the cultural olympiad announced three dozen new projects today;
http://www.straight.com/article-2714...a-ballerinaThe full list of today's announcements appears below:
CIRCUS/STREET ARTS
Artcirq
From the roof of the world comes a circus like no other. The Nunavut-based arts collective combines big-top thrills — acrobatics, juggling and clowns — with Inuit throat singing, drumming and traditional games.
LunarFest: Soul, Art, Life
Be dazzled by 2010 lanterns in a forest of light, a bright public art display designed by schoolchildren, Aboriginal creators and professional artists from Taiwan and Canada. And on February 13, visitors can make their own lanterns and join the magical Public Dreams procession.
COMEDY
Majumder/Cullen/Payne: Laugh it Out!
Three of Canada's funniest performers embark on an adventure to an alternative kingdom of stand-up comedy punctuated by much musical naughtiness. With multiple Canadian Comedy Award-winners Shaun Majumder, Seán Cullen and Nikki Payne.
DANCE
The National Dance Company of Korea: The Scent of Spring
A story of star-crossed lovers, based on a Korean folk tale, becomes a world-class piece of dance theatre. Choreographed by Jung-hye Bae, this national treasure, 50 years in the making, reveals and updates the glamorous, delicate artistry of traditional Korean dance.
STREB: RAW
Do not try this at home! The New York dance company STREB Extreme Action designs bizarre, prototypic contraptions, puts them together with found building materials, and then uses them as launching pads for acrobatic and show-stopping jumps, falls and live-action dance stunts.
We yah hani nah Coastal First Nations Dance Festival 2010
The Dancers of Damelahamid, a traditional Gitksan group from northwestern British Columbia, present masked dances, stories and songs — some stretching back thousands of years — that depict their peoples’ origins and welcome visitors.
DANCE/MUSIC
In Situ
This three-dimensional art experience from Aeriosa Dance Society and the Vertical Orchestra presents aerial dance choreography and original spatial music at various heights throughout the Vancouver Public Library, inside and out.
The Passion of Russia: Uliana Lopatkina & Yuri Bashmet
The Host Country of the 2014 Winter Games presents a divine evening of ballet and classical music — Tchaikovsky, Paganini and Stravinsky — performed by some of the country’s leading artistic figures: viola master and conductor Yuri Bashmet; Uliana Lopatkina, principal dancer at the Kirov Ballet/Mariinsky Theatre, who personifies the Russian school of ballet; the Moscow Soloists, a Grammy-winning chamber ensemble; and performers from the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres.
LITERARY ARTS
Striving for Excellence in the Homeric Times
Dramatic readings from one of the world's greatest poems, Homer’s The Iliad, bring to life the action, excitement and suspense of an ancient athletic contest.
MUSIC
Amir Koushkani and Rahim AlHaj
Music that brings people and cultures together. Virtuoso oud player and composer Rahim AlHaj, born in Iraq, has found in his ancient instrument a unique voice that translates into music the suffering and joy he has both witnessed and experienced. Vancouver-based Amir Koushkani is a forward-thinking Iranian musician, composer and singer who has mastered the tar, a Persian lute. His "expressive and heartfelt" work introduces fresh sounds to the centuries-old traditions of Iranian/Persian music.
CODE Live Night Life: Bell Orchestre Presents: Sound and Screen
Montreal’s Bell Orchestre brings together members of Arcade Fire, Torngat, Ark of Infinity and [iks] to blur the lines between chamber music and jazz.
Damien Robitaille
The Franco-Ontarian singer-songwriter is a born showman. He mixes instruments — piano and guitar — and musical accents: 70s groove meets funk, soul and rock.
Mes Aïeux
Mes Aïeux has a feel-good style that musically fuses Quebec folk legends, electrified traditional fiddle tunes and 1970s rhythm and blues.
Moscow State Chamber Choir
Experience the richness and opulence of Russian choral music, a centuries-old tradition. This ensemble of distinguished soloists, formed almost 40 years ago by the maestro who leads it today, Vladimir Minin, is one of the world’s greatest a cappella choirs. Hear and feel a selection of authentically sung classics, from sacred and secular masterpieces to rousing Russian folk songs.
The Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Project
The Mississippi Sheiks live on. The country and blues string band has been called the Radiohead of its era, recording over 60 hugely influential songs between 1930 and 1935, including Sittin’ On Top of the World. Producer/musician Steve Dawson leads an all-star lineup — John Hammond, Jim Byrnes and the Sojourners, Oh Susanna and many more — in this tribute to the trail-blazing Sheiks of the South.
Nathan and The Deep Dark Woods
Slow-burning tunes to heat up a cold winter night. The Winnipeg quartet Nathan plays ethereal, acoustic pop with hand-warming melodies. Saskatoon’s The Deep Dark Woods playfully sift through the shadowy side of roots music.
Paul Plimley Solo/Trio
Vancouver’s Paul Plimley plays the piano, guitar, vibraphone, marimba and synthesizer. Over three very active decades he has released more than 30 CDs, LPs and music documentaries, written hundreds of original compositions, and toured the world to perform with other great jazz and new-music improvisers.
Phoenix
The four core members of this dance-rock band started playing music together in grade school, in Versailles, France. They collaborated with the electronic duos Daft Punk and Air before taking the name Phoenix to specialize in music that is full to bursting with hooks and smarts. With special guests and Vancouver indie favourites You Say Party! We Say Die!
Porn Flakes
The ultimate cover band, the Porn Flakes tackle classic rock with a Quebec twist.
Radio Radio
A hot hybrid. The New Brunswick outfit feverishly fuses electro with hip-hop, and raps in Chiac, an Acadian dialect that combines French and English.
Raphael Saadiq and India.Arie
Vintage rhythm and blues by potent young artists. India.Arie's Grammy-winning R & B, which recalls such soul masters as Roberta Flack and Stevie Wonder, makes "faith, goodness and positive thinking seductive," according to The New York Times. Raphael Saadiq is a throwback, a retro-soul practitioner who has mined a rich vein of old-school R & B and Motown cool since his days with 80s hitmakers Tony! Toni! Toné!
Soir de Semaine
Francophone folk fusion, straight out of Whitehorse. The festive Yukon band has a distinctive sound, combining folk, rock, funk and reggae to keep the all-ages party going.
Tanya Tagaq: Tuusalangna
A true original. The Nunavut-born Tagaq combines Inuit throat singing with orchestral and contemporary influences, creating a primal and ¬dynamic sound that is all her own. She has toured and recorded with another unique talent, Björk, and wowed festival audiences across the globe.
Umalali: The Garifuna Women’s Project
An entrancing journey into the heart and soul of a unique and inspiring culture, blending the rich vocal textures of women from the Garifuna communities of Central America with echoes of rock, blues, African and Caribbean music.
Yelo Molo
Quebec’s Yelo Molo has carved out a special place in the Canadian music scene, combining ska, pop and jazz influences with a distinctive brass-laden sound.
THEATRE
Paradise Garden
Playwright Lucia Frangione’s modern romance finds free-spirited local boy Day living next door to worldly Layla, a career-driven intellectual. Over time these divergent souls come to understand each other in a way neither thought possible.
VISUAL ARTS
Before & After
This group exhibition featuring work by Emily Carr University of Art and Design alumni, guest curated by Sophie Brodovitch, reflects on transformations in the social, cultural and environmental spheres on British Columbia's northwest coast.
Culture Shock: Video Interventions at the QET
The lobby of this historic arts venue will be transformed by film and video artists. Curated by Stephanie Rebick, the exhibit invites viewers to consider the relationship between the work on its screens and the theatrical setting.
David Hoffos
Truly special effects. David Hoffos is an Alberta artist who investigates and reveals illusions found in genre movies, stage magic, museum displays and theme-park attractions.
Endlessly Traversed Landscapes
A public poster project, curated by Natalie Doonan, featuring works by Canadian artists placed throughout Vancouver. Appropriating advertising spaces such as billboards and bus shelters, these images draw attention to the myriad functions of public space.
Etienne Zack: Name, Medium, Size, Year
Montreal artist Etienne Zack turns a painting into a three-dimensional sculpture, a wood and canvas wonder that stylistically links the factory-like production processes underlying the cultural and sporting industries.
Isabelle Hayeur: Fire with Fire
The Montreal-based artist sends images flickering out through the windows of a Downtown Eastside building, connecting conditions in the neighbourhood today to its fiery past.
Blandon Mackenzie: Vancouver as the Centre of the World
For this Vancouver artist, any map of the world, though based in fact, is a template for the imagination. Mackenzie uses her creative license to chart geography, fact and fiction, in part as a response to the internet-ready Earth that is becoming familiar to us all.
Out from Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember
This luminous and elegant display of 13 diverse objects pays tribute to the resilience, creativity and cultural contributions of Canadians with disabilities.
The Syndicate of Public Speakers: Eight times an unknown quantity
Public Speakers, a collective of autonomous cells in five cities, brings together eight — or more — speakers in one idea-packed day.
Trimpin: Sheng High
A beautiful thing — a wall of 24 bamboo pipes centred in vessels of water — that makes beautiful sounds. This ingenious sound sculpture, created by Seattle-based artist Trimpin, takes its form and inspiration from an ancient Chinese reed instrument.
Well, maybe YOU can't get a groove on with a Ugandan Dance Troop and a Trombone from New York...
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