Arts
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Dance dance evolution
The theme of evolution lies at the center of Surfacing, a collection of new solo dance works by Rebecca Sawdon. The show, which debuts on Oct. 23 at the Rachel Browne Theater, features the choreography work of Victoria’s Constance Cooke, Calgary’s Davida Monk, and Winnipeg’s Odette Heyn and Brent Lott.
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Big issues in Small Things
Daniel MacIvor, renowned playwright and actor, is bringing his talents back to Winnipeg with his latest play Small Things, which sees its world premiere at the Prairie Theatre Exchange (PTE) on October 16.
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Drawing a line in the sand
Experimenting with sand is how Lesia Anna Bordynuik started creating her one-of-a-kind colourful sculptures.
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Splicing up rainbows
Art about oppression can be a tricky one to pull off: too somber and only the most committed of activists attend showings, too cheerful and it might disrespect the content. But for almost three decades, Reel Pride - Winnipeg’s LGBTQ film festival - has been achieving near-perfect equilibrium.
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Ambrosia Skylab
Layered yet dense, danceable yet trance-like, haunting yet playful - “Earth and Sky,” the nearly nine-minute opener of Winnipeg electronic musician Ken Trudeau’s new EP is epic.
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Slow Leaves
After a release or two under his proper name, local singer/songwriter Grant Davidson gave himself the Slow Leaves moniker to take things up a notch.
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Sloan
A new Sloan disc is usually met with excitement, then puzzlement, then after a few years, enjoyment.
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NehuvianDOOM
Skits can make or break a hip-hop record. Think of the excellence of Method Man on 36 Chambers to the cheesiness of Ras Baraka on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. NehuvianDOOM - a collaboration between the enigmatic legend MF Doom and up-and-coming emcee Bishop Nehru - falls into the latter category, but with less of the charm.
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Re-entering orbit
It’s been two years since Jordan Dorge, frontman of Winnipeg death metal sextet Laika, has played a live show. But on Oct. 11, he’ll return to the stage with bandmates Steve Tedham (synth), Mike Mason (bass), Ian Garraway (guitar), Alex Kling (guitar) and Blair Garraway (drums) at the Windsor Hotel for the release of the band’s sophomore album, Somnia. To mark the occasion, Dorge hopes to plan an evening that metal fans will not forget, including performances from Tyrants Demise, Mortalis, Withdrawal and Occvlt Hand.
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Out of the basement
Twin Towns, a folk-rock quartet from Kelowna, B.C., is about to hit the road in October for the first time. The band, founded in 2011, originally consisted of vocalist/guitarist Nick Gibson and guitarist/backing vocalist Matt Price.
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A chuckle a day
Benjamin Walker has always made stand-up comedy look easy. But as the host of Comedy Wednesdays - an open mic comedy night at Osborne Village’s Jekyll and Hyde’s Freehouse - Walker is quick to amend that point. Making comedy look effortless takes a lot of hard work.
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Setting the stage
Over the course of almost two decades, Theatre Incarnate has staged 17 productions and become a fixture in Winnipeg’s independent theatre community.
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Come to my pod
Less than a decade ago, podcasts were virtually unheard of. A 2005 New York Times article, The Podcast as a New Podium, clumsily outlined the new medium, making it sound about as appealing and mainstream as stamp collecting or CB radio. But with a recent explosion of new shows in Winnipeg, as well as the emergence of the city’s first podcast network last month, it’s becoming abundantly clear that podcasting is no longer the medium of the future: it’s the medium of the present.
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Money talks but it don’t sing & dance
Nine years after graduating from the School of Contemporary Dancers in affiliation with the University of Winnipeg, performance artist Ming Hon is bringing her choreographic talents to Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers (WCD).
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One person’s junk is this girl’s goddess jewelry
Samantha Selci’s jewelry line Prairie Solstice is made for goddesses.
“I’m down with jewellery and I’m down with beautifying yourself,” says 23-year-old Selci, who’s also a music student at the University of Manitoba. “I think women deserve to feel like goddesses, but it is ridiculous the amount of jewelry that’s being manufactured brand new when there is so much - piles and piles and piles of beautiful jewelry everywhere - that can be reused.”
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Ol’ grey eyes
Public speaking certainly isn’t a challenge for Frank Christopher Busch; over the years, he’s delivered many talks at conferences on the topic of Aboriginal business and finance. But the speaking tour that’s accompanying the release of his debut novel, Grey Eyes, is a whole different story. Now, it’s extremely personal. Nerves hit every time he presents.
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Left Behind
Who knows what the fuck Nicolas Cage was thinking when he took this gig on. For those not raised in evangelical Christian circles - and please consider yourself lucky - a brief history is in order: Left Behind was originally a series of 16 novels that told of the time when Jesus would suck all the people who believe in him up to heaven and release literal hell upon the infidels. The grand event was called the Rapture. People still believe this.
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Snowpiercer
Snowpiercer’s a real conundrum of a film. The description features all the components of a film I’m near-guaranteed to dig: the story goes that all life on earth is killed off due to the unforeseen results of attempting to curb global warming with geoengineering, save for a small percentage who are trapped on a train circling the planet. Mass inequality on the train is rife. Eventually, the oppressed rebel. Violence ensues.
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The east of west
"You are all good people," proclaims John Scoles through the megaphone.
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Rock me, Joe
Ten years ago, legendary Boston quartet Pixies reunited for a tour that almost kicked off in Winnipeg. It was something fans thought they’d never see after singer/guitarist Charles Thompson (aka Black Francis/Frank Black) ended the band in ’93. So now that Pixies have been reunited for longer than their first run, when the band (fleshed out by guitarist Joe Santiago, drummer David Lovering and bassist/vocalist Kim Deal) released five important records, toured the world and influenced a generation of kids with the trademark loud/quiet/loud formula, we’ve had to wait for a new LP.