital approaches for enhancing patient care.

“This was a program that was very much built with industry for industry,” Chenard told the Straight by phone. “I think there’s this old-world view that industry and academia are quite siloed. Here, we’re proof that it doesn’t need to be a siloed space because this campus is a mix.”

The Centre for Digital Media opened in 2007, thanks to Finning

2,” Chenard said.

Another grad, Christine Clark, is managing director of Thinkingbox in Toronto, which is one of Canada’s largest interactive production studios. Yet another, Angela Hamilton, is the cofounder and CEO of Quupe, which is a platform for sharing recreational items. A member of the first cohort, Yangos Hadjiyannis, is cofounder of Kreis Immersive Spaces, which combines virtual reality with physical spaces to create what it calls “spectacular social moments”.

Chenard was at the Centre for Digital Media when it opened and he feels it’s made tremendous strides over the years.

“There’s still a ways to go,” he said.

“I just want to see more interactions between industry and academia, especially as it leads toward the future in emerging industries. I’m The Centre for Digital Media encourages students to create products in teams. very proud of the work that my colleagues—and especially our students International donating the land. It in small teams to create applications. was the same year that Apple unThe first term is akin to boot and alumni—have done to make this veiled the iPhone, transforming the camp, he said, as students learn the unique project a success.” digital environment. Initially, the foundations of digital media. They campus was expected to play a big take a game-design course, finding VCC HELPS NONPROFITS role in developing the video-game out about such things as compulsion MANAGE VOLUNTEERS industry, but nowadays the digital loops. There’s a production course economy is permeating everything called Building Virtual Worlds. In d THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of from banking to construction to mu- addition, they study improv to bol- the Alberta-based Volunteer Management Institute, Milena Santoro, seum management. ster their communication skills.

“Gaming is a smaller piece of the The second term involves real- recognizes the phenomenally positive pie as far as where the grads of the world research and development. impact that volunteers can have on program will go,” Chenard said. “But After 12 months on campus, they nonprofit organizations. According they bring a lot of the gaming sens- devote their final four months to an to a 2004 report by Imagine Canada, ibilities into a variety of industries.” internship. Because it’s a master’s about 45 percent of the B.C. populaAs an example of how digital program, students must have com- tion volunteers time to charitable and entrepreneurs are evolving, he cited pleted an undergraduate degree to nonprofit groups. On average, each volunteer gave 199 hours of their time.

Wilson Tang, a founding partner gain admission.

But Santoro also knows that manof a mobile-game company called “They get inspired by working on Exploding Barrel Games, which applied R & D with industry part- aging and training volunteers takes a merged with Kabam. Tang has since ners, like the [Vancouver] Maritime great deal of time and expertise.

“It’s knowing how to deal with created a company called Yumebau, Museum or Exploding Barrel Games people,” Santoro told the Straight by which creates augmented-reality ap- or Yumebau,” Chenard said. plications for museums.

According to the Centre for phone. “You want to make it a balThe Centre for Digital Media ac- Digital Media, 95 percent of gradu- anced experience where the individual cepts students every September, ates are working in their fields, with feels they’re coming to the nonprofit to aiming for a mix of one-third with 30 percent employed in the games provide their skills and expertise.”

She pointed out that volunteers technical skills, one-third with art industry. Some of the grads have and design skills, and one-third be- high-level roles within Microsoft, in- who feel valued can become donors ing more “product manager–centric”, cluding Ryan Nadel, who is a senior and ambassadors for an organizaaccording to Chenard. This enables program manager. “He’s doing some tion. At the same time, an organpeople with different aptitudes to work really cool things with the HoloLens ization doesn’t want to wind up in

trouble because of the actions of volunteers.

“So volunteers play a huge role in the success of a lot of nonprofits,” she said. “And the economic impact that they have to society is outstanding.”

To help people understand the complexities of volunteer management, Santoro has designed a certification program. Through a partnership with Vancouver Community College, she offers various one-day courses on everything from nonprofit-board development to ethics and fiscal management for volunteer managers to marketing for nonprofits. Other courses include event planning for volunteer managers, volunteer recognition and retention, and grant-writing.

“People usually think volunteerism is giving your time for free,” Santoro said. “The reality is volunteers cost money. There’s a cost of doing business for everything—you have to make sure you take care of those volunteers by feeding them, giving them water, giving them drinks, or recognizing them in a way that they want to be recognized.”

That can include formal and informal means. Just saying “thank you” works for some, but others sometimes look for something more tangible.

“Every time you complete the course itself, you get a certificate of participation,” Santoro said. “If you take the whole program, which is 12 modules, and then you complete a capstone project wrapping up all the learning in one project, you get a certificate of completion in volunteer management.”

She pointed out that managing or administrating volunteers offers career possibilities in the nonprofit sector. An entire chapter in one of the modules covers human rights. Another focuses on recruiting volunteers.

“At the end of the day, we’re dealing with human resources,” Santoro noted. “And a lot of this is exactly why I wanted to educate and provide the current and relevant information.

Just because they’re a volunteer doesn’t see next page

Honouring our best.

LANGARA’S 49TH–ANNIVERSARY AWARD

Meet four of our 49 Langarans: change makers, founders, and visionaries who have made an educational impact at Langara and in the community over the past 49 years.

Dr. Glen Coulthard Academic Writer

Theresa Hanson Athletic Director

Dr. Kelley Lee Global Health Researcher

Dr. David Turpin Academic Leader & Scientist

Meet all 49 Langarans. beyond49.langara.ca

NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 15

from previous page

mean you treat them any differently. In fact, you treat them even more special.”

YORK’S THEATRE PROGRAM EMBRACES INCLUSIVITY d YORK UNIVERSITY associate professor of theatre Ines Buchli has come a long way from her days in Vancouver as a young theatre director and actor in the early 1980s. When she moved to Toronto to study for her master’s in fine arts in directing at York, she assumed that she would be returning to her hometown.

“But I was so taken with Toronto— even then, it was already so diverse and multicultural—that I ended up staying there and working,” Buchli told the Straight in a phone interview.

She was hired as an associate artistic director of Necessary Angel Theatre in Toronto. She also directed the short films “Exposure”, “Ministry”, “Keeper”, and “Foxy Lady, Wild Cherry”, which have been screened at festivals around the world.

Buchli was encouraged by one of her academic mentors to apply at York, where she was hired and later obtained a tenure-track position.

“It’s an amazing department and it’s constantly changing with how the ecology of the theatre scene is changing,” Buchli said.

Theatre students at York University are exposed to all aspects of stagecraft in their first year.

“Young people don’t actually want to do just one thing,” she insisted.

“They can do some production courses. They can do some design courses.

They can do devised theatre. They can take acting courses and voice and movement and still come out with an honours degree, either a BA or BFA, in their major of performance creation.”

A hallmark of York University’s theatre department has been examining ways of making live theatre more accessible to all people and challenging ableist notions about the performing arts. A turning point for Buchli came when she attended a conference organized by Eliza Chandler, a disability-arts expert at Ryerson University, about “cripping the arts”.

There, she met Deaf and Mad artists, which led her to form an advisory group of artists with disabilities.

“I had them come and speak to our students and our students got very excited by it too,” Buchli said.

York University’s theatre department decided to dedicate one performance as an American Sign Language interpretive show featuring a deaf person on-stage.

“The feedback we got from deaf students was: ‘It’s so great to see someone speaking our language as their first language versus having a hearing interpreter who’s learned how to do ASL,’ ” Buchli said.

She said that a hearing interpreter watched the deaf actor communicate in ASL. With the help of a computer, the interpreter was able to ensure that the audience could understand what was being said.

That’s not the department’s only attempt to make theatre more inclusive.

In 2017, it staged Three Sisters, by

York University theatre students are exposed to all aspects of stagecraft during their first year; the school also takes pride in shattering ableist biases in its productions.

Anton Chekhov, with several actors using sign language because one of the characters is deaf.

York has also put on “relaxed” performances, which are designed to accommodate audience members, including those on the autism spectrum, who experience difficulty when their senses are bombarded with stimuli. Buchli pointed out that in these shows, some of the houselights remain on, sound cues might not be as loud, and people are free to leave the theatre at any time and go to a chill-out room.

“The students got onboard in a big way because they recognized that this was the future and they needed to learn how to do it,” she said.

These pioneering efforts led the British Council to work with York University on a pilot project training people in staging relaxed performances and making theatre more inclusive. “We learned how to be access activators, basically,” Buchli said.

“That was, again, a really eye-opening experience.”

Traditionally, theatre schools have been very gruelling on students, who routinely work well into the evening. But according to Buchli, this “survival of the fittest” mindset isn’t appropriate in light of what’s now known about neurodiversity and the increasing number of people experiencing mental-health challenges.

That’s in addition to making room for those with physical disabilities who might have to work with an attendant. “I’m really pleased to say that in our conservatory, we have a young actor who is a wheelchair user,” Buchli said. “We’re learning lots about how to make some accommodation for his needs in the training.”

She added that graduate students at York, including one who is blind, are engaged in cutting-edge research on accessibility, including around nonbinary gender identity and expression.

In addition to advancing justice for theatre artists with disabilities, Buchli is leading a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council–funded investigation into how actors can more effectively access emotion in their performances by applying the lessons of neuroscience. She and other researchers have demonstrated that this can be accomplished with an understanding

of the links between how the brain functions and human physiology, including facial expressions, posture, and specific breathing patterns.

“There’s a big thing in our profession: no trauma, no drama,” Buchli said. “And that is so incorrect. We know now that you don’t have to have trauma to create trauma.”

This is particularly useful for students who might suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder. Rather than being revictimized through theatre by reliving trauma, they can access emotions through “emotional effector patterns”.

“One of the great things about York is all of the faculty are working professionals and we’re all doing what I think is pretty innovative research,” Buchli said. “We bring that, obviously, back to our students and back into the studio and back into the rehearsal room.”

Buchli and some of her colleagues plan on visiting Vancouver on February 22 to meet with people interested in learning more about York University’s theatre program.

NYIT-VANCOUVER SERVES DEMAND FOR CYBERSECURITY d ALMOST EVERY WEEK there’s a news story about an organization being hacked or someone having a digital lock placed on their phone.

Not surprisingly, this is increasing the demand for cybersecurity experts, according to the dean of the cybersecurity program at NYITVancouver, Tokunbo Makanju.

“We are going to have to get more people into cybersecurity to deal with that growing threat that comes from becoming more connected,” Makanju told the Straight by phone.

“I’m not sure if you know this: Canada is, per capita, the most connected country in the world.”

NYIT-Vancouver, the local affiliate of the New York Institute of Technology, offers the only master’s degree in cybersecurity in Western Canada. It’s a two-year, full-time program offered at the Broadway Tech Centre beside SkyTrain’s Renfrew Station, though Makanju noted that it’s possible to complete it in 18 months. Traditionally, graduates have ended up working for tech or

telecommunications companies.

“Those are places they usually migrate to,” he said, “but in recent times, we’re seeing a lot of people going into the financial-services sector.”

He suggested that this is due to the growing use of blockchain technology, which enables a person to transfer ownership of units of value electronically on a publicly accessible ledger. Initially, this was used for cryptocurrencies, but it has extended beyond that into real estate, autotitle transfers, and retail loyalty-rewards programs, among other areas.

“It’s going to become a big thing in the future,” Makanju predicted.

That’s why NYIT-Vancouver is planning to launch a course on blockchain security in the summer of 2020. In the meantime, blockchain is covered in a course on cryptography, which also deals with hackers and ransomware.

Those enrolled in the master’s program are required to complete 10 courses, including a communications class. Six are compulsory, three are electives, and one is a capstone project.

Student intakes occur in September, January, and May. And he said that companies can obtain grants through Innovate B.C. to hire students.

Makanju recalled that in the last term, students worked on a particularly interesting capstone project using deep learning, which is a subset of artificial intelligence. This was applied to add another layer, facial recognition, before people could log on to a computer.

“They trained the deep-learning model to recognize those faces as a way of doing authentication,” he said.

Although facial recognition can provide a higher level of security, Makanju pointed out that hackers invariably seem to figure out how to circumvent new technological barriers.

That’s why he believes that the standard in the market is going to be twofactor authentication systems. As an example, he mentioned that Google, for instance, sends a one-time password to a person’s cellphone.

“That’s two-factor authentication because they’re using what you know, which is your password, and also what you have, which is your cellphone,” Makanju noted. “If somebody is able to crack your password, they’re not going to have your cellphone.”

When asked which students do well in the cybersecurity program, Makanju mentioned those with a background in computer science.

He also said that cybersecurity is ultimately about risk analysis, which is covered in the curriculum.

However, risk-analysis positions are usually not considered entrylevel—and the greatest demand continues to be for people with hands-on technical skills.

GTEC WILL MOBILIZE CLIMATE ACTION LOCALLY d A VANCOUVER-BASED organization, the Green Technology Education Centre, was recently created in response to a straightforward question: why is the response to the climate crisis so sluggish?

It doesn’t make sense, given that the concentration of carbon-dioxide equivalents in the atmosphere has exceeded 415 parts per million.

Downstream emissions from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project alone will release more carbon-dioxide equivalents per year than the entire total generated annually in British Columbia, according to a 2014 report commissioned by the City of Vancouver.

“Our analysis suggests that there’s a couple of prominent factors,” GTEC board chair Arden Henley told the Straight by phone.

“One is a tendency to wait for government regulation and incentives to solve the problem.”

Although regulation and the incentives are important, he believes they’re insufficient on their own to address the issue. The second reason, in his opinion, is that many people are feeling distressed but are too overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem.

Henley, a long-time Vancouver family therapist and educator, said that if people have no one to talk about this with beyond their immediate network, they often do nothing. In effect, paralysis sets in.

“So one of the ways to unlock that is to provide an environment where like-minded people gather to share their thoughts and feelings,” he said.

“That’s the first step.”

He added that they also need to be provided with a sense that they can do something to address what is creating such despair.

This is why GTEC is planning to host a Crisis and Hope Town Hall from 7 to 9 p.m. on Monday (November 18) at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House (2305 West 7th Avenue).

Joining Henley as speakers will be retired educator Tom Heatherington, pipeline opponent Ruth Walmsley, former city councillor Fred Bass, and Rev. Emilie Teresa Smith.

“We’ll have some music,” Henley said. “It will be a little festive.”

He’s also planning to employ the Delphi method, which is a structured communication technique used to elicit answers in face-to-face settings.

The goal is to enable people to have an opportunity to express themselves and realize that they’re not alone in the way that they’re feeling.

GTEC has obtained registered charitable status and its efforts are being supported by the Vancouver Foundation. Henley said his board is planning similar events at other neighbourhood houses, and it’s providing information in an online newsletter called the GTEC Reader.

It’s trying to bridge the divide between academic journals—which are too boring and complicated for many people—and other newsletters.

Henley also revealed that GTEC is working with an IT startup to develop software to encourage individuals and communities to lower their carbon footprint. This would be done with a downloadable free app, which enables people to see how they’re faring in comparison to households with similar profiles. “AI guys call it the nudge,” he said. g

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vcc.ca/ut 16 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

HOROSCOPES

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by Rose Marcus

ercury ends retrograde next Wednesday but will extend its tour of Scorpio to December 9.

For now, continue to put extra attention into action. If there is something you need to see, Mercury will expose it. The retrograde peel-it-back process has more than the average kick to it. It is to your advantage to take a deeper look. The more questions you ask, the more you’ll uncover and the better informed you will be.

A fuller commitment to necessary and desired improvement will most certainly set you up for better odds.

Thursday can start with uncertainty, drain, lost time, or high expectations unmet. Venus/Neptune is well used for creative and marketing projects, for an escape, or for letting it go. Friday’s stars keep the going and the getting on a smooth groove.

Finishing up the day, Moon/Uranus picks Friday as the best of the weekend for a night out or for a get-together. The moon in Cancer makes for a good weekend to stay close to home.

If Saturday brings you to a stop or a jam-up, it won’t be for long. Saturday night through Monday, the stars are on a wind-it-up. You could feel this as added motivation, a bit more stress or tension, or you could get pulled into more than you planned.

Just before Mercury in Scorpio finishes retrograde, Mars begins a sixweek stint in this same sign. Working together on the bigger-picture agenda, both transits set an opportune backdrop for the implementation of empowering new choices. Mercury ends retrograde on Wednesday morning, but allow a little more time to see your way clear, to get it more fully up to speed. Mars stirs up a next wave next weekend.

NOVEMBER 14 TO 20, 2019 Saturday. You’ll be ready for more action once the moon treks into Leo on Sunday afternoon. Monday begins a productive week. Mars in Scorpio, starting Tuesday, and the end of Mercury retrograde (as of Wednesday) help you to strip it down and take aim with better precision.

F

VIRGO

August 23–September 23

You can run out of energy or run up against it on Saturday. You won’t be held up for long. One way or another, Sunday/Monday sends you back into battle. Tuesday/Wednesday, the moon in Virgo sets you onto a fresh initiative. Mars in Scorpio and the end of Mercury retrograde assist you to be more effective with your time and to make better inroads.

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LIBRA

September 23–October 23

Mars finishes up in Libra through Monday, but you may gain even better traction while the action planet tours Scorpio. The end of Mercury retrograde (Wednesday) is also in your favour. Both transits loan you better focus, stamina, resourcefulness, and intuitive smarts. Although the week ahead can see you gain better ground, an undercurrent of emotion or financial stress builds through next weekend.

H

Sounds and Science: Vienna meets Vancouver 6:30pm | Saturday, November 30, 2019 Old Auditorium, UBC Vancouver Campus

Tickets: ceremonies.ubc.ca/presidents-concert-series

SCORPIO

October 23–November 22

The going is smooth-running Friday through midday Saturday.

Sunday onward, you’ll feel a pull to switch track and to dive into the next item on the to-do list. Holding court over the week ahead, Mars enters Scorpio on Tuesday, Mercury in Scorpio ends retrograde on WednesARIES day, and the sun exits Scorpio next March 20–April 20 Friday. They mark the week ahead as Pump up your immune sys- a work in progress. tem, but otherwise, ease your way SAGITTARIUS along Thursday/Friday. If you hit a November 22–December 21 stop or an impasse on Saturday, it Friday evening is your best won’t be for long. As of Sunday afternoon, the stars infuse you with more for a cozy-up. If you come to a stop get-up-and-go. As of Tuesday/Wed- on Saturday, it won’t be for long. nesday, Mars in Scorpio and the end Sunday/Monday, the moon in Leo of Mercury retrograde assist you to supplies a fresh infusion. The week ahead sets you up for a next page. get a better lock on it.

Mars in Scorpio increases resourceTAURUS fulness and sharpens your aim. DeApril 20–May 21 spite the improvement curve, an eleFeeling more emotional, vul- ment of “up in the air” continues. nerable, or exposed? Although a good CAPRICORN transit for relaxation, creativity, or December 21–January 20 romance, Thursday’s Venus/Neptune Go easy on it, on yourself, or can expose feelings you might want to avoid or deny. Saturday/Sunday, you on another Friday/Saturday. A gentle may wrestle with yourself, another, word, touch, or nudge does the trick or it. Mars enters Scorpio next Tues- well. Sunday/Monday, the Leo moon day and Mercury ends retrograde supplies you with fresh fuel. Look to on Wednesday. Both will strengthen Mars in Scorpio (starting Tuesday) your resolve and provide an extra and Mercury in Scorpio (ending retrograde on Wednesday) to clarify push where it needs to happen. more, to shift your thinking, and to GEMINI sharpen your focus.

A

I

B C

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May 21–June 21

Cozy up and prioritize selfcare this weekend. Home and family are likely to need more attention from you, too. Watch for an energy or activity perk-up as the moon advances into Leo on Sunday afternoon. Starting Tuesday, Mars in Scorpio can increase your workload.

To the plus, the transit can push you to up your game and to undertake the necessary improvements.

D

CANCER

June 21–July 22

Friday should prove smoothrunning. Saturday, let yourself off the hook. If you don’t have to, don’t.

Facing it or them could take more effort than you may feel ready for.

If you run out of steam, it won’t be for long. Sunday onward, you’ll gain better momentum. Mars in Scorpio and the end of Mercury retrograde top you up with better fuel.

E

LEO

July 22–August 23

The workweek ends on a smooth note. Aim for under the covers; catch up on rest or reading

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AQUARIUS

L

PISCES

January 20–February 18

Creativity and social f low are in good shape Thursday/Friday. Saturday, don’t force what isn’t coming naturally. Sunday onward, the stars supply more fuel. Mars in Scorpio (starting Tuesday) and the end of Mercury retrograde on Wednesday shift your attention and the priority. A hands-full or hands-on week lies ahead. One thing leads to another.

February 18–March 20

Friday brings the end of the workweek to a smooth landing. Minimize spending and output Saturday. Don’t buy into pressure.

Sunday onward, you’ll pick up better speed. Mars in Scorpio (continuing through the end of the year) and the end of Mercury retrograde boost confidence, incentive, prospects, and advantages. The future hits a fuller swing as of next weekend. g

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

NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 17

Customized software by Neo Code helps ensure businesses succeed (This story is sponsored by Neo Code.)

A Store co-founder Bruce Smyth and his partner Jim Deva rst opened Little Sister’s upstairs in an old residential house at 1221 Thurlow Street in April 1983, before moving to their current location in the 90’s. Since opening their doors, Little Sister’s has championed queer voices and created a community gathering place while surviving years of government harassment as they challenged censorship and survived three anti-gay terrorist bombings.

In 2016 Don Wilson took over the iconic store, and continues the tradition of maintaining a great selection of queer books for all ages, vital coming out info, sex advice, hot erotica, queer art, fun clothing, quality adult toys and supplies.

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18 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

re you a manager or executive hoping to improve workers’ productivity, avoid costly software mistakes, and improve your organization’s bottom line? Neo Code, a Vancouverbased team of analysts and developers, can help provide the solutions.

Neo Code is a software provider and an expert in high-end FileMaker software development. Neo Code has been selected by FileMaker as a Platinum Partner—one of six in Canada and the only company west of Toronto. To help companies receive the highest return on investment (ROI), Neo Code provides an in-depth, reliable, and powerful solution. By assessing collective needs and goals, Neo Code is able to ensure that all customized applications are the right fit for each corporation.

Microsoft Excel has been proven to be a proficient tool and the software has found its way into all aspects of business, but those who use it can also make expensive mistakes.

Luckily, Neo Code is able to develop custom applications based on the client’s preexisting Excel template. With extensive consultation, the team at Neo Code will ensure that all of the client’s requirements are being met in order to receive the optimal ROI. Through preliminary research, Neo Code’s experts can determine exactly what problems each client hopes to resolve.

Services include: business value inventory development, application planning, Excel web integration, Excel and FileMaker app development, and more.

A business value inventory case can help clients establish and prioritize productivity roadblocks, along with

Neo Code’s analysts and developers provide solutions for enterprises of any size.

the rewards for automating them.

A custom application from the Excel worksheet can help improve staff productivity and give employees more time to focus on growing the business instead of just keeping the lights on.

By creating and implementing a mobile app, employees are able to review and approve business processes, collect data in the field, or get alerts and reminders on their personal devices.

Neo Code’s agile development process helps clients stay in alignment with business value inventory, focusing on automating the productivity roadblocks with the highest values.

Its unique approach to custom software is ideal for multidepartment work groups in larger organizations, such as clinics in provincial health authorities, where there are competing priorities for software budgets. The processes offered by Neo Code are also ideal for oil and gas, mining, and financial institutions where multiple business units work together with privacy, security, and IT teams.

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Companies looking to become more staff-friendly in their practices can use Neo Code’s services to reduce the amount of tasks that can be automated.

Incorporating a new software system or customized application doesn’t need to be painfully difficult for employees. The passionate team at Neo Code thrives on client satisfaction, and each challenge encountered is met with enthusiasm and patience.

The tech-savvy team makes certain that their clients save money, time, and additional resources by removing current or future roadblocks. g For further information or to book an appointment, visitneocode.com/ contact-us/. Updates can be found at neocode.com/.

FOOD

A new Taiwanese eatery takes a bao

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by Tammy Kwan

erry Yang doesn’t come from a culinary background, and she’s never opened a restaurant before. But now she’s the owner of Mixxbao (1426 West 8th Avenue), one of Fairview’s newest eateries.

As she’s originally from Taiwan, it made sense for Yang to open a Taiwanese food spot. In its kitchen, guests will usually find a group of Taiwanese aunties working hard on creating sauces and steaming bao (a Chinese bun filled with various ingredients).

“We are Taiwanese and we are familiar with this cuisine,” Yang told the Straight in a phone interview.

“We try to make most of our menu items by ourselves, [and] we use mostly local ingredients.”

Its signature items are the gua bao, which are traditionally pork belly buns that originated in China, and have been a popular street food in Taiwan.

This type of dish also has an auspicious meaning to it: because its shape resembles a wallet, eating it at the beginning of the year could supposedly bring wealth and good fortune.

At Mixxbao, food lovers will find various meat and veggie-filled bao paired with house-made chili sauce, including stewed pork bao (with peanut powder, pickled mustard, and cilantro), chicken bao (with chicken breast, peanut, carrot, daikon, and onion), and beef bao (with stewed beef, tomato, carrot, and axillary bud).

Besides meat options, the local food spot also offers its own version of Beyond Meat: the Bean-yond veg-

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In addition to its meat options, Mixxbao also offers the vegan Bean-yond bao, made with a Taiwanese bean burger, peanut, apple, cucumber, mustard, and cilantro.

an bao, made with Taiwanese bean burger, peanut, apple, cucumber, pickled mustard, and cilantro.

“Our gua bao is already modified, [so] it’s not really traditional,” explained Yang. “Normally it doesn’t have any lettuce, but we added a piece for people to feel healthier.”

In addition to tasty steamed buns, Mixxbao’s kitchen serves wonton soup with house-made wontons, chili-oil wontons with ground pork and egg, beef noodle soup, sesame and peanut-sauce noodle, and daily soups and panini.

Desserts made in-house are also available, such as mung-bean pastry, sweet dates with walnuts, and the hugely popular Taiwanese treat, pineapple cake.

The wide variety of options on the menu caters to a neighbourhood with mostly customers that don’t come from an Asian background, and Yang specifically wanted to accommodate people from different cultures.

“I think Taiwanese eateries are very popular to many people who have had a chance to visit Taiwan,” said Yang.

But it’s also okay to not be familiar with Taiwanese cuisine when you set foot in Mixxbao, because you’ll get to try something new.

“Our eatery likes to mix different cultures, and in the future, we may have even more different baos to present to our customers,” Yang added. g

Blue Mountain is among B.C.’s best

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Naam Restaurant

Golden Plate Awards Best Vegetarian 20 years running Restaurant for Winner Best a 3am meal Kitsilano Winner Best Restaurant Runner-Up Most Vegan Friendly Runner-Up Best Vegetarian

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• Licensed • 7 Days A Week • Cozy Wood Fireplace • Heated Patio • Live Music Sunday - Thursday 7-10pm

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AFGHAN HORSEMEN RESTAURANT SINCE 1974

by Kurtis Kolt

eeping up with the rapid evolution of the British Columbian wine industry can be quite the challenge, with new wineries and ventures popping up seemingly every other week. Of course, it’s exciting to keep up with all these new and shiny entities.

In these pages alone during the past couple of years, I’ve shared my enthusiasm for the stunning sparkling wines at Summerland’s Lightning Rock Winery, Michael Shindler bringing the noise with his A Sunday in August bottlings, and the rigour and whimsy of the Gamays, Pinot Blancs, and various other treats under Jody Wright and Costa Gavaris’s, well, Rigour & Whimsy label.

As the saying goes, though, the classics never go out of style, and when considering the short history of modern B.C. wine, it’s impressive to me that many pioneers, the icons, are still going strong. Decades-old outfits like Mission Hill Family Estate, Quails’ Gate Estate Winery, and Summerhill Pyramid Winery are at once innovators and mainstays, all of them still offering quality wine while forging new stylistic or philosophical paths as many vintages pass.

I would be remiss to omit Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars from these considerations. The Mavety family have been growing grapes in Okanagan Falls since the 1970s and began releasing well-lauded wines with the 1991 vintage. Their entries from the Pinot family (Blanc, Gris, Noir) and Chardonnays, along with an array of sparkling wines, have been coveted and enjoyed by many for decades now. When it comes to value, they’re some of the best offerings in B.C. Can their 2017 Chardonnay really be priced at a mere $20.90? True story.

Sister and brother Christie and Matt Mavety, the second generation now at the helm of things, have kept the family vision of elegant and complex quality wines made from estate fruit, and they certainly aren’t resting on any laurels. As the industry at large is learning about the unique attributes of newly established official subregions in the Okanagan—like the Golden Mile Bench and the Naramata Bench—the Mavetys have looked at their Okanagan Falls subregion (which only became official just last year) and have drilled down even further.

We know that the area—with its complex soil structure and annual heat accumulation—like that of Burgundy, is well-suited to Pinot Noir, a variety many consider to be at the pinnacle of Blue Mountain’s production. Those rolling hills of vineyard plantings that make for a postcardworthy view also make for unique expressions of Pinot Noir, dependent on slope, aspect, and soil. Although the various microlots make for incredible blends, Matt Mavety has vinified and released wine from three individual blocks, which makes for a fascinating comparison study. All three were made the same way, a 16- to 20-day maceration, fermented with indigenous yeast, and aged in French oak. These are limited-edition wines that would make for a fantastic dinner party and are quite conversationworthy.

AWARD WINNING

AFGHAN CUISINE

22 NDAnnual

2019

SINCE 2008

Open 7 Nights A Week from 5pm to close Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars’ Mavety family has been growing grapes in the Okanagan Falls region since the 1970s.

BLUE MOUNTAIN RIVER FLOW BLOCK 23 PINOT NOIR 2017

From 25-year-old vines planted on an east-facing slope tilting toward a northern exposure, the sandy loam soils here bring us a delicate style of Pinot Noir, with aromatics of white truffle and matsutake mushroom leading to vibrant, fresh red berry fruit on the palate, with light echoes of cardamom and clove on the finish.

1833 Anderson St. (2nd Floor) Vancouver

BEFORE THE ENTRANCE TO GRANVILLE ISLAND, RIGHT BEHIND THE STARBUCKS

For reservations visit www.afghanhorsemen.com or call 604.873.5923

BLUE MOUNTAIN WILD TERRAIN BLOCK 09 PINOT NOIR 2017

The technical sheet on Blue Mountain’s website refers to this block of 20-year-old vines as “the most extreme and varied topography of the Pinot Noir blocks, from steep slopes exposed to the wind to sun-drenched, flatter plains over loamy sand”. South-southwest exposure means plenty of sun, which comes through as a more generous, riper take on the variety. Raspberries and blackberries mingle with red and black currants, and there’s a good smattering of fresh French herbs on the lengthy finish.

BLUE MOUNTAIN GRAVEL FORCE BLOCK 14 PINOT NOIR 2017

This is clearly the best-named wine of the trio, and it is indeed more of a rugged style. Thirty-year-old vines facing southwest are steeped in rocky gravel, sandy loam, and clay. Quite-ripe black and purple fruit is bolstered by a good crack of mineral character, with well-integrated tannins and well-balanced acidity carrying it from the first sip through the very long finish. In my mind, it’s the showiest of the three Pinots and, I think, the most dynamic of the trio when it comes to food-pairing options.

By all means, grill up everything from salmon to steak.

For those looking to enjoy any of these during a night out on the town, I’ve just learned that wine director William Mulholland lists all three at Blue Water Café in Yaletown, where there’s no shortage of culinary pairing opportunities coming out of chef Frank Pabst’s kitchen.

Otherwise, each of them are $54.90 and can be purchased at bluemountainwinery.com/. g

NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 19

20 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

culture crawl

Puppet art embodies studio displacement

by Janet Smith

Crawl

TIP SHEET

LOOKING FOR FRESH

inspiration at this year’s Eastside Culture Crawl, which is about to launch its 23rd rendition from Thursday to Sunday (November 14 to 17)?

Here are some of the artists that will be showing during the event for the first time: c JAMIE SMITH (1861 Franklin Street) Intricate black-andwhite floral drawings, rendered in pen and ink on paper, distill the artist’s memories, especially of her extensive travels from the Middle East to Latin America. c MISCHA KOLBE (Octopus Studios) Art and engineering come together in clever 3-D–printed sculptures, woodcube binary clocks, and many more melds of the mathematical and the mixed-media. c MADELEINE MONGEY (Slice of Life) Crackled white bud vases, serene seafoam stacking bowls, and purple fade tumblers make for wheel-thrown pottery that is sleekly contemporary yet feels lovingly handmade.

A

The Old Foundry artists Heather Craig, Rojia Dadashzadeh, and Monica McGarry (from left) created their 50-plus puppets from salvaged materials. Photo by Emily Cooper

rtist spaces across the city are slowly shrinking, but the women of the Old Foundry Building have gotten creative about the situation.

Although rising rents have forced them to share a smaller footprint at 1790 Vernon Street, they’ve not only adapted the scale of their own artwork, but launched a new collaborative project for this year’s Eastside Culture Crawl.

Heather Craig, Rojia Dadashzadeh, Monica McGarry, and Allison Hardy have fashioned more than 50 puppets out of salvaged materials, from driftwood, shells, wool, and clay to soap pumps and metal umbrella frames.

Amid the artful crowd, a white, bulbous head with frizzed shreddedpaper hair sprouts from a driftwood log, while another balances herself with outstretched stick arms.

But these are puppets that don’t move—and they make up a highly symbolic installation at the Displacement exhibit at this year’s massive open-studio fest.

“We wanted everything to be made from something used before; everything had to be a displaced object,” says Craig, joining McGarry and Dadashzadeh in the studio they share— one where Craig has been based for 20 years. “We’ve gone on walks and picked up stuff, and scrounged around the studio so that anything that was discarded would become a puppet. So it’s about the environment being displaced, but people being displaced, too.”

“To me, as artists, we animate the city, we bring life to the city,” explains McGarry. “To not have the puppets moving is to remember that art will become stagnant if you don’t have people breathing life into it.”

The puppets now populate the

installation at Displacement, at the Alternative Creations Gallery right through the Crawl. And it’s one of many pieces at four galleries by artists faced with eviction or finding innovative ways to fight displacement.

The crisis was recently quantified in an Eastside Culture Crawl Society study, titled City Without Art? No Net Loss+. It reported the loss of 400,000 square feet of studio space over the past decade due to residential or commercial redevelopment and conversions.

That represents almost 50 percent of locations used by artists in the district.

I define art as a conversation with the culture I inhabit, so I can’t be in a closet and do that.

– ECC artist Heather Craig

Rising rents have forced some to relocate; the study found rental rates have gone up 65 percent in eight years.

Others, like the Old Foundry team, have added more members to keep going.

THE OLD FOUNDRY is typical of the situation happening across the historic East Side industrial zone, where more than 479 artists will show their work in 68 buildings during the Crawl.

Nestled among railroad tracks, auto shops, and food depots, it’s a bare-bones warehouse without heat; the women work upstairs in a few hundred square feet. A space heater and Styrofoam sealed over the door keep it cozy enough to make art here.

Dadashzadeh, who used to rent a 100-square-foot, windowless room on the main floor, moved upstairs when rents started rising, taking part of Craig’s long-time studio and helping to pay the bills.

You have to be tidy to work this way. Along shelves on one wall, Craig’s signature house-shaped ceramics sit neatly alongside her enigmatic smallerscale paintings. Dadashzadeh’s playful multimedia sculptures, sprouting geometric shapes and tentacle- or mushroomlike forms, line an end counter.

McGarry is wedged in the adjacent room among several other artists.

Newly returned to her old digs from a teaching gig in the Interior, she works at a single desk. Like Craig, she used to create much larger canvases. But with this setup, it’s easier to pursue her collages and drawing—expressive pastel works inspired by theatrical costumes and masks. “I would prefer to make a drawing that filled this room; the next step is maybe I’ll remove this furniture,” she says, pointing to her chair and desk.

The artists have adapted to the tighter space. But now they face a scenario looming over many of the artist spaces in the ’hood: the owner has sold the aging facility to a developer. Permit processes and other delays should ensure that the women have use of the studio for a few more years. But after that, things will become precarious.

For many artists, the lack of space and the associated costs have necessitated working at home. But the Old

Foundry crew thrive in a studio environment where they can bounce ideas off one another. “The sense of community is really important. Creating is not an isolated activity,” Dadashzadeh stresses. “It gives you that critical perspective, but also gives you that community boost, too.”

“I define art as a conversation with the culture I inhabit, so I can’t be in a closet and do that,” Craig adds.

A big misunderstanding, these women find, is that people assume they’re in the business of selling art. But the process of creating, and space to experiment, are a huge part of what they do. Small studios don’t allow artists to think big.

Or, as Dadashzadeh puts it: “When you put a little fish in an aquarium, that’s how much the fish can grow.”

For McGarry, part of the problem is where the lion’s share of government resources goes. “Galleries get funded, not where the process happens.”

THESE CRAWL PARTICIPANTS have a lot of ideas about how the city might preserve what’s left of its East Side artist spaces—beyond capping property taxes or directing funding toward places where art is made as much as where it is shown.

The issue has gained some traction at city hall, which has approved a new 10-year strategy to protect and grow artist studios and music spaces.

But the City Without Art? study stresses action needs to happen as soon as possible to protect the thriving cultural scene.

“We need something similar to an agricultural land reserve,” McGarry offers. “There needs to be something like Granville Island here—some lightindustrial areas reserved for artists.”

c HELENA MAIZLIN (Parker Street Studios) The book illustrator and figurativedrawing instructor (whose work is shown here) creates vibrantly coloured life drawings that come alive in boldly applied, bright pastel strokes. Mixing the humorous, the theatrical, and even the abstract, they celebrate the female form and face. c LEE ABBOTT (Octopus Studios) The British graphic artist has a background in both indie rock and movie posters, and you’ll see that influence in screenprints, photo art, and more. g

The women point out many parcels of land in the area are owned by the city. “In my utopian hope for it, the city recognizes that artists need space for production,” Dadashzadeh says. “Why can’t we have the city set aside certain space for artists, and we pay rent to the city? Then we don’t have to rely on developers.”

On the eve of this 23rd Eastside Culture Crawl, the Old Foundry team is staying optimistic. The like-minded artists are becoming adept at tackling obstacles—even those presented by their collaborative project.

“All of the puppets are about solving problems together,” Dadashzadeh says. “Like, ‘How am I going to make this guy stand up?’ Or ‘How am I going to make his arms move?’ ” On the more positive side, the artists admit that sharing these tight quarters, and working closely, has led to creation of an installation that might not have existed otherwise.

“This is women working tighter, and cooperating,” sums up Craig.

“We’re collaborating so much with the puppets, I don’t know even who made which ones anymore.” g The Eastside Culture Crawl takes place from Thursday to Sunday (November 14 to 17).

NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 21

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CULTURE CRAWL

Painters show their colours at the Crawl

A

by Janet Smith

picture can paint a thousand words, but the flip side of that, as proven at this year’s vast Eastside Culture Crawl, is that there are a thousand ways to paint a picture.

Among the hundreds of artists taking part in the massive studio open house, painters make up one of the strongest contingents. Here are just a few of the brush masters who are worth checking out, from Thursday to Sunday (Novem- Helen Alex Murray’s abstract That Moment; Rebecca Chaperon’s surreal Spellwork. ber 14 to 17), between the boundaries of Columbia Street to Victoria Drive and green greens that gives her everyday crashing waves, the insides of oyster 1st Avenue to the waterfront. subject matter the heightened feel of shells, or gushing rapids. They feel ina dark fairy-tale storybook. MacDon- spired by West Coast nature, and by KATE MacDONALD ald is best-known for her series “Last interior landscapes as well.

Hamilton Bank Building Meals”, in which she not only eats but This New Brunswick–born artist deals paints the real final dishes served to REBECCA CHAPERON 1861 Franklin Street in video and digital collages as well, death-row convicts.

The surreal, the sacred, and the sci-fi but check out her rich, haunting oils meet in Chaperon’s alternative dimenon canvas, where blackberry brambles HELEN ALEX MURRAY sions. Strange female figures, portals, might overtake a Chevy truck or an East Side Studios old fence, or hydrangeas threaten to On Murray’s fluid abstract canvases, and deep, mysterious pools of water engulf an antique chair. There’s some- the colours that roll and swoosh across recur amid lush forests and flowers. thing about the roiling clouds and too- white backgrounds sometimes conjure For a more stripped-down, ethereal

EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL

effect, look to her mesmerizing paint- rich colours, food preparation and the ings of single crystals floating in space. everyday byproducts of cooking.

IRIS MES LOW William Clark Studios Netherlands-born Mes Low has become inspired by the way the wilderness edges up against the city in her adopted West Coast home. In her abstract landscapes, on view at the Crawl for the first time, cherry trees look like puffy cotton candy, evergreens point sharply skyward, and distant mountains undulate in blue.

BRAZEN EDWARDS Parker Street Studios The Edmonton-born Edwards, debuting at the Crawl, gets at the unconscious in her richly rendered abstracts.

A moody textural series features exposed layers and drips, in reds and pinks or blues, greys, and blacks; titles (I Could Corrupt You, Tear You Apart) suggest a turbulent undercurrent beneath the serene surface.

BRONWYN McIVOR Studio 580 Instead of classic still lifes depicting perfect, untouched pomegranates, apples, and pears, this Emily Carr University of Art and Design grad’s lushly painted oils depict rigorously squeezed limes, banana peels, and roughly sliced-open peppers. Her “The Undiscovered Kitchen” series both plays with historical forms and celebrates, in

LISA OCHOWYCZ The Mergatroid Building This Crawl veteran, celebrating her 14th year, creates contemplative work with acrylics and inks, often on panel or canvas. Some are washy and atmospheric, inspired by the great outdoors. Others interpret classical music via dapples, squiggles, and drip marks that, at a distance, look like serene, delicate rows of flowers. g

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BAH HUMBUG! An Eastside Christmas Carol

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Starring Jim Byrnes as Scrooge Featuring Margo Kane, Tom Pickett, Sam Bob & Kevin McNulty

DECEMBER 5 – 21, 2019

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SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS 149 West Hastings Street, Vancouver

Opening Celebrations November 21 7–9pm | Free admission from 6pm

Tree of Life: Ocean of Generosity (detail), Alwyn O’Brien. Photo: Alina Ilyasova.

PLAYING WITH FIRE Ceramics of the Extraordinary

26 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

November 22, 2019 – March 29, 2020

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Lee looks to surprise with help of local improvisers

by Alexander Varty

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et’s get one thing out of the way: Okkyung Lee’s upcoming Vancouver New Music appearance is not going to be about her prowess as a composer, even though she trained in composition and film scoring at Berklee College of Music. Instead, whatever emerges at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre this weekend will be a cocreation with six acclaimed B.C. musicians as much as a showcase for Lee’s singular voice.

“I’m not going there with already a piece in mind,” the Korean-born cellist explains from her New York City home. “In order for me to create a score or even a structure, I need to meet and hear these individual musicians in person to come up with something that makes sense to [the] other people involved and myself.…I’ve checked out their sounds online, but, to me, it’s dangerous for me to have any preconceived ideas of what their sounds and working process are actually like.”

Indeed, many factors are still unresolved when it comes to what Lee will do during her three-day stay here.

Some are because she’s an improviser by nature, interested in surprising herself as much as presenting spur-ofthe-moment work to an audience. Still more are due to the fact that she hasn’t chosen—or even met, for the most part—the West Coast artists she’ll be working with. Instead, they’ve been assembled for the occasion by Vancouver New Music artistic director Giorgio Magnanensi as part of the society’s ongoing PARALLELS series.

“The idea.…is to provide local performers an opportunity to work together with exceptional musicians who are willing to lead the group,” Magnanensi tells the

It’s dangerous for me to have any preconceived ideas.

– Okkyung Lee

Straight. “Okkyung Lee is definitely an inspiring presence.”

For this one-night-only undertaking, Lee will be joined by electronic musicians Alanna Ho, Constantine Katsiris, prOphecy sun, Stefan Maier, and Tegan Wahlgren, with the septet being rounded out by cellist Marina Hasselberg. It’s a fairly astonishing array of talent—and with sun also singing and Wahlgren playing violin, a diverse one. It’s important, too, that all of these audio innovators are as adept at improvisation as their nominal leader.

Wary of saying more about a “band” that hasn’t yet convened, Lee is content to leave things there. But based on her track record of working with improvising artists such as guitarist Mary Halvorson and saxophonist John Zorn, avant-rockers Thurston Moore and Swans, and performance artist Laurie Anderson, intrigue and experimentation are assured. g Vancouver New Music and the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre present Okkyung Lee on Saturday (November 16).

ARTS

Curtis takes on racism through dance

D

by Alexander Varty

ancer-choreographer Jade Solomon Curtis’s company is called Solo Magic, but its debut production, Black Like Me: An Exploration of the Word Nigger, is a collective effort in every sense. “I created Solo Magic because I wanted to make a platform for artists outside of just dance, which is my primary medium—a platform to collaborate and discuss and build onto a message pertaining to activism,� the Seattle-based Curtis explains in a telephone interview from a tour stop in Oakland, California. “This came from the amount of police violence that has occurred here in the U.S. pertaining to black bodies. “Many young people, because I’m also a dance instructor, have come to me and not actually had a place where they could express how they were feeling around these particular subjects,� she continues. “Therefore, Solo Magic was spawned.�

Curtis believes that it’s her “duty as an artist� to insert progressive beliefs into the cultural sector. “I feel as though we have all been given a gift to, for lack of better words, beautify things, and in a sense become alchemists by taking dirt and turning it into gold,� she says. “With art, because we have that ability, I think that we should be doing it for a cause that invites thought-provoking conversation and change.�

Black Like Me was initially inspired

by Curtis’s own experience of bigotry in supposedly progressive Seattle, but soon grew to incorporate a critique of the internalized racism found in much rap music—although that’s just one of the discussions that have been invited onto the stage during the multimedia show. Midway through

embodies “perceived personas that exist inside of the black community�, including a hoodie-wearing street youth, a twerking hip-hop dancer, and a slave. But how will this f ly in Vancouver, where racism is virulent but the black community is small?

A recent Asian sojourn has given Curtis some perspective on that. “Of course we had our apprehensions, because where are the black people in Seoul, South Korea?â€? she says. “But no matter where we Dancer and choreographer Jade Solomon Curtis created Black Like Me: An take this work, hip-hop is a global Exploration of the Word Nigger to facilitate a dialogue about hateful language. movement and therefore the conthe performance, guest panellists will And, you know, the emphasis with versation pertaining to the word engage with a moderator while Curtis that is that this is a conversation that nigger comes up.‌The feeling, the intention behind words that are improvises a dance response. “And we never finish.â€? then we open it up to the audience,â€?

The work’s dance component she says. “The interesting thing is that will also prompt discussion. Aside it’s a timed segment. I may be giving from its “integrated talkback� sesaway too much information, but it’s sion, Black Like Me consists of five a timed segment that ends abruptly. short solo passages, in which Curtis

intended to diminish, belittle, and harm people is universal. Right? So I’m not very familiar with Canada, in terms of the racial tension that exists there, but I’m sure that there is a word that is comparable to nigger or nigga—and I believe those two words to be the same thing— that exists in Canadian language.�

She’s right, and so Black Like Me will be no less relevant here than in Alabama—or, for that matter, Seattle. g Jade Solomon Curtis brings Black Like Me: An Exploration of the Word Nigger to the Telus Studio Theatre at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts next Wednesday and Thursday (November 20 and 21).

culturecrawl.ca

Arts TIP SHEET

c THE DOUBLE AXE MURDERS (November 14 to 23 at Gateway Theatre) Prepare for chills and thrills in Rusticate Theatre’s eerily suspenseful 19thcentury story of the search for two missing trappers in Newfoundland.

november 14-17 2019 THURS & FRI 5PM 10PM

SAT & SUN 11AM 6PM

people, aged 1 to 100, about their beliefs; now, amid their own life changes, they track down some of the surviving interviewees.

c KISMET, THINGS HAVE CHANGED (November 13 to 16 at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts) Anita Rochon, Emelia Symington Fedy, Hazel Venzon, and Daryl King revisit the “theatrical documentary� they debuted to critical praise a decade ago. In their 20s, they travelled across Canada and interviewed 100

c TRANSLATIONS (November 19 to 24 at Performance Works) As part of Boca del Lupo’s Micro Performance Series, All Bodies Dance ventures into new territory in a collaboration with VocalEye (a live descriptive arts service for the blind) and consultants from the blind community. The work presents dance for small audiences of both the blind and the sighted through the sound of movement, the feeling of air moving, and descriptive language. g

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

1161 Parker Street porcelain sculpture & pottery

NOVEMBER 18 - 21

Fulmer Award in First Nations Art

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Exhibition recognizing the recipients of the 2019 Fulmer Award in First Nations Art.

OPEN FOR THE EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL, NOVEMBER 14-17

Artists’ Talk November 18, 5:30-6:30pm. Moderated by Connie Watts – Manager Aboriginal Art Program Emily Carr University – in conversation with previous awardees KC Hall and Phil Gray.

Richard Adkins Hawk Moon & Raven pendant / Coastal Peoples Gallery

NOVEMBER 23 - 27

Carter Wosk Award in Applied Art + Design Featuring art from the recipients of the 2019 Carter Wosk Award in Applied Art + Design.

Artists’ Talk November 25, 5:30-6:30pm. Moderated by Judson Beaumont, Award alumni and furniture designer – in conversation with Sam Carter, designer and curator.

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Art song meets gospel as star soprano ups the ante

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In her program here, Measha Brueggergosman pulls together the two main strands of her life: her classical training and the family lore of her ancestors.

I

t’s not like she recommends it to everyone, but Measha Brueggergosman is feeling preternaturally happy following the heart attack that almost killed her just five short months ago.

“Oh, my goodness. Isn’t it great?” she says, after learning that her interviewer is another cardiac survivor.

“It’s amazing, now that you’re getting the oxygen.”

Reached while she’s enjoying a glass of wine in Windsor, Nova Scotia, just a skip away from her Falmouth home, the soprano explains that she’s just come from a visit to her homeopath. “I gave her a rundown of my last quarter, and she was like, ‘First of all, why aren’t you still in bed?’ ” she says, laughing. “And I was like, ‘Well, nobody has time for that. Next?’ ” Long recognized for the emotional intensity of her performances, the 42-year-old Brueggergosman has upped the ante with the program she’s bringing to Vancouver this weekend. Accompanied by pianist Justus Zeyen, she’ll open with the relatively restrained beauty of English composers Henry Purcell and Benjamin Britten, heat things up with Catalan-born Xavier Montsalvatge’s Caribbean-inspired Cinco Cancionas Negras, and conclude with a bold move: interpolating Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs with four numbers drawn from the gospel tradition she grew up with as a pastor’s daughter in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

“It’s a bit of a journey, isn’t it?” she says. “And yet there’s passion in all of it. Now, Britten, let me tell you, that’s the hardest sell for me—but I keep programming it because I know there’s passion in it. Like, it’s better me making this real for you than someone who holds you at an arm’s length. I am a passionate performer; I tuck myself into the text. And Purcell, for me, naturally leads to Britten in the English aesthetic.

“That’s just snazzy programming,” she adds, laughing again. “So I’m just showing off.”

Nothing on the program, however, will give Brueggergosman more opportunity to display her vocal flexibility than the concluding medley.

The pairing of Strauss and gospel might seem counterintuitive, but the singer makes a convincing case that European art song and the AfricanAmerican spiritual are soul mates.

“For me, the Four Last Songs are essentially German spirituals,” she explains. “The subject matter, the positivity, the idea of approaching death with such an assurance of things to come… The spiritual does that. There’s not a negative connotation in any of the spirituals, despite the fact that they’re born of a people who were oppressed so deeply. The product of these people stolen from

their home and forced into labour, the systemic murdering of a people, is this collection of triumphant praise, heralding of community, and the true faith that the best is before them.”

There’s more to this combination than musical strength and beauty, Brueggergosman adds. For one thing, this part of her program reflects the two main strands of her life: the classical training she absorbed at the University of Toronto and Düsseldorf’s Robert Schumann Hochschule, and the family lore that her ancestors took with them to the Maritime provinces when they escaped slavery by moving north after the American Revolution. She’ll also be paying homage to her late mentor Jessye Norman, who not only sang both Strauss and spirituals with uncommon grace, but gave “a big-boned girl growing up in a small town.…permission to be exactly who we are”.

I’m a passionate performer; I tuck myself into the text.

– Measha Brueggergosman

And then there’s the notion of service, a concept informed by Brueggergosman’s Christianity, but also by her conviction that art is for all.

“I don’t know what my listeners are going back home to,” she says.

“I don’t know what they sacrificed in order to spend money on their tickets. But I’m going to make it worth their while. I’m going to make it so they don’t regret it. I’m going to make it something that they’re going to reach for in those moments when they want to give in to negativity or the pain of, you know, everyday life.

“Music, for me, is something that really helps to nourish my soul, which is what people see when they see me on-stage,” she continues. “And that to me is the wellspring—not just the physical heart but the emotional heart—which all things are from.

Healthy root, healthy plant. And the shoots that I want to harvest, I want to be sweet and juicy.” g The Vancouver Recital Society presents Measha Brueggergosman at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at 3 p.m. on Sunday (November 17).

NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 29

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ARTS

Expert praises diverse dance in Vancouver

W

by Janet Smith

Amber Funk Barton’s VAST solo is one of the shows curated by German programmer and newfound fan Dieter Jaenicke for Dance in Vancouver. Photo by Chris Barton

pening at the other end of the country.

Like the pro he is, he insisted on doing his due diligence before choosing the Dance in Vancouver program, visiting here several times and going out to artists’ studios to meet our local creators before selecting the program that will play to an audience of not only Vancouverites, but national and international presenters.

“It was really difficult because there were so many good proposals,” he recounts. “I would have loved to make a three-week festival, but it was not possible.”

He was struck most by what he credits local choreographer (and Dance in Vancouver participant) Amber Funk Barton with calling the “global stories” that inform so much work here. “The cultural backgrounds of the different choreographers and dancers and companies are so diverse,” he observes.

“I had this feeling that there is such a beautiful way of dealing with different cultures and expressing that. There are a lot of stories being told.”

Jaenicke says he tried to capture that cultural and stylistic mix in his program. But he was also looking at the sheer technical skill of the companies he chose (“There were brilliant dancers, in some cases”), at original ways of working, and at a good balance of

NOV 21-23 8PM NOV 21 10PM NOV 23 4PM

emerging and established companies.

His final main-stage lineup spans the explosive physical work of Noam Gagnon’s piece Pathways, from his company Vision Impure; the ethereal light, sound, and set design of Barton’s solo VAST; the street dance and martial arts mashup of OURO Collective’s HAKO; and the restless, emotional lyricism of Joshua Beamish’s all-male Saudade. Jaenicke, who’s now had his eyes opened to the world of contemporary Indigenous dance, has also programmed Raven Spirit Dance’s swirl of transformation and ritual, Gathering Light.

Perhaps the most promising aspect of Jaenicke’s project here is that he will take his new enthusiasm back to tanzmesse, where he’s about to sort through about a thousand applications from 50 countries. Canada is a cultural partner to Germany in next year’s edition of the festival, and he’s interested in giving it a strong presence. “That would help people to focus a little more not just on what’s happening in Montreal and Quebec, but what’s happening on the other coast.” g

SCENES FROM CHILDHOOD TURNING POINT ENSEMBLE & BERGMANN PIANO DUO

Nov. 24 – 7:30pm At the Orpheum Annex 823 Seymour St WWW.TURNINGPOINTENSEMBLE.CA

Dance in Vancouver takes place at the Scotiabank Dance Centre and other venues from next Wednesday to Sunday (November 20 to 24).

Image: ceramics by Logan Kenler (BFA ’19) at the 2017 Student Art Sale.

hen Dieter Jaenicke says we have a strong contemporary-dance scene, he knows what he’s talking about.

He’s director of Düsseldorf’s massive festival called internationale tanzmesse nrw—and, as a dance programmer, has seen just about everything the form has had to offer over the past few decades.

So it means something that, when he was invited to curate the latest edition of the biennial Dance in Vancouver showcase, he was beyond pleasantly surprised.

“It is very, very strong, very diverse, and very creative, and I really fell in love with what’s happening there,” he declares, speaking to the Straight from his home in the forest on the edge of Dresden, where he retreats when he’s not presenting shows elsewhere in Germany. “I think it should be known much more—not just nationally but internationally.” The Dance in Vancouver showcase should help with that last goal, bringing in more than 50 presenters from across Canada and as far away as France, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Brazil.

Is it possible that Jaenicke is just trying to be polite? “It’s known that I can be terribly direct in my comments,” he says with a good-natured laugh.

Jaenicke had known very little about what was happening out here on Canada’s West Coast, other than, of course, it produced international choreographic star Crystal Pite. In his work as everything from the head of Dresden’s HELLERAU arts centre and founder of the festival Tanztheater International Hannover to curator of the festival O Boticário na Danca in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, he’s become familiar with the contemporary works coming out of Montreal. But he was curious to find out what was hap-

Photo: David Cooper

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NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 31

ARTS

Coloring looks at LGBTQ’s many hues

S

by Janet Smith

outh of the border, where Chuck Wilt operates his bicoastal dance company UNA Projects, the LGBTQ community has had a tense few years under the Trump administration.

But amid that atmosphere, Wilt has chosen to create a work that focuses on the positive. His Coloring, which the New York City– and San Francisco–based artist is showing here in the final days of the Chutzpah Festival, celebrates the forces that bring the queer community together.

“Overall, the work came out of this desire to understand what we have in common and what unites us,” Wilt tells the Straight before heading up here for shows in a remote region near the northern end of Vancouver Island (more on that later), and then at Chutzpah. “I was interested in how there’s a lot going on in the world, and in our country specifically, and it feels like it’s really easy just to focus on the negative. So it was important for me to acknowledge that, but look at the history and imagine a future that was more positive.”

Wilt knows his subject matter

ARTS UMBRELLA DANCE COMPANY

UNA Projects’ Coloring finds the honesty and diversity in the LGBTQ experience.

Photo by Stephen Texeira Photography

well: he identifies as a gay man, and he grew up with two moms. But to create Coloring, he brought a few LGBTQ guests into his dance studio in New York to share their stories with his company. He made sure they were from different generations and had varied experiences of the eras they grew up in; only one of them had any experience in the dance world.

The resulting work for seven performers, though not narrative, reflects their stories through dance that feels as vulnerable, emotional, and deeply human as it is resilient.

“I’m really interested in performance that feels honest and how we can move in really physical ways that are still honest,” Wilt explains. “Everything was really focused on how to portray unity, and so it became clear that I wanted a bigger group of people.

And also this work sort of intentionally plays with a bit of frontality—there’s something about storytelling where I felt like they should be able to speak directly toward the audience.”

One larger-than-life element we haven’t mentioned yet: the divine drag queen and cello virtuoso Rose Nylons providing live accompaniment that’s by turns haunting and upbeat.

“It brings in an icon of the queer community, but also something from my childhood that I connected with at a young age,” Wilt says.

As the piece progresses, dancers’

and Nylons’ costumes—true to the title—become more colourful.

Before its local debut, the work will have travelled as far as Sointula, on isolated Malcolm Island, where Chutzpah artistic managing director Mary-Louise Albert has a home, and where she plans to spend much more time after finishing her last edition of the fest this month.

“I’ve been bringing dance up to this region for the last four years through Chutzpah,” Albert says in a separate phone call, speaking about the mission of her B.C. Movement Arts Society to reach culturally underserved areas of the province. “They’re very well-versed in contemporary dance now because I’ve been doing this for a while. And I want to have the time to do this more.”

In the past, Albert has brought up artists from Shay Kuebler to Donald Sales for residencies. In the case of Coloring, the troupe will not only perform at the hall in Sointula, but hit venues in Alert Bay and Port McNeill as well. It’s a rare chance for those communities to experience the kind of cutting-edge dance that Albert has made the signature of Chutzpah since she took over the helm 15 years ago. But troupes like the big-city-based UNA Projects also get a refreshing taste of West Coast wilderness and a rare interaction with audiences far outside of urban centres.

As for programming, Albert, who plans to expand this passion project in the coming years, has found that audiences in rural coastal B.C. are as open to challenging work as are those in her headquarters at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre. “There’s a range of people here and there’s a range of people there,” she says. g UNA Projects presents Coloring as part of the Chutzpah Festival from Friday to Sunday (November 15 to 17) at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre.

PRESENTED BY

DECEMBER 13-15, 2019 VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE “It’s the equivalent of a giant box of chocolates for dance lovers.”

GEORGIA STRAIGHT

A FAMILY FAVOURITE

CHRISTMAS WITH THE BACH CHOIR December 1 | 2:00pm | Orpheum Theatre Featuring Leslie Dala and Marisa Gaetanne | Music Directors 400+ singers of the Vancouver Bach Adult and Children’s Choirs Michael Dirk | Organ Laine Longton | Cello A Touch of Brass Quintet

artsumbrella.com/mixednuts 32 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

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ARTS

Kuroko explores ways we cope and escape

THEATRE KUROKO

By Tetsuro Shigematsu. Directed

by Amiel Gladstone. A Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre production.

At the Cultch Historic Theatre on Thursday, November 7. Continues until November 17

d PRIMING HIS DAUGHTER for the pandemonium of a Tokyo Metro rush hour, Hiroshi Tanaka warns her that crowds can be so self-absorbed that “people pass out, but they don’t fall down.” For the Tanaka family, the beleaguered household at the centre of Kuroko, this epigram is fittingly emblematic—virtuality, both literal and figurative, courses through their collective daze to create a new normal.

Examining the ways that people respond to life’s difficulties, playwright Tetsuro Shigematsu illuminates the potential for the illusory to heal or hurt relationships.

Maya (Kanon Hewitt) is a 23-yearold hikikomori, or shut-in. She has lived in her room for the past six years, aided by her parents, Hiroshi (John Ng) and Naomi (Manami Hara). When Hiroshi loses his job, he is confronted by the dilemma of Maya’s dependence and a dwindling bank balance. Preparing to cash in on an insurance policy through suicide, he visits a rent-a-family clinic to seek out a friend for Maya, in an attempt to ease his family’s transition into a life without him. Meanwhile, in virtual reality, Maya strikes up an unlikely friendship with Kenzo (Lou Ticzon), a gamer whose philosophical musings on the virtual and the real begin to lift her reclusiveness.

Exploring mechanisms of coping and escape, Shigematsu observes

the role virtuality plays in society, as manifested physically and psychologically. On one hand, technology enables youths like Maya and Kenzo to escape their predicaments via virtual worlds, bonding over gaming platforms and sightseeing panoramas.

On the other hand, memory forms the basis of virtuality for an older generation, where willful ignorance of parental rebuke smoothes out Naomi’s marriage, and Hiroshi’s remembrance of a loved one feeds forlorn prospects of his return. This escapism exists within a wider withdrawal, reflected in the phenomena of hikikomori culture and the popularity of Jukai, the “Sea of Trees”, as a site for suicide.

Director Amiel Gladstone guides a quintet of seasoned performers through a sharp script, which they navigate with ease and conviction.

Hewitt is animated as the furtive Maya, while Ng exudes a rooted paternal melancholy. Hara is tactful as Hiroshi’s concerned spouse, and Ticzon plays a game avatar with verve. Donna Soares is suitably reticent as Asa, the rent-afamily operator. Within a wire-framed cube, set designer Sophie Tang creates a scenic fluidity with an array of linked blocks that can handily partition space into various settings. Gerald King’s lighting design demarcates the virtual and real, with tungsten warmth dominating domestic exchanges, and a rotating colour palette accompanying game-play frenzy.

Kuroko translates as “child of darkness”, and refers to the kabukitheatre stagehands, dressed in black, who manipulate a play’s set pieces.

In naming his play after them, Shigematsu suggests that invisible forces compel all our lives, and that it is only human to construct virtual realities to manage these phantoms.

Kanon Hewitt and Lou Ticzon take to a virtual world in Kuroko. Photo by Chris Randle

TIMOTHY FINDLEY’S THE WARS

By Dennis Garnhum. Based on the novel by Timothy Findley. Directed

by Lois Anderson. A Department of Theatre and Film at UBC production.

At the Frederic Wood Theatre on Friday, November 8. Continues until November 23

d IN A PLACE OF widespread suffering, what perspectives can be drawn from individual torment, and do they bring insights into the wider theatre of horrors? In Dennis Garnhum’s stage adaptation of Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars, one man tries to make sense of his life within the carnage of a senseless world.

Encountering the trench warfare of World War I, amid fresh memories of a personal loss, 2nd Lt. Robert Ross is faced with questions about worth and sacrifice.

Robert (David Volpov), a 19-yearold Torontonian, has suffered a

by Danny Kai Mak recent death in the family—his

older sister, Rowena (Hana CriptonInglis), has died suddenly in a tragic accident. Estranged from his mother (Laura Reynolds) and still reeling from this event, Robert enlists in the Canadian Army to distract himself from his bleak psyche, shipping off to Alberta for basic training. There, he meets a motley group of fellow recruits, from the amiable Purchas (Nicco Graham) to the timid Levitt (Aidan LeBlanc). Led by captains Taffler (Drew Ogle) and Leather (Caleb Pleasure), the soldiers are quickly dropped onto the frontlines of Belgium, where the war rages.

Animals occupy a sizable role in Findley’s novel, which Garnhum faithfully retains for the stage. Their fates, most vividly represented by a stable of horses caught in a blazing inferno, are a perfect metaphor for Robert: waylaid by life’s caprice, he discovers that aspects of his reality are beyond his control. Finding kinship with both their innocence and helplessness, he realizes that a degree of senseless action permeates life in

wartime and otherwise: his inability to save Rowena or her rabbits from death is matched by his inability to save some of his fellow soldiers and their horses. Similarly, Robert’s desire for autonomy is frustrated by an irrational, controlling captain, much as his decisions at home were challenged by an overbearing mother.

Disobeying orders to rescue animals, whose distress he identifies with, becomes almost therapeutic, as a point of penance or empowerment.

Director Lois Anderson has a wonderful economy about her theatrical staging, employing tactile, elementary components to create an incomparable liveness on an open-plan stage. Through Cecilia Vadala’s scenic design, the hostility of natural elements and man-made destruction are given weight by jets of thick fog and a stage-sized beige canvas. Acting as a fulcrum for scene changes, this single stretch of fabric conjures up in turn a churning sea, waterlogged dike, and yawning crater. Sound designer Zachary Levis devises live audio effects with on-site instruments like bar chimes and a thunder sheet, while recorded classics by composers Morris Manley and Edward Elgar play to contextualize history. Lighting designer Matthew Piton blasts the mise en scène with the colours of the ocean, a conflagration, and chlorine gas.

With a likeness between Robert’s life at home and abroad, a semblance of closure emerges; although guilt inevitably remains, he has come to understand that senselessness occurs. Like the animals in the story, it is not unusual to be defenseless or in a state of compromise, but given that, he has also gleaned redemption in a newfound courage against adversity.

by Danny Kai Mak

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BACH’S BRANDENBURGS WITH TON KOOPMAN

FRIDAY, 8PM/SUNDAY, 7:30PM | CHAN CENTRE, UBC

Classical Traditions at the Chan Centre

Organist, conductor, musicologist and one of the world’s leading Bach interpreters, Ton Koopman will perform Bach’s beloved Brandenburg Concertos and his famous “Air on the G string.”

FAMILY MUSICAL

J SEPH

AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT AND THE

Lyrics By Tim

Rice Music By Andrew Lloyd Webber Director: Barbara Tomasic Choreographer: Nicol Spinola Musical Director: Christopher King

GATEWAYTHEATRE.COM , H GatewayThtr 604.270.1812

BACH: MUSICAL OFFERING

THE BEAUTY OF SIBELIUS

NOV 28, 6:30PM | ORPHEUM

TONIGHT, 7:30PM | PYATT HALL SUNDAY, 2PM | PYATT HALL

VSO Chamber Players Frederick the Great wrote out a complex, chromatic melody as a test of Bach’s skill. Bach’s response, The Musical Offering, has been likened to a cryptic crossword puzzle set to music. Pure Genius!

MOZART REQUIEM AND SCHUBERT UNFINISHED

Assante Masterworks Diamond Maestro Tausk conducts Mozart’s Requiem and Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, both unfinished works that beg the question: what might have come next?

NOV 22/23 MASTERWORKS DIAMOND SERIES SPONSOR

SIBELIUS 5, NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN AND ELGAR CELLO CONCERTO

NOV 29/30, 8pm

NOV 22/23, 8PM | ORPHEUM

NOV 14/17 SUPPORT AT THE CHAN CENTRE BY

John Fluevog Shoes VSO Afterwork Come to the Orpheum at 5:30pm for a happy hour cocktail and then enjoy a short, no-intermission concert with Sibelius’ 5th Symphony.

NOV 28 VSO AFTERWORK SERIES SPONSOR

Newmont Goldcorp Masterworks Gold Maestro Otto Tausk is joined by Vancouver-born cellist Gary Hoffman, son of the late Maestro Irwin Hoffman, for the gorgeous Elgar Cello Concerto, plus the orchestral ecstasy of Sibelius.

NOV 29/30 MASTERWORKS GOLD SERIES SPONSOR

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Oliver Castillo & Timothy Liu. Photo By David Cooper.

NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 33

from previous page

AMERICAN IDIOT

Music and lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong and Green Day. Book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer. Directed by Richard Berg.

A URP Production. At the Centennial Theatre on Wednesday, November 6.

No remaining performances

d URP’S PRODUCTION of American Idiot is a spectacular celebration of punk-rock band Green Day’s music, told through a high-energy, theatrical experience. Soaring vocals and band accompaniment, visually stimulating staging, and rock-concert lighting make this a fun trip.

And while the show’s story is flat and the directorial concept is a bit illogical, there’s much to enjoy in this electrifying, nostalgic ride.

American Idiot is basically a stage version of Green Day’s 2004 album of the same name. Created during the waning days of the pop-punk/ MTV era, the songs capture the essence of teenage angst in early-2000s suburban America, all of which is brought to life in the musical.

The show’s story centres on three young friends—Johnny, Will, and Tunny—frustrated with their suburban lives and wanting to escape to the big city. Will ends up having to stay behind with his pregnant girlfriend.

Johnny and Tunny continue on their way, but are soon separated when Tunny enlists in the army.

Left on his own, Johnny falls in love with two things: a young woman and drugs. From there on, we see how each guy deals with his struggles.

The issue with the show’s storytelling is that since there’s little dialogue, there’s only the songs to move the story forward—and that isn’t enough to flesh out the plot and characters.

The action moves quickly without us really getting to know these guys. As a result, one can only feel indifferent to plot developments like Tunny getting sent to war, and Will’s conflicts.

But this production sparkles with outstanding performances from its cast of young, emerging performers who brilliantly handle the challenging punk-rock/pop vocal stylings and harmonies. The cast also performs Emily Matchette’s creative choreography with impressive energy, athleticism, and attitude. One powerful visual is when cast members jump one by one off a staircase onto a mattress, and later beckon to a character to jump to his doom.

As Johnny, Colin Sheen delivers the show’s standout performance. A sensational singer, he uses a distinct poppunk vocal style with enough edge to rock songs like “Jesus of Suburbia”, while also singing “When It’s Time” with warmth and passion. While his

character isn’t written to be likable, he uses tender moments in his vocals and movements to connect with the audience and show Johnny’s vulnerability.

It’s also worth noting that the rendition of “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, performed by Sheen, Tanner Ford, and Nick Heffelfinger (the last two play Will and Tunny), all accompanying themselves on guitars, is hauntingly moving.

While the original Broadway production was set during the post–9/11, Bush-administration era, director Richard Berg intended to set this production in the current Trumpian times. But in a world where people write letters home, and there’s no trace of mobile phones or social media, it’s puzzling what era we’re actually seeing.

Perhaps it’s better that the show presents itself as a story from the past—when commentary against war, mainstream media, and commercialism rang loud. American Idiot’s messaging and attitude don’t quite transfer into the current Gen Z scene, focused on climate-change action, antibullying, and inclusion. With that in mind, URP’s production of American Idiot is an entertaining resurgence of songs from a previous generation. The show celebrates not only the music, but also the visions and dreams that this generation brought into the world.

by Vince Kanasoot

PRESENTS

an ambitious new dance work by Dana Gingras with music by Fly Pan Am

LIVE ONSTAGE · 12: 817,/ 129 ৱ৲ HISTORICAL THRILLER

THE

DOUBLE A E MURDERS By

Berni Stapleton

Directed by Tamara McCarthy Produced by Rusticate Theatre

Who will survive the long, haunting night?

S AV E

20

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until Nov. 27

TS T ICK ELY ON

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GATEWAYTHEATRE.COM , H GatewayThtr 604.270.1812 Yoshié Bancroft. Photo By Kayla Isomura.

34 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

ARTS LISTINGS CHUTZPAH FESTIVAL Comedy, theatre, dance, and music. To Nov 24, various venues. $24-60.

LUZIA Cirque du Soleil presents a poetic and acrobatic ode to the culture of Mexico. To Dec 29, Under the Grand Chapiteau (Big Top), Concorde Pacific Place. $39-270.

KUROKO World premiere of Tetsuro Shigematsu’s play about a reclusive woman challenged to save her father’s life To Nov 17, 7:30 pm, Historic Theatre. From $26.

ESCAPED ALONE Western Gold Theatre presents Caryl Churchill’s intricate, elliptical, and acutely female view of the apocalypse.

To Nov 17, Pal Studio Theatre. $20-32.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC Romantic musical about a young woman who takes a governess position with a large family and falls for the widowed father. To Jan 5, Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. From $39.

THE WARS UBC Theatre and Film presents Timothy Findlay’s World War I drama, adapted by Dennis Garnhum. To Nov 23, 7:30 pm, Frederic Wood Theatre. $11.50-24.50.

A BUNCH OF AMATEURS Comedy about an aging Hollywood action hero playing King Lear in an amateur dramatic society. To Nov 23, 8-10 pm, Metro Theatre. $28/25.

JAKE’S GIFT Drama about a Canadian WWII veteran’s reluctant return to Normandy for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. To Nov 17, Presentation House Theatre. $30/25/18.

VANCOUVER ART GALLERY aVIEWS OF THE COLLECTION: THE STREET to Nov 17 aVIKKY ALEXANDER: EXTREME BEAUTY to Jan 26 aROBERT RAUSCHENBERG 1965–1980 to Jan 26 aTRANSITS AND RETURNS to Feb 23 aCINDY SHERMAN to Mar 8

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13 ROLLER COASTER TJ Dawe presents a four-part monologue exploring, among other things, the imminent collapse of civilization.

Nov 13-15, 8-10 pm, Performance Works.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14 EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL Four-day celebration of East Vancouver visual arts, design, and crafts. Nov 14-17, 5 pm, Eastside Culture Crawl. Free.

VANCOUVER TAP DANCE SOCIETY Program showcases the infectious rhythms, technical skill, and musicality of tap. Nov 14, Scotiabank Dance Centre. $22-13.

ART AGAINST STIGMA As part of the Eastside Culture Crawl, a display of works by local artists who have experienced mental illness.

Nov 14-17, The Kettle Society. Free.

MACBETH The 2019-2020 CapU Theatre Series opens with one of Shakespeare’s most

Arts HOT TICKET

of the Baroque master’s most monumental music. (Photo by Hans Morren.)

BACH’S BRANDENBURGS WITH TON KOOPMAN

(November 15 and 17 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts) File this concert under “unmissable”. Celebrated keyboardist and conductor Ton Koopman is one of the most respected interpreters of Johann Sebastian Bach. He joins the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra here to take on some popular tragedies. Nov 14-23, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. $22/15/11.

THE DOUBLE AXE MURDERS Psychological thriller steeped in Newfoundland folklore. Nov 14-23, Gateway Theatre. $29.

FEMINIST ACTS Join Tessa Jordan for a conversation about her new book Feminist Acts: Branching Out Magazine and the Making of Canadian Feminism. Nov 14, 7-9 pm, Massy Books. Free.

NESTOR PISTOR’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR Canadian comedian, with standup guests Ryan Williams, Tanner McCoolman, Kevin Webb, and Elizabeth Stanton. Nov 14, 7:30-9:30 pm, Vancouver Alpen Club. $35.

JOKES PLEASE! Standup comedy show hosted by Ross Dauk. Nov 14, 9-10:45 pm, Little Mountain Gallery. $10.

CHRIS LOCKE WORLD Canadian comedian performs a night of standup. Nov 14, 10 pm, Havana Theatre. $20.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15 OFF THE CRAWL ART SHOW Art and music show for art lovers and families. Nov 15-17, 5 pm, Strike Mvmnt. Free.

VANCOUVER CHAMBER CHOIR: STRANGE BEASTS Program includes a commission from American Paul John Rudoi. Nov 15, 7:30 pm, Vancouver Academy of Music. $33/29/15.

PUCCINI’S GIANNI SCHICCHI One-act opera presented alongside fully staged excerpts

STRANGE BEASTS (November 15 at Koerner Recital Hall) The Vancouver Chamber Choir sings its way through the species, with works including Sweet Suffolk Owl, Bizarre Bestiaire, and Paul John Rudoi’s new arrangement of At every instant.

ORQUESTRA AKOKAN

(November 16 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts) Defy the November damp with a blast of old-Havana heat as these Cuban all-stars bring the soaring horns and driving percussion of son cubano, salsa dura, and mambo to the West Coast. g from other Italian operas. Nov 15, 16, 22, 23, 7:30-10 pm, St. Faith’s Anglican Church. $18-28.

SEAN TWEEDLEY L.A.–based comedian performs two nights of standup. Nov 15, 8 pm; Nov 16, 7 & 9:30 pm, Yuk Yuk’s Vancouver. $22.

MADE IN BC—DANCE ON TOUR Emerging dance artists Eric Cheung, Kristy Janvier, and Zahra Shahab. Nov 15, 19, 18, 8 pm, KW Studios. $10.

THE 12TH BIENNIAL

DANCE IN VANCOUVER

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 NORTH SHORE ARTISTS’ GUILD WINTER ART SALE Display of 270 paintings by 90 artists. Nov 16, 10 am–4 pm, Memorial Community Recreation Centre. Free.

WEST COAST TAGORE FESTIVAL Multicultural performing-arts event. Nov 16, 6-8:15 pm, Gateway Theatre. Free Admission.

MY SEDITIOUS HEART Book launch and conversation with Arundhati Roy. Nov 16, 6-9 pm, Performance Works. SOLD OUT. GAVIN MATTS PRESENTS HIMSELF Vancouver comedian performs a standup show presented by JFL NorthWest. Nov 16, 7 pm, Biltmore Cabaret. $19.

MORE DUCKING COMEDY Comedy with host Alannah Brittany and headliner Nina Wilder. Nov 16, 7 pm, The Projection Room. $10.

ROLSTON STRING QUARTET Program includes works by Mendelssohn, Astapov, and Schubert. Nov 16, 7:30-9:30 pm, West

Amber Funk Barton/the response. | Company 605 Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY Kinesis Dance somatheatro | Lee Su-Feh/battery opera Mardon + Mitsuhashi | OURO Collective Raven Spirit Dance | Vision Impure

Photo credit: OURO Collective/Jeff Hamada

ONGOING

November 20-24, 2019 Scotiabank Dance Centre

Tickets 604.684.2787 | ticketstonight.ca Info 604.606.6400 | thedancecentre.ca

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> Go on-line to read hundreds of I Saw You posts or to respond to a message < BIRD NERDS AT REIFEL BIRD SANCTUARY

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 8, 2019 WHERE: Red robins in surrey

You: video game designer, green jacket and a large camera (and your dad was an ornithologist)! Me: blue jacket, originally from the UK, studied marine biology at SFU. Really enjoyed our brief chat and it would be fun to continue to find it more about each other!

Hoping the girl you were with was just a friend!

I was seated at the bar and I saw you. You would help me sometimes as well. You were the cutest guy I ever seen in my life. If I wasn't with family I would've asked you out in a heartbeat. You're probably taken but I definitely fell for you at first sight. You had to make a couple of beers first before u could get me fries.

IT'S HARD TO GIVE A BUS DRIVER YOUR NUMBER

DISPENSARY DREAMING

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 9, 2019 WHERE: Number 14 bus by Pacific Spirit Park I had been walking in Pacific Spirit and got on the number 14 eastbound by the golf course. I have short brown hair and huge eyes and was wearing a red jacket. You were the driver and VERY attractive, with a beard and in a ball cap, hoodie and jeans. I think it was vehicle 2201? We chatted about the transit job action just before I got off at Blenheim. If I'd had paper on me I would have slipped you my number, though I would have been beet-red while I did it! Would love to meet for coffee and hear about life behind the wheel.

CANADA LINE - WE GOT REALLY CLOSE

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 4, 2019 WHERE: Canada line Yaletown Canada line southbound. Got in on a packed train. you were next to me and noticed me checking you out and you did the same. You tried to get closer, in fact you did, turned around with your hand in the back pocket. You came so close I swear you were about to grab my... we didn’t have time as my stop came. we locked eyes when I was out. Would love to chat and possible get closer this time. Tell me something about what you were wearing.

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CAMOSUN BOG WOODS + WALKING TRAILS

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 6, 2019 WHERE: Camosun bog walking trails I bumped into you yesterday while I was walking in the wood trails/hiking paths near Camosun Bog around 1:151:30pm. You were with a group of school children. We recognized each other. If you want to have tea and a walk let me know.

BEAUTIFUL BRUNETTE IN COZY COAT

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 4, 2019 WHERE: Starbucks Broadway and Burrard I saw you walk into Starbucks on West Broadway early on Monday, just before 0630, wrapped up in a full length TNF puffy. I wanted to curl up next to you inside that coat and go back to sleep for 20 minutes.

CANADA LINE - NOV 03

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 3, 2019 WHERE: CANADA LINE SKYTRAIN Was returning from Waterfront to Bridgeport and saw a beautiful lady get o Skytrain - am sure we looked at each other several times and tried to catch your eye when I got off at Brideport but you stayed on the Skytrain. Would like to see you again and make contact

BACKPACK WITH RKV INITIALS

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 6, 2019 WHERE: Broadway Canada Line Station- getting off southbound train We both got off the yvr train at Broadway City Hall this afternoon.

I noticed you right away and wanted to say something. I was wearing a hat and a blue coat. As you walked by me I noticed your backpack had initials on it.

YOGA GIRL

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 3, 2019 WHERE: Main and West 16th Ave I was standing on the corner of Main and 16th. You asked me if I do yoga often. You do yoga at Open Door Yoga. We chatted and you asked if I could join you for coffee; I replied no (because I was hot and sweaty). I wish I had given you my number!

STUNNING PHILIPINA GIRL WITH BLUE TOQUE AND BRAIDS ON 16 BUS

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I SAW A: I AM A: WHEN: NOVEMBER 4, 2019 WHERE: Near Notre Dame This is for the beautiful Filipina girl I saw this morning on the 16 bus, blue toque and braids that got off near Norte Dame.

Stunning person, cool personality. I was going to say hi but people got in the way :/ I was the dude who couldn't help myself from looking, with the braids, beard, and grey sweater. If anyone knows this girl please hit me up.. insta or whatever. She's like 5'3", really bubbly personality and might be my soulmate

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Vancouver United Church. $25-35.

SPIRIT(US): MUSIC AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS Alexander Weimann and Chloe Meyers perform a mixed program of chamber music. Nov 16, 7:30-10:30 pm, Saint Anselm’s Anglican Church. By donation.

MIXED PROGRAM Contemporary dance featuring new creations by local choreographers Olivia Shaffer and Kelly McInnes. Nov 16, 8 pm; Nov 17, 2 pm, Orpheum Annex. $8/18/28.

MIXED PROGRAM: OLIVIA SHAFFER AND KELLY McINNES Themes of hope in the face of mourning are at the heart of this mixed program of contemporary dance. In “Senescence” Olivia Shaffer confronts the inevitable failures in planning for our own mortality. In “Blue Space” Kelly McInnes tackles our inability to properly care for the life-giving planet we inhabit. Nov 16, 8-9:15 pm; Nov 17, 2-3:30 pm, Orpheum Annex. $8/18/28.

LOUIS RIEL DAY CELEBRATION An evening of Métis dance, music and culture. Nov 16, 8-10:30 pm, Scotiabank Dance Centre. $24/20.

THE COMIC STRIP Standup-comedy show featuring headliner Yumi Nagashima. Nov 16, 9-11 pm, Tyrant Studios. $18.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17 CEDAR WEAVING WORKSHOP Learn styles and patterns of cedar-bark weaving. Nov 17, 10 am–12 pm, VanDusen Botanical Garden. $35.

JAPANESE CALLIGRAPHY WORKSHOP Two-hour introductory workshop covers the basics of Japanese calligraphy. Nov 17, 1:303:30 pm, Kitsilano Neighbourhood House. $65.

THE GENESIS TRIO Classical concert featuring Markus Masaites (piano), Nina Weber (viola), and Jonathan López (clarinet). Nov 17, 1:45-4 pm, Knox United Church. By donation.

BEETHOVEN AND BEYOND Violinist Nancy DiNovo and pianist Monica Pfau perform works

by Beethoven, Copland, Bloch, and Kreisler. Nov 17, 2 pm, St. Paul’s Anglican Church. By donation.

OPERA ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON See Burnaby Lyric Opera’s up-and-coming stars perform various pieces from several operas.

Nov 17, 3 pm, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. $15.

KOERNER PIANO TRIO Vancouver Academy of Music’s resident ensemble performs works by Haydn, Pärt, Rachmaninoff, and Schubert. Nov 17, 3-5 pm, Kay Meek Arts Centre. $49/47/19.

THE SCRAWNY SHOW DOUBLE FEATURE Standup comedy featuring headliners Sean McDonnell and Randee Neumeyer. Nov 17, 7:30 pm, ANZA Club. $8/10.

TINDER TALES Comedians share stories about online dating. Nov 17, 8 pm, Yuk Yuk’s Vancouver. $15/18.

THE RIOT CLUB RIDES AGAIN Staged reading of Laura Wade’s Posh, a satirical dark comedy about wealth, power, and no consequences.

Nov 17, 9:30 pm, Havana Theatre. $12-15.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18 VANCOUVER GILLER LIGHT BASH Literary discussion, games, cocktails, prizes, and the Giller Prize broadcast. Nov 18, 6:30-10 pm, Soundhouse Studios. $20.

ECHOES OF AN ERA CONCERT New Westminster & District Concert Band performs its annual Pops Concert. Nov 18, 7:30-9:30 pm, Anvil Centre. $15.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19 SALISH SINGING & DRUMMING WORKSHOP Learn traditional Salish drumming and hear the stories behind the songs. Nov 19, 7-9 pm, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Free.

DR SKETCHY’S ANTI ART SCHOOL Three hours of drinking, drawing, and decadence, with model Melody Mangler. Nov 19, 7-10 pm, Hood 29. $12.

GAMÈTES Théâtre la Seizième presents a comedy that tackles the question of what self-fulfillment looks like for women. Nov 1923, 8 pm, Studio 16. $27.95-32.95.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20 THE GROUP OF SEVEN REIMAGINED Book launch with author Readings by Isabellla Mori, Nina Shoroplova, Travis Good, Michael Mirolla, Alfred DePew, and Karen Schubert. Nov 20, Aperture Coffee Bar. 12TH BIENNIAL DANCE IN VANCOUVER Performances by companies including Amber Funk Barton/the response., Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY, OURO Collective, Raven Spirit Dance, and Vision Impure. Nov 20-24, Scotiabank Dance Centre. $34/25.

MÎNOWIN The Dancers of Damelahamid present a multimedia dance work about rebirth. Nov 20-24, Historic Theatre. Fom $26.

VIFF‘19

THE FATHER The Search Party presents an unsentimental portrayal of the realities of living with dementia. Nov 20-30, Vancity Culture Lab. From $25.

VANCOUVER CHRISTMAS MARKET Authentic German market features more than 80 huts stuffed with sweets, treats, and treasures. Nov 20–Dec 24, Jack Poole Plaza. $15.

EAST VAN PANTO: PINOCCHIO When a lonely old ice-cream vendor is given a puppet by the mysterious Beckwoman of Commercial Drive, his dreams of having a child suddenly come true. Nov 20–Jan 5, 2020, York Theatre. From $26.

BLACK LIKE ME Dancer-choreographer Jade Solomon Curtis performs his multidisciplinary solo work. Nov 20, 7:30 pm; Nov 21, 12 pm; Nov 21, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. $35.

IMPROV AGAINST HUMANITY: NIFTY 9TH ANNIVERSARY! The Fictionals improv group celebrates nine years. Nov 20, 8-9:30 pm, Rio Theatre. $15.

The Cinematheque European Union Film Festival 2019 November 22 – December 2

THE ASTRO SHOW FOR BIG FUN! FESTIVAL Twelve comics, one from each astrological sign, perform short sets. Nov 20, 8-10:30 pm, Projection Room at Fox Cabaret. $12.

SEMINAR In Seminar, a provocative comedy from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck, four aspiring young novelists sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon, and hearts are unmoored. Nov 20-30, 8 pm, The Nest. $25.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21 FADO: THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD The story of a young woman confronting her country’s fascist past and her own identity is interwoven with the heartbreaking national music of Portugal. Nov 21–Dec 14, Firehall Arts Centre. From $25.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22 RETHINK PLASTIC, BUSINESS EDITION Plastic Oceans Canada welcomes you to an interactive workshop on how to effectively audit and reduce plastic waste in a business environment. This workshop is open to everyone. We hope to facilitate and nurture positive discussions between business owners, employees, and the general public about how to phase out single-use plastic.

Nov 22, Vancouver Public Library. $25.

TEEN ANGST NIGHT A comedic reading series of teenage notebooks, hosted by Sara Bynoe. Nov 22, 8-10 pm, Fox Cabaret. $12/15.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 SHAUN MAJUMDER: HATE TOUR Canadian comedian tackles themes of intolerance and prejudice. Nov 23, 8-10 pm, Massey Theatre. $45.

Europe without the jet lag! eufilmfestival.com Finland, Austria, Estonia, Germany, Slovenia, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Malta, Sweden, Czech Republic, Croatia, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Greece, Latvia, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Belgium 1131 Howe Street, Vancouver thecinematheque.ca 36 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24 KEVIN KENNER PIANO RECITAL An artist at the height of his powers, awardwinning pianist Kevin Kenner performs on November 24th at 3:00 pm at the Vancouver Playhouse. Programme includes works by Haydn, Schumann, Chopin and Paderewski. Ticketholders will have a chance to win a trip to the 2020 Chopin Competition in Warsaw! Nov 24, 3 pm, Vancouver Playhouse. $15-50.

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

Feral women, some class politics, and failed coups

by Adrian Mack

A

SIBEL A mute young woman in a

remote mountain community faces disdain and superstition from the locals. But the self-possessed young Sibel—who communicates through an ancestral (and real) whistling language—is more competent and resourceful than anyone else around her, picking crops and managing her father’s household when she isn’t doggedly hunting a wolf believed to be menacing the village. Dad is the one source of affection in Sibel’s life, at least until she stumbles across a man hiding in the woods to escape military service, throwing the community into uproar and Sibel even further into exile. The film is so successful at finding its place somewhere between neorealism and fairy tale (there’s even a mad spinster living on the edge of town), we don’t mind too much if he’s the first guy to notice that Sibel could pass for an international supermodel.

Saturday, November 16 (noon)

SAF With his own neighbourhood in

Istanbul about to fall to rampant gentrification, unemployed Kamil reluctantly steals a construction job from an injured Syrian, taking the reduced rate paid to migrants and inflaming all sides of an argument with no winners

No turkeys at Turkish film fest From renowned auteurs to populist spectacle, an industry comes of age

S

by Adrian Mack

Damla Sönmez commands the screen as a mute, wolf-hunting outcast in Sibel.

long with a strong program of shorts and its panel discussion on women in film, there are nine features coming to this year’s jam-packed Vancouver Turkish Film Festival, starting Friday (November 15) at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.

Here are three to whet your appetite:

movies

except the wealthy. This crystal-clear depiction of moral compromise forced by a fixed class system is the stuff of Ken Loach movies, but SAF takes a surprise (and deeply sad) turn at its halfway point, focusing its attention on Kamil’s spouse, Remziye, whose more fluid ethics are put to the test for reasons best left unsaid here. After establishing its faultless politics, this lurch into melodrama could have sunk the film. Instead, thanks largely to the cast, SAF’s exploration of the messier depths of human psychology turns out to be a risk worth taking. Saturday, November 16 (4:30 p.m.)

ANONS A coup attempt is under way.

In the dead of night, rogue military officials make their way to Istanbul’s state radio station to seize the airwaves, but find themselves perpetually undermined by the mundane inefficiencies of everyday life. Based on the real events of May 22, 1963, Anons (The Announcement) is so slow and deadpan that it makes Aki Kaurismäki look like Frank Tashlin, but how better to probe the military-fascist mindset of these clowns in their peacock uniforms, who can murder informers and innocent taxi drivers with chilling ease but can’t figure out how to operate a microphone? Underlining the film’s ruthless sense of anticomedy, the funniest scene has one of the plotters explaining a joke to his granite-faced coconspirators. As matters evolve from the tense opening to flat-out absurdism, their slow-boiling frustration becomes the entire film’s weirdly glorious payoff. Sunday, November 17 (8:35 p.m.) g

ince its first edition in 2011, the Vancouver Turkish Film Festival has seen a promising change in its demographic. “It’s getting bigger and bigger every year,” Eylem Sönmez tells the Georgia Straight.

“In the beginning it was 65 percent Turkish and then the rest was mixed. Last year, our fifth year, it was half and half—which was amazing. That was huge for us.”

This growth in attention from outside the immigrant community is partly due to the festival’s visibility.

More simply, Turkish cinema is hot.

In the last two decades or so, Turkey has produced auteurs including Nuri Bilge Ceylan and cult hits like 2015’s wild Baskin. Meanwhile, a roaring domestic industry has cultivated an enormous audience at home.

“When I was growing up, we used to watch Latin-American TV shows, soap operas,” says Sönmez, who was born and raised in Istanbul before she moved to Vancouver in her early 20s to pursue a scholarship at the Vancouver Film School. “That was huge in Turkey. Now it’s the opposite. Turkish TV series are being sold to almost every single country in the world. I was in Vegas last year, I turned on the TV, and there was the biggest Turkish soap opera, The Magnificent Century, playing in Spanish.

The industry is really big.”

The festival director remarks that “I guess we’ve got a lot of stories to tell,” while suggesting that enthusiasm for Turkish film parallels worldwide interest in the nation’s current historical moment. Turkey’s geopolitical significance right now is painfully hard to ignore, and following some sort of inverse law of nature—Iran also comes to mind— culture seems to boom, at least sometimes, under authoritarianism.

An expanded industry has made the tools and expertise available for the production of subtly dissident arthouse product, which in turn becomes a desirable global export.

Fitting this bill is festival opener

This year’s Vancouver Turkish Film Festival opens in high style with rural drama The Tale of Three Sisters, the latest from celebrated director Emin Alper.

I was in Vegas last year and there was the biggest Turkish soap opera, playing in Spanish – Eylem Sönmez

The Tale of Three Sisters, a rural drama about indentured foster children from director Emin Alper, whose political thriller Frenzy was a sweep at the 2015 Venice Film Festival. For Sönmez, the feature comes from a trusted filmmaker, but also speaks to VTFF’s theme this year of women in film. A panel discussion on Saturday (November 16) welcomes Saadet Işıl Aksoy, who stars in the fabulous drama SAF, along with

director Binnur Karaevli and other guests, including Women in Film and Television executive director Carolyn Combs—whose Commercial Drive ensemble piece Bella Ciao! made waves last April.

Not to be overlooked is the year’s most populist item, Müslüm Baba, a solidly entertaining biopic about an arabesque singer who emerged from the ghetto and died a superstar folk hero. There’s also considerable appeal to Karaevli’s portrait of recently deceased Armenian-Turkish photographer Ara Güler, The Eye of Istanbul. But Sönmez and her partners at VTFF already know that Vancouver’s Turkish community is loyal to their program.

“Even though I want to call it all-inclusive, our festival is 80 percent arthouse and 20 percent mainstream,” she says. “I want Canadians to come see our films.” g The Vancouver Turkish Film Festival takes place at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts from Friday to Sunday (November 15 to 17).

More information is at vtff.ca/.

VTFF puts the focus on women in film

O

by Charlie Smith

ne of the organizers of the Vancouver Turkish Film Festival has a great deal to say about women’s rights in her country of origin. Nural Sümbültepe, an English instructor and longtime resident of the Lower Mainland, tells the Straight that it bugs her that republicansecular women and religious and nonsecular women pay far too much attention to the issue of clothing. This occurs whether someone is wearing a beautiful western suit and high heels or a hijab or a burqini.

“It’s as if clothing is the only issue about women’s rights,” Sümbültepe says. “I would like them to talk about women’s education, how they’re protected by law, their workplace, and how much money they make. This should be at the forefront of discussions.”

Another irritant is when western women tell Turkish women that their country needs more feminism. In fact, she argues, many American and Canadian women face some of the same challenges encountered by Turkish women. She would like to see more solidarity between all women in the world and more mutual respect.

Although she acknowledges serious issues around the repression of women in her homeland—“I’m not blind,” Sümbültepe says—she’s also proud of how vocal they are in asserting their rights. And it’s not only the republicansecular women who speak out when they disagree with public policies. Even the religious women will raise hell.

“Women take to the streets and they express

Actor Saadet Aksoy (Saf) joins a panel discussion at SFU on Saturday (November 16). Photo by Kuchini

their opinions, even though it’s difficult to do so,” she says. “They create many platforms, they create panels, and they voice their opinions. And the diversity of the women’s movement is really important.”

That’s a reflection of the diversity of the country: Turkey is a multiethnic state with Kurdish, Greek, Armenian, Arab, Persian, Georgian, and Circassian minorities.

Sümbültepe has lined up five women in the U.S., Canadian, and Turkish film industries to participate in a free panel discussion as part of the festival at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for

the Arts at SFU Woodward’s. Among them are high-profile Turkish actor Saadet Işıl Aksoy (Egg, Love in Another Language, Saf ) and Turkish director Binnur Karaevli, whose film The Eye of Istanbul: Ara Güler will be screened on Sunday (November 17). The other participants will be U.S.–based Turkish-American TV producer Şirin Aysan, Seattle International Film Festival senior programmer Justine Barda, and Women in Film and Television Vancouver executive director Carolyn Combs.

“I’m not in the film industry myself,” Sümbültepe says, “but I’m hoping there will be a general discussion about women in the workplace in Canada, the U.S., and Turkey.”

She pointed out that a movement similar to #MeToo erupted in Turkey in 2015 when 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan was raped and murdered in the seaside province of Mersin.

It spawned the hashtag #sendeanlat, which means “tell your story”. For a couple of days, the hashtag #ozgecanaslan was trending first in the world, according to Al Jazeera.

For her part, Aksoy has distinguished herself by elevating public awareness of how Turkish women have to endure sexist comments on a daily basis. “She made a beautiful video about what those remarks and sentences are and how they should not be said,” Sümbültepe says.

Over the past three decades, Turkey has been exporting TV shows to other Muslim countries, as well as to Mexico, Brazil, and other nations. According to Sümbültepe, the women in these programs in the 1990s were

seen as role models of liberation for women in the Middle East.

“Women demanded more rights after watching these Turkish TV series,” she says. “Even in Turkey in rural areas, it led to changes.”

However, in recent years there has been a debate about whether TV producers are making their female characters more conservative to improve the chances of gaining international distribution. What the Turkish industry is doing in the Arab and Persian world mirrors what Hollywood producers are doing to achieve distribution in China—not offending authoritarian regimes.

“Alcohol and cigarette smoke is blurred,” Sümbültepe says. “There is hardly any lovemaking scenes. There used to be more in the ’90s.”

She expects that this topic is likely to come up in the panel discussion.

“Justine Barda knows way more than I do about Turkish cinema,” she points out.

“Carolyn [Combs] is also there to give us the Canadian viewpoint.”

It’s timely dialogue, given that the festival is featuring films by three female directors and includes several films with females in leading roles. “So I’m really proud of this,” Sümbültepe says. g Women in the Film Industry: The U.S., Canada, and Turkey will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday (November 16) at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts at SFU Woodward’s.

NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT 37

MOVIES

Scorsese drops ageless masterpiece

by Ken Eisner

REVIEWS THE IRISHMAN

Starring Robert De Niro. In English and Italian, with English subtitles.

Rated 14A

d HERE’S WHERE Martin Scorsese bids arrivederci to the gangster saga—or at least should do so, since he smacks everything on the table in The Irishman’s mostly taut 210 minutes, and leaves the cannoli.

The film’s likewise a valedictory run for Robert De Niro, returning to his dramatic roots as Frank Sheeran, the last mobster standing—or in this case, sitting in a Catholic retirement home—of the crowd involved in Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance. The real Sheeran’s confessions have come under renewed scrutiny, since there’s no one around to refute them. But anyway, his Zelig-like presence at so many key moments in U.S. history gives Scorsese a chance to ruminate on midcentury twists that, one could argue, lead directly to the sordid collapse of empire we’re witnessing today.

Courtesy of the new and notquite-perfected de-aging technique (probably the only aspect here to benefit from the film’s small-screen home on Netflix), we first see Frank as a youngish family type who happens upon a meat-trucking scam around the time he meets made man Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci), whose connections, and many cousins,

NOV N

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As Jimmy Hoffa, Al Pacino blows hard (in the very best way) in The Irishman.

keep moving this Irish odd man out up through the Italianate ranks.

Relying on the elegant camera moves of Mexico’s Rodrigo Prieto, the lovingly crafted film allows De Niro to run a greatest-hits reel of his mob characters, with hints of Raging Bull, minus the pathology. His Frank is ambitious, sure, but that’s mainly to provide for his first family, later traded in for another. Neither introspection nor cruelty is involved when he’s tasked with bumping off small fry or, further on, the bigger fish in this polluted sea.

The largest bass on the hook here is, of course, Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamster boss once as powerful as the Kennedys, and now almost forgotten, as Steve Zaillian’s smart script keeps reminding us. He’s played by

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»Î ²ĤÇk w¥¾Ç ²Ç Î õw¥ 2254 East Hastings | rickshawtheatre.com UPCOMING SHOWS NOV 14: JD PINKUS & EDDIE SPAGHETTI (PAT’S PUB) NOV 15: K-MAN & THE 45S WITH DIE JOB & JONNY BONES ( LANALOU’S) NOV 16: DANY LAJ & THE LOOKS WITH SYNCHROMANTICS & TOTAL SHOCK (PAT’S PUB) DEC 5: CLOSE TALKER (WISE HALL) DEC 7: RAYGUN COWBOYS WITH CAMPFIRE SHITKICKERS (PAT’S PUB)

38 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019

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Al Pacino, (relatively) blimped-out, buzz-cut, and blustering his way through a performance of such towering megalomania that it’s hard not to relate it to certain overpowered blowhards today who can’t tell when they’re sealing their own fates.

If Pacino’s Hoffa is the wild card— tragicomic relief, if you will—Pesci, playing against type, is the calming factor, while De Niro’s good soldier remains a twitchy enigma. Among many players who graduated from Scorsese’s Boardwalk Empire, Stephen Graham has the best bits as Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano, a mobbed-up Teamster who truly drives Hoffa nuts.

It’s testimony to the veteran director’s cachet that he’s able to get people like Harvey Keitel and Bobby Cannavale to play mere walk-on parts, and to have Anna Paquin in the thankless role of daughter Peggy Sheeran—the only female character of real note, reduced to nearly silent disapproval of Frank’s violent ways. The Irishman itself notes the high price of the masculine isolation imposed by this fading way of life, eulogized in its last 20 minutes. But what of the taint still coursing through the nation’s veins?

THE WARRIOR QUEEN OF JHANSI

Starring Devika Bhise. In English, Hindi, and Marathi, with English subtitles. Rated PG

d IT’S RARE to complain about an Indian film being too short, but The Warrior Queen of Jhansi definitely feels like every third scene is missing. The tale of Rani Lakshmi Bai, who led a rebellion against British colonial rule in 1857, deserves to be told more fulsomely than this costume-and-talk heavy drama can muster, despite the presence of big names and a widescreen panorama.

Back then, the Indian subcontinent was ruled not by Britannia but indirectly, by the British East India Company. Students of Canadian history can easily relate to this, while clutching their Hudson’s Bay blankets and contemplating the merger between today’s corporations and the underfunded, overcompromised governments expected to regulate them.

In this female-centred action movie, Queen Victoria (Jodhi May) is seen as a mitigating force unable to dampen the avarice represented by the company’s Lord Palmerston (Derek Jacobi), who thinks only of the bottom line. “We owe these vulgar natives nothing,” says one of his shareholders, encapsulating the arrogance, racism, and inability to recognize other realities that would eventually doom the empire—as well as even the rump state it would become in the Brexit era.

Here, the Great White Father’s sense of order is threatened by various rebel forces, some of whom unite behind the real-life queen who uses her education and martial skills to mount a fierce campaign against the redcoats, ever ready to back the English ka-ching machine.

Our warrior queen is played by young Devika Bhise, who also cowrote the highly expository script with her mother, Swati Bhise, a Mumbai-born choreographer, based in New York, making her feature debut with this hugely ambitious artifact. She is notably clever at massing the larger scenes, with women learning the art of war and then practising it in the eventual showdown with the British army, led by a hammy Rupert Everett, whose huge muttonchop whiskers offer him plausible deniability. (“She’s like Joan of Arc,” he says helpfully, during their climactic battle.)

Unfortunately, the tale is too stiff, abbreviated, and confusingly edited to make for the gripping stuff it was meant to be. By the way, a 1953 version of this story, Jhansi Ki Rani, was India’s first Technicolor movie. It bombed at the box office. Now here’s hoping renewed interest in the anticolonial Wonder Woman at its centre will ensure that it keeps getting told. g

music

Las Estrellas bring mariachi north

M

by Mike Usinger

ichelle Cormier has gotten used to being a source of amusement among her friends when she’s hanging out in Mexico and talk turns to music.

“It’s actually kind of a joke among my Mexican friends who are not mariachi fans,” Cormier says with a laugh, on the phone from her East Van home. “They tell me, ‘You’re the only mariachi friend that I have— and you’re Canadian.’ It’s become something that I find pretty funny.

Most people don’t even know what the vihuela is in Mexico. It’s like, ‘How can you not even know what the mariachi instruments are?’ ” A love for mariachi led the classically trained guitarist to start the all-female group Las Estrellas de Vancouver back in 2014. Since then, she’s learned that there’s no shortage of enthusiasm for the genre in Lotusland.

“Once you have a mariachi band that’s out there, people are always calling,” she says. “They want you for parties and weddings and so on.

We’ve even played a funeral. The gentleman, who was not a Mexican person, had muscular dystrophy and he had this wish, for quite some time, that he wanted a mariachi band playing Pink Floyd songs for his funeral.

It was beautiful.”

Before forming Las Estrellas de Vancouver—which has a rotating cast of players—Cormier studied classical guitar at VCC, immersing herself in world music. In the past, she’s played with the Balinese-music collective Gamelan Gita Asmara and developed a deep affection for artists falling under the expansive umbrella of Afro-Cuban.

Her fascination with mariachi started in some ways with a decision to put her daughter in violin lessons.

When she ended up in a kids’ mariachi band, Cormier started learning songs so they could practise together, and then later began directing the group.

“That’s where it began,” she recalls.

“And then I started coming across this repertoire where I’d be like, ‘Man, that’s so beautiful.’ And that’s happened more and more, because mariachi is so broad, so rich and diverse.”

Las Estrellas de Vancouver have played parties and weddings and even performed Pink Floyd songs at someone’s funeral.

Mariachi has not only kept Cormier busy in town with Las Estrellas de Vancouver, but had her playing live and leading workshops across Canada and Mexico. That’s given her a thorough grounding in the history of the genre, which doesn’t always get the respect that it deserves down south.

“In general—particularly the mariachis you see in the plazas or playing in the streets or playing in restaurants—they’re artisans in that traditional sense where something has been passed down from one generation to the next,” she says. “That means it’s often all family—the uncles and the fathers teach the kids and the cousins. That also means that they often don’t finish school. They start working at the age of 12 or 13 or 14, with their dads and their uncles in the band, so they tend to be less educated.”

Cormier continues: “So they’re seen as this slightly uneducated group of

Once you have a mariachi band that’s out there, people are always calling.

– Michelle Cormier

people. And they can be seen as a bit of a nuisance—they are there in the plazas and the streets trying to get people to pay them to play songs.”

But at the same time, mariachi is deeply intertwined in the social

fabric of the country, which is why you’ll find it played at weddings, funerals, birthday parties, and elsewhere.

“It’s a funny dichotomy—the mariachis don’t seem to have a really high level on the social ladder in Mexico. But they’re kind of present for all the things that are most important. They’re sort of necessary.”

So while sometimes derided, mariachi music is also respected.

“In Mexico City and other places, like festivals where I’ve taught and played, I’ll be alongside the best in the world—the best mariachis that you can find anywhere. They’re so incredible that they don’t really have that problem of people not liking them.”

And she’s found that no one objects to her demonstrating her love for mariachi in Mexico, where styles vary from region to region.

“In Guanajuato, Mexico, for instance, I’ve had the funniest experi-

ences where I end up with people around me paying the mariachis to play with me.”

Folks are equally enthusiastic when she leads young Canadian mariachi disciples to Mexico.

“They’re just delighted,” Cormier says. “I’ll go down there with a group of Canadian students, and they’ll be like, ‘What the hell—what is this?’

We may not be the best at mariachi, because we didn’t grow up with it.

We play with a little bit of a different style, and we interpret it a little differently. But they’re really delighted that we’re there and honouring their music. They just think it’s the best.”

Las Estrellas de Vancouver is in more ways than one part of a tradition that dates back to the beginning of the last century.

“The first woman playing professionally with men was back in 1903,” she says. “Her name was Rosa Quirino—she’d be wearing her sandals while carrying a pistol.

Seriously badass and cool. Then in the ’40s you had women playing in groups in Mexico City, but because of the gender difference they’d start their band, have a wonderful group, and then get married and have babies, at which point the group would no longer exist.”

Las Estrellas de Vancouver, on the other hand, continues to roll right along. The band’s upcoming performance for ¡Viva México! (produced by the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre) will not only explore mariachi’s rich past, but also reconfigure songs by such Canadian icons as Joni Mitchell, Feist, Nelly Furtado, and Sarah McLachlan.

“The show is meant to be a celebration of women in the world of mariachi,” Cormier says. “So it’s about women in mariachi, but it’s also about history. People will be getting a great taste of as many of the different styles of mariachi as I can squeeze into the show, as well as stories and anecdotes of the contributions that women have made throughout time.” g Las Estrellas de Vancouver play the Vancouver Playhouse on Friday (November 15) as part of ¡Viva México!.

Workman has embraced his maturity

d AT THE END of an interview that’s touched on everything from self-acceptance and substance abuse to childhood poverty and the horrors of the music business, Hawksley Workman admits he’s been surprised at the amount of ground that’s been covered.

“I don’t know if I knew that I was going to get heavy with you,” says the veteran solo artist, playwright, author, and sometime member of the supergroup Mounties, on the line from a northern Ontario tour stop. “But maybe there’s no other way to get.”

That there’s no shortage of topics to explore is fitting, considering the ground he covers on his latest record, Median Age Wasteland.

The release’s 11 tracks find him as at ease with stripped-down acoustic folk (“Snowmobile”) as he is with straight-shooting indie rock (“Lazy”) and strings-laced soft pop (“Skinny Wolf”).

Impressively, he not only has plenty to say, but also understands the importance of putting things in a way that seems effortlessly original. Witness the way Workman tackles the sometimes dangerous game of nostalgia on the drama-drenched “1983”, and how he explores intolerance in a fresh way on the soaring “To Receive”.

Ultimately, what fans will hear is a songWorkman is past his days of playing writer who is—as Lana Del Rey might say— Hawksley the disastrous rock star. Photo by Dustin Rabin fresh out of fucks to give, but in the most positive and liberating of ways. Workman is old point, to keep your sanity, you focus on what enough to remember when a major-label deal you have as opposed to what you don’t. was seen as a winning Lotto Max ticket. And In his case, that’s the gift of having a long cahe’s now wise enough to know that at a certain reer in an industry where longevity is a rarity.

“There was a moment where I was very pretty and very skinny and very young, and I was on TV at that time,” Workman says, flashing back to an era when MuchMusic made artists instant stars in Canada. “The industry requires you to subject yourself to all kinds of personal scrutiny, because they don’t put funny-looking people on TV. Fastforward to where I’m now sitting at 44 years old and there are certain things that, in order for me to be a happier and healthier, loving husband, musician, and artist, that I’ve had to let go of. That creates space for you to be more of who you really are.”

After launching into an amusing aside about how the music business has always been—dating back to Elvis Presley and the Beatles—about hairstyles, he laughs and recalls how at one point in his past, being a singer with a receding hairline was a full-blown human catastrophe.

“Twenty-plus years in, 17 records, plus Mounties, theatre, and books and whatever, I don’t care about half the shit that I used to care about,” he says.

Translation: Workman is now free to be an artist on whatever terms he sets for himself.

That’s markedly different from the part of his life when he rocketed onto the Canadian music scene with 2001’s Universal Records–released (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves.

He acknowledges that initial period of infamy did a number on his head, especially after he parted ways with the label.

“The young, disastrous rock star was a role that I was happy to play for a time,” he

acknowledges. “I was the guy who could outdrink the record executive in Zurich, Switzerland, and that was really fun and somehow seemed really important at the time. But now I like being brilliant at what I do, and having an affinity for what I do without the booze and the weed. There was three years where I thought about killing myself every day after the conclusion of that record deal. But instead of shutting myself away, I chose to up my output—I made more records and did more touring.”

Median Age Wasteland marks a life change in other ways. After an extended period in rural Ontario—where he owned an idyllic plot of land that included a recording studio—the singer and his wife packed up and relocated to Montreal. There, Workman found himself immediately immersed in and inspired by the city’s famously forward-thinking music scene.

“It was kind of an early retirement out in the country where I built greenhouses and, even though I never did it, learned how to shoot pheasants,” Workman says. “But to be honest, my wife and I ran out of steam a little bit on that life. A friend of mine said, ‘Look, you guys did it, and now you can consult on it.’ ” Until that time comes, there’s the business of doing what he was born to do.

“I’m a high-school dropout—this is all I’ve ever done and what I’ve spent my entire life doing,” Workman confesses. “I’m riding with the funny character sitting in the sidecar who has this sense that my human value is measured by see next page

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my work’s value—that’s the thing that inflated the whole balloon.”

And as difficult as that’s been in the past, Workman is okay with it today.

“I get to not care about things because I make a very good living at what I do,” he says. “But that’s taken me 20 years to get to that point. I’ve only just started to trust that my business and my working life is now established to where it’s not going to be blown away by a light breeze. I can wake up, book a show, and think, ‘People will come.’

For most of the last 20 years, it all felt really temporary. But the more I leave the music business proper, the more I realize that I’m now my own entity outside of it.”

by Mike Usinger

Hawksley Workman plays the Imperial on Sunday (November 17).

WOLFBROOD’S CITYNSKI EXPLORES VIKING ROOTS d NOT TOO LONG ago, Daniel Citynski saw a sign, and the sign said “Furriers”, and beneath it he also saw the staring eyes of a great white wolf.

The eyes were glass, the wolf was dead, its pelt was for sale, and now the East Vancouver accordionist and singer has the perfect stage attire for his gig fronting Wolfbrood, the Viking-obsessed sextet playing the Accordion Noir Festival this weekend.

It was a weirdly appropriate discovery. The band is named for the first song Citynski ever wrote, which details the roving and ravenous ways of a pack of canine predators—led, of course, by a great white wolf.

“I have a fondness for wolves,” Citynski tells the Straight in a telephone interview from his home. “For a certain period of time I was studying them really exhaustively, and reading everything I could about them, and that’s how the lyrical content for that one came about.”

Citynski also has a passion for Norse mythology, aspects of which inform Wolfbrood songs such as “The Raid”, “The Ballad of Devil’s

Daniel Citynski has Viking ancestry, but the Wolfblood mastermind has no time for those who would use Norse culture to promote intolerance and hatred.

Dale”, and “Holmgang”.

“My family comes from all over the place, Norway being one of those places. I kind of adopted that part of my ancestry for this band, I guess,” he explains. “I wrote these songs over a decade ago, like when I was in my teens, when I was first starting to get into my ancestry. I remember learning that my family used to be Vikings back in the day—and until then I didn’t know that Vikings really existed. I just thought that they were a fictional thing, but the more I learned, the more I felt ‘Oh, I have a claim to this.’ So I started writing songs about it, and now, however many years later—15, I guess—I’ve actually started the band, so here we are.”

Wolfbrood is an acoustic act, with cello, violin, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, and hand percussion, in addition to Citynski’s accordion. But the singer’s full-throated roar, coupled with fiddler Ari Mansell’s foot-high Mohawk and writhing stage presence, distinguishes it from more sedate purveyors of the Scandinavian tradition—like the excellent but considerably more delicate Finnish duo VILDÁ, which will also play Accordion Noir this year. If Citynski’s going to write a song called “Berserkergangr”, he’s going to back it up with the kind of physical intensity that once powered Viking longships

across the Atlantic, along with much online research and memories of his own wintertime stay on a Norwegian sheep farm.

He’s also going to make sure that his expansive take on his Viking heritage isn’t going to be confused with that peddled by the so-called Soldiers of Odin.

“It’s funny you should mention them,” Citynski says. “I actually raised a nidstang against them. You know what that is?”

We don’t, but we’re eager to learn.

“It’s a curse pole,” he explains.

“It’s from [the Icelandic epic poem] Egil’s Saga, where Egil wanted to curse the king and queen of Norway, so he put a horse’s head on a runed pole. I made a runed pole and got a horse’s skull and I raised it on-stage, specifically against the Soldiers of Odin, because I really am opposed to everything they stand for.

“I really can’t stand the stigma that all this Norse stuff is just white culture for white nationalists to hang on to,” he adds. “It’s not that at all, and I say that all the time. It’s history, and it belongs to all of us.”

by Alexander Varty

Wolfbrood plays the WISE Hall on Friday (November 15) as part of the 2019 Accordion Noir Festival.

MUSIC

City’s wild nights remembered

NEW ORLEANS INSPIRED CUISINE

Aaron Chapman’s Vancouver After Dark documents long-shuttered clubs

Voted BEST EATERY with LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

by Mike Usinger

REVIEW

VANCOUVER AFTER DARK: THE WILD HISTORY OF A CITY’S NIGHTLIFE

By Aaron Chapman. Arsenal Pulp Press, 247 pp, softcover

d THE FASCINATING thing about Vancouver After Dark: The Wild History of a City’s Nightlife is that you’re guaranteed to learn something even if you’re old enough to remember the Velvet Underground staging a druggy four-night stand at the Retinal Circus. Or an unknown California ska band named No Doubt playing for about six people at the Town Pump. Or the Dead Kennedys teaming up with the Modernettes and Brain Eaters for a first-wave punk bill at Skid Row’s Smilin’ Buddha.

All of those now-shuttered venues get their own chapters in Vancouver author Aaron Chapman’s impressively researched new book on the clubs and pubs that helped reshape a once sleepy port town into a worldclass destination city.

It’s not always the feel-good story one might imagine, because progress and development often come with a downside. The book makes a good case that Vancouver is a place where everything retro-cool eventually seems to end up on the wrong end of a wrecking ball to make way for glass office towers and skyscraping condominiums. Th rough stunning archival photos, old flyers and posters, news clippings, and interviews with everyone from promoters and former owners to musicians and club staffers, Chapman provides a window into a long-gone past. As a cultural document, the result is every bit as illuminating and important as the work of Fred Herzog.

Everyone is familiar with the Commodore and its spring-loaded dance floor. But how many Vancouverites know that Drake and Granville—currently the site of a White Spot—was once home to the Trianon? The dance hall, according

Author Aaron Chapman’s latest book is a history of Vancouver’s nightlife.

ier-mâché stalactites and stalagmites with fondness, wishing the club were still here.”

Rising to infamy in the Rat Pack era—when double bourbons and a pack of Kools per day were considered part of a healthy diet—the Cave hosted everyone from Marvin Gaye and Louis Prima to Diana Ross and Wayne Newton. It was knocked down, with little or no protest from Vancouverites, to make way for a Hong Kong Bank of Canada tower.

The most famous nightspots— Oil Can Harry’s, the Starfish Room, Gary Taylor’s Rock Room—provide the backdrop for some of the greatest stories in Vancouver After Dark, but that doesn’t make the obscure venues any less interesting. Featuring a “macabre stained-glass front window and a murky atmosphere barely broken by the little pool

KLIFFS Berlin-based pop duo from Montreal.

Dec 16, Biltmore Cabaret. $15.

FOG LAKE Canadian indie-rock singersongwriter Aaron Powell, with guests Foxes in Fiction. Jan 15, Biltmore Cabaret. $16.50.

YBN CORDAE American hip-hop artist. Jan 17, 7 pm, Fortune Sound Club. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $25-30.

CHOIR! CHOIR! CHOIR! Toronto-based pop choir. Jan 18, Vogue Theatre. $24.50.

COM TRUISE Electronic-music producer performs a DJ set. Jan 23, 9 pm, Fortune Sound Club. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $20.

THE LIL SMOKIES Roots quintet from Montana. Jan 24, 8 pm, Biltmore Cabaret. $15.

THE BLACK HALOS Vancouver rockers return, with guests the Spitfires and Sore Points (Fri.) and Bishops Green and Chain Whip (Sat.).

Feb 7-8, 9 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $20.

C.W. STONEKING Australian blues singersongwriter plays a solo show. Feb 9, 8 pm, WISE Hall. $18.

WOLF PARADE Indie-rock band from Montreal, with guests Land of Talk. Feb 12, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $35.

PAPOOZ French indie-pop duo. Feb 27, Biltmore Cabaret. $15.

RALPH Synth-pop singer-songwriter from Toronto. Mar 11, Biltmore Cabaret. $20.

AMANDA SHIRES Americana/alt-country singer-songwriter and fiddle player from Texas, with guest L.A. Edwards. Mar 11, 8 pm, Rio Theatre. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $27.50.

DECIBEL MAGAZINE TOUR Featuring performances by black-metal bands Mayhem and Abbath. Mar 18, Imperial Vancouver. $35.

2019

NEIL RYAN TAYLOR JAMES SPECTRUM UNO MAS BAND ADAM THOMAS GEOFF GIBBONS JASON D’COUTO ORGAN TRIO INGRID STITT QUINTET DAVID STEELE UNO MAS BAND

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WEDNESDAY

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The book makes a good case that Vancouver is a place where everything retro-cool…seems to end up on the wrong end of a wrecking ball.

FRIDAY

NOVEMBER 22

SATURDAY

NOVEMBER 23

SUNDAY

NOVEMBER 24

– Mike Usinger

to a 1934 ad in the Vancouver Sun, featured “6000 feet of latest ship deck spring dance f loor”.

Vancouver After Dark leaves us wondering why the hell the legendary Cave on Hornby wasn’t designated a heritage treasure instead of being demolished in 1981. Noting that people who never set foot in the spot regret its loss, Chapman writes: “The Cave was the city’s premier venue during the height of the nightclub show era—the early 1960s, when nightlife was styling and sophisticated. Many Vancouverites even remember its kitschy faux-cavern interior of pap-

of candlelight by the tables”, the Inquisition Coffee House on Seymour hosted a pre-megastardom Miles Davis in 1963.

Trivia fans will learn that Graceland was named partly as a tribute to former powerhouse B.C. politician Grace McCarthy, that Nine Inch Nails once played the fabulously scuzzy Luv-a-Fair, and that Vancouver’s East Side was once f lush with places like the Log Cabin Inn, a southern-hospitality black club where $1.05 got you a six-piece band and a chicken dinner with hot biscuits.

Like too many clubs to list here, the Log Cabin Inn is now long gone.

But thanks to Vancouver After Dark, it—along with the Body Shop, the Soft Rock Cafe, the Pig and Whistle, the Brickyard, the Hungry Eye, and Isy’s Supper Club—is at least no longer forgotten. g

GRANDSON Canadian-American alt-rock/ hip-hop singer-songwriter, with guest Cleopatrick. Mar 18, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom.

Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $24.50.

TENNIS Pop duo from Denver, with guest Molly Burch. Mar 30, 8 pm, Venue. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $25.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE Orchestral deathmetal band from Italy, with guests the Agonist.

Mar 31, 8 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $29.50.

THE MONKEES Pop band from the ’60s, featuring original members Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith. Apr 3, 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $107/77.

EFTERKLANG Experimental pop band from Denmark. Apr 3, 8 pm, Fox Cabaret. $20.

TIGER ARMY Psychobilly band from L.A., with guests Twin Temple and Lara Hope & The Ark-Tones. Apr 4, Rickshaw Theatre. $26.

THE MURDER CAPITAL Punk band from Dublin, Ireland. Apr 7, 8 pm, WISE Hall. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $15.

JOEL PLASKETT Indie rocker from Halifax.

Apr 25, 9 pm, Commodore Ballroom. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $30.

ASTRID S Norwegian pop singer-songwriter and model. May 1, 8 pm, Imperial Vancouver.

Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $20.

IN THIS MOMENT AND BLACK VEIL BRIDES Heavy-metal bands from the States, with guests Ded and Raven Black. May 11, 6:30 pm, Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $59.50/49.50/39.50.

FOALS AND LOCAL NATIVES Indie-rock bands play a coheadlining show, with guests Cherry Glazerr. May 24, 7 pm, PNE Forum. Tix on sale Nov 15, 10 am, $52.50.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13 SKI MASK THE SLUMP GOD Hip-hop artist from Florida, with guests Pouya, DJ Scheme, and Danny Towers. Nov 13, Vogue Theatre. $36.50.

LIGHTNING DUST Vancouver indie-rockers, with guests Himalayan Bear and K Car. Nov 13, 9 pm, Fox Cabaret. $15.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14 CHASTITY Ontario indie-pop band, with guests Blessed, jo passed, and BRASS. Nov 14, Biltmore Cabaret. $12.

RIA MAE Pop singer-songwriter from Halifax, with guest Mathew V Music. Nov 14, Commodore Ballroom. $23.50.

JD PINKUS AND EDDIE SPAGHETTI Members of the Melvins and the Supersuckers perform solo shows. Nov 14, 8 pm, Pat’s Pub & Brewhouse. $18.

JANN ARDEN Canadian singer-songwriter, author, and actress performs two nights. Nov 14-15, 8 pm, River Rock Show Theatre. $89.50.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15 KING RAAM Iranian-born, Vancouver-based punk-rock musician. Nov 15, Biltmore Cabaret. $15.

WESTCOAST BIG BAND FESTIVAL Festival showcasing big bands from the Lower Mainland. Nov 15-17, Croatian Cultural Centre.

Free/$20 online/$25 at door.

NOAH GUNDERSEN Indie-folk singer-songwriter from Seattle. Nov 15, 7:30 pm, Venue. $20.

WOOLWORM Mint Records presents an album-release party, with guests Juice,

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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.

Scan to confess BC Ferries Does anyone else go as insane as I do when the BC ferries message comes on and says “thank you for choosing BC ferries” (or something like that)? Uh..... there’s no choice in that.

If there was, not one person alive would be “choosing” to sail with you. Totally inept.

The human brain does not need all this info Plunked in this digital age with ALL this information at my fingertips, I am finding I do not want it. These screens are making me feel sick, and I just want to go outside... (con’t @straight.com)

Mob Mentality and Everything Else Often, I hate everyone. You all give me a plethora of reasons every day. But then I remember certain instances, like the old man who plays with a street cat in the evenings in my neighborhood. He brings his own fishing pole-like cat toy to play with her. Isn’t that adorable? That balances out all the rest of you for a while. For a while.

Mind Flip My favorite song as a six year old was “liquid dreams” by OTOWN. I had no idea what it was about. Even the video is literally them in a liquid dream. I can’t believe the music they used to play on the radio.

Paying myself rst When it occurred to me that the idea “pay yourself first” was more than just good financial advice—and it wasn’t selfish in the least—my life started getting better in all... (con’t @straight.com)

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Outpatient, and Kamikaze Nurse. Nov 15, 8 pm, Red Gate Arts Society. $10.

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BIRDS OF CHICAGO Americana-folk band led by the husband-and-wife duo of JT Nero and Allison Russell. Nov 16, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. $25.

JULIA MICHAELS Dance-pop singer-songwriter from Davenport, Iowa. Nov 16, Vogue Theatre. $25.

ORQUESTA AKOKÁN Cuban rhythms channeling the fiery 1940s and ‘50s heyday of old Havana. Nov 16, 8 pm, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. From $46.

PUSHBACK ON PETRO: PULL TOGETHER AT THE PACE Fundraising dance event featuring live music, dancing, and poetry, benefiting Pull Together for First Nations– led court cases against Trans Mountain.

Featuring Estíqw, Karmella Cen Benedito De Barros and Lexi, Jillian Christmas, Jazz Groove Masters, and Brejera (full Brazilian samba ensemble). Nov 16, 8 pm, The Pace. $15 donation.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17

from new solo album. Nov 19, 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom. $62.50.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22

IN FLAMES Swedish heavy-metal band.

Nov 17, Rickshaw Theatre. $43.50.

HAWKSLEY WORKMAN Canadian singersongwriter known for blending cabaret pop and glam rock. Nov 17, Imperial Vancouver. $30.

ELEPHANT STONE Indie-rock band from Montreal. Nov 17, 7-11:30 pm, WISE Hall. $15.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20

KICK OFF PARTY! HI DEF—HIP HOP, DISCO, ELECTRONIC & FUNK Inaugural event of the soon to be ubiquitous Hi DEF Dance Party! Featuring all your favourite music of the 20th century: hip-hop, disco, electronic, and funk music. In collaboration with Dark Eighties, we’ll be on separate floors, but you’ll have the option for a combo ticket if you want to go to both!!! Nov 22, 9 pm, The Pace. $10/15 online.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18 DEATH ANGEL American thrash-metal band, with guests Exmortus and Hell Fire. Nov 18, 6 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $27.50.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19 CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA British nu jazz and electronic music group. Nov 19, Vogue Theatre. $30.

HOVVDY Rock duo from Austin, Texas, with guests Nick Dorian and Caroline Says. Nov 19, Biltmore Cabaret. $15.

BRITTANY HOWARD Lead vocalist and guitarist for Alabama Shakes plays tunes

THANK YOU SCIENTIST Prog-rock band from New Jersey, with guests Bent Knee and the Tea Club. Nov 20, Rickshaw Theatre. $20.

CAT CLYDE Singer-songwriter from Stratford, Ontario, with guest Jeremie Albino. Nov 20, Biltmore Cabaret. $12.

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THEGEORGIA GEORGIASTRAIGHT STR AIGHTNOVEMBER NOVEMBER / 2019 14 –1421–/21 2019 42 THE

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

MATURE MAGIC TOUCH

Angel

(30 mins | incl. tip)

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A MDABC peer-led support group is a safe place to share your story, your struggles and accomplishments, and to listen to others as they share similar concerns. Please Note: Support groups are not intended to provide counselling/therapy. ?

Please visit www.mdabc.net for a list and location of support groups or call 604-873-0103 for info.

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Gay EMPLOYMENT Personals

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is a safe place to share your story, your struggles and accomplishments, and to listen to others as they share similar concerns. Please Note: Support groups are not intended to provide counselling/therapy. ?

Please visit www.mdabc.net for a list and location of support groups or call 604-873-0103 for info.

EAST VANCOUVER

Megan 604-365-0416

Robert 604-857-9571

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Serious callers only please. Please call or text

Dating Services

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AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS Does someone else's drinking bother you?

Al-Anon can help.

We are a support group for those who have been affected by another's drinking problem.

For more information please call: 604-688-1716

MATURE WOMAN LOOKING

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24

CHELSEA WOLFE Goth-rock singer-songwriter from California, with guest Ioanna Gika. Nov 21, Vogue Theatre. $25.

KIM CHURCHILL Folk-rock and blues singersongwriter from Australia. Nov 21, Imperial Vancouver. $19.99.

SLEATER-KINNEY Punk-rock trio from Olympia, Washington. Nov 21, 8 pm, Commodore Ballroom. $47.50.

PROZZAK Electropop band performs on its farewell tour. Nov 21, 8 pm, Rickshaw Theatre. $29.50.

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SAVAGE LOVE

Don’t let BF’s kink woes hold you back

by Dan Savage

b MY BOYFRIEND AND I met online to explore our kinks. We’d both been in relationships with kink-shaming people who screwed with our heads.

Since we weren’t thinking it was more than a hookup, we put all our baggage on the table early and wound up becoming friends. Eventually we realized we had a real connection and started a relationship where we supported our desire to explore. I’ve never been happier. The only issue is how he gets down on himself if I get more attention than he does. After the first kink party we went to, he would not stop trying to convince me that no one looked at him all evening. I tried to boost his confidence, and I also brought up things like “You were on a leash, so maybe people assumed you were off-limits.” No dice. I couldn’t get him to even entertain the notion that anyone even looked at him. He’s a cross-dressing sissy who loves to be used by men—heterosuckual—and he has a lot of baggage with every last one of his exes citing his cross-dressing as a reason to leave him for a “real” man. To make things worse, we have had issues with guys coming over for him, finding out there’s a Domme female in the picture, and switching focus to me. I feel like I wind up avoiding kinky sexual situations (which I love!) because I’m so concerned about protecting his ego. I’ve tried using my words and we generally communicate well, but he is unwilling to entertain any interpretations that don’t mesh with his theory that he’s obviously undesirable. The breaking point for me was this past weekend. He encouraged me to go to a swingers party with

a friend, and I had a blast. It was super empowering, and all I wanted to do was tell him every detail—the way he will when he services cock—and he was so jealous that I was able to effortlessly get so much attention, he wasn’t ready to hear it. It made me feel the same sex shame I felt with my ex. It also made me feel like he was insinuating how could I get so lucky, which hit all my chubby-girl self-conscious places hard. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!

- Seeking Insightful Stress Solution, Yup Tell that sissy to get over herself.

Your boyfriend is making you feel guilty about something you have no control over: women get more attention at mixed-gender sex/play parties than men do. And as far as your respective kinks go, SISSY, there are always going to be more people out there who want to get with Domme women than guys who want to get with/be serviced by submissive heterosuckual cross-dressers. Your boyfriend will always attract less interest than you do at a kink party, just as someone who goes to a BDSM play party hoping to do a little knifeplay will attract less interest than someone who’s looking for a little light bondage. Instead of counting the number of guys who approach you at a party and then trying to ruin your night for getting more attention than he does, your boyfriend has to make the most of every opportunity that comes his way.

And if some guy approaches him at a play party only to realize he’s on a leash, SISSY, isn’t that guy supposed to turn his attention to the Dominant

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him if he can’t get a grip. And then ask him what will be worse—being partnered with someone who gets more attention than he does in kink and swinger spaces or being a single male in those spaces. (It’s a trick question, at least partly, as many of those spaces don’t allow single males.) b STRAIGHT WOMAN HERE with a penis question: my current partner is uncircumcised, which I am completely fine with. However, his foreskin is so tight that it can’t be pulled back over the head of his penis. I did my research and discovered the issue is phimosis. I asked him about it and he said it’s always been this way and that sometimes it is painful. None of his doctors have seemed to notice it during exams, and he’s never brought it up. Oddly enough, this is something that I’ve come across with two different partners—and in both situations, they had issues with maintaining an erection. Is this a thing?

- My Boyfriend’s Penis

Smearing a steroid cream on his cock could stretch and loosen the foreskin. And if the cream doesn’t work, then a full or partial circumcision will do the trick. b I LOVE MY boyfriend, and he knows I like women, too. Our sex life was okay, a little boring and routine and always “doggy style”. And he hardly ever goes down on me—like, at all. I can count on one hand the number of times he’s done it in four years! So I agreed to have a threesome to spice things up, and we bought condoms.

When we got down with another woman, he decided to have sex with her after me and he also decided to go down on her. You know, the thing he never does for me. I’m so upset now I can’t even have sex with him. I feel like it was a betrayal of my trust for him to eat out a woman he barely knows when he won’t do that for me. He also didn’t use the condoms—he says he “didn’t have time”. He said it meant nothing.

But it’s really got me upset.

- Now Overlooking My Need Of Munching

a thing, MBP, and when it makes erections a painful thing, as it often does, then erections are going to be harder to obtain and sustain. And unless a doctor was examining your boyfriend’s erect penis, it’s not something a doctor would notice. A good doctor will ask their patients about their sexual health and function, but—based on the mail I get—it seems very few people have good doctors. Looking on the bright side: phimosis is easily treated, if you can persuade your boyfriend to ask his doctor about it.

Phimosis is definitely

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partner? If your boyfriend could resist the urge to spiral down at those moments—if he could resist the urge to make himself the centre of negative attention—those men would probably turn their attention back to him at some point, particularly if you encouraged/gave them permission to do so. (You could and perhaps should also make it clear to anyone who approaches you at some-if-not-all kink parties that you’re a package deal: you play together or you don’t play at all.

But even then, your boyfriend has to accept that you’ll be leveraging your desirability on both your behalves and be at peace with it.)

Usually when I advise readers to “use their words”, it’s about making sexual needs clear, i.e., asking for what we want with the understanding that we may not always get what we want. But what you need (and you need to use your words to get), SISSY, is for your boyfriend to knock off this petty, hypocritical slut-shaming shit.

(He’s essentially shaming you for being the slut he’d like to be.) It might help if you got him to recognize and grieve and accept not just the reality of the situation—women with more mainstream kinks are more in demand at mixed-gender kink parties than men with niche kinks—but also the risk he’s running here: his insecurities are sabotaging your relationship. Him setting traps for you—like encouraging you to go out and play only to make you feel terrible about it afterward—and making hurting insinuations about your attractiveness is making this relationship untenable.

Tell him that you’re going to dump

I have been upset during that threesome, NOMNOM, I would have been single very shortly after it. Dude doesn’t eat pussy— dude doesn’t eat your pussy—and can’t find the time to put a condom on when he wants to (gets to!) have sex with another woman in front of you? DTMFA. g

Not only would

On the Lovecast, sex workers’ rights advocate Elle Stanger: savagelovecast. com. Email: mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage. ITMFA.org.

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44 THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT NOVEMBER 14 – 21 / 2019