Canadian Arts - October 2006

Canadian Folk Art from the Collection of Susan A. Murray

October 9, 2006 – January 7, 2007

This exhibit boasts one of the finest collections of Canadian Folk Art representing Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Canada. The exhibition spans the 19th and 20th centuries and includes paintings, sculptures, and textile art. It also demonstrates the lively and uninhibited creative expressions of ordinary artists who have completed some very extraordinary work. Organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, New Brunswick, in collaboration with the Canadian Embassy.

The Exhibition will be on display in the Art Gallery of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

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Recipients of the 2006 Canadian/Washington Theatre Partnership

The Canadian Embassy is pleased to announce that Christopher Henley of the Washington Shakespeare Company and Mark Rhea of the Keegan Theatre are the recipients of the 2006 Canadian/Washington Theatre Partnership, co-sponsored annually by the Helen Hayes Awards and the Canadian Embassy.

In the upcoming months, Mr. Henley and Mr. Rhea will use their grant awards to travel to two or three Canadian cities of their choosing over six days. On their respective visits to Canada, Mr. Henley and Mr. Rhea will meet with playwrights, artistic directors, actors and designers to expand their knowledge of Canadian theatre and develop relationships with Canadian theatres and theatre professionals.

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The Duhks

October 26 and October 30

Winnipeg based Canadian folk rock group The Duhks will be touring North America this fall in support of their latest album Migrations, released on September 12, 2006. Their music has influences of Celtic, bluegrass, and gospel, while their percussion is inspired by rock and Latin music.

Performing at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA on October 26 and Rams Head in Annapolis, MD, on October 30.

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Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush

October 3, 6, and 8

Montreal guitar legend Frank Marino is known worldwide for his incredible skills, which are often compared to Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, and Carlos Santana. He picked up his first guitar at 13 and released his first album, Maxoom, in 1971 at the age of 16. Marino has released over sixteen albums and is also actively involved in blues recordings.

Performing October 3 at Jaxx in W. Springfield, VA; October 6 at Sellersville Theatre in Sellersville, PA; and October 8 at Ram's Head in Annapolis, MD.

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Le Vent du Nord at National Folk Festival

October 13-15

This Quebecois folk group has achieved much success since their founding in 2002. In 2004, Le Vent du Nord won a Juno for Roots and Traditonal Album of the Year/Group. The group consists of four musicians who play traditional music in a style which respects the authentic nature of the music, while at the same time gives new interpretations. The group consists of 8 musical instruments, 4 voices in harmony, 2 generations of musicians and a master of dance.

Playing at the National Folk Festival in Richmond, VA, October 13-15.

Sponsored by the Canadian Embassy.

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Matt Mays & El Torpedo

October 13

Halifax's rock group Matt Mays & El Torpedo have been steadily touring for the past year in support of 2005 their self-titled debut album. The album has proved a success, as the group took home four East Coast Music Awards in 2006.

Mayes' new album, When The Angels Make Contact, is scheduled for release in Canada on October 31, 2006.

Matt Mays & El Torpedo will perform at Iota Café in Arlington, VA, on October 13.

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Sam Roberts Band

October 18

Montreal's Sam Roberts Band is on the road throughout fall 2006 as an opening act for American rock musician Ben Kweller. Sam Roberts Band is proud to be promoting their second full length album, Chemical City, whose first single, The Gate, has already enjoyed much success on Canadian radio. The band is trying to follow up the huge success that met their first album, We Were Born In A Flame, which was released in 2003 and won 3 Junos in 2004 for Album of the Year, Rock Album of the Year and Artist of the Year.

Sam Roberts Band will be supporting Ben Kweller on October 20 at 9:30 Club in Washington, DC.

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Cowboy Junkies

October 20

The Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian country music and alternative rock band formed in Toronto in 1985. The group consists of three siblings from the Timmins entertainment family, and Alan Anton who plays bass. The band's most successful album, The Trinity Session, was recorded live in 1988 in a single day on a single microphone in a church in Toronto. Since then, Cowboy Junkies have enjoyed international continued success.

Cowboy Junkies will be performing at Dowe's in Pittsburgh, PA, on October 20.

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Kellylee Evans

October 20

With a smooth style that slides through jazz, soul, R&B;, blues and world music rhythms, Canadian singer Kellylee Evans last performed for Kennedy Center audiences in 2004 when she took home second prize at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. This time, she will be promoting music from her latest album, Fight or Flight?

Kellylee Evans will be performing at the Kennedy Center during the KC Jazz Club Series in Washington DC on October 20.

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Celtic Fiddle Festival Featuring Quebecois Fiddler André Brunet

October 25-26

Sold-out tours and standing ovations give testimony to the electricity and excitement generated by these three great individual fiddle stylists. Kevin Burke (Ireland), Christian Lemaître (Brittany), André Brunet (Quebec), and Ged Foley (England) on guitar, combine their talents, musical traditions and spontaneous humour for an evening of dazzling energy and subtle grace.

This fall, they are touring in support of their new album, Play On.

"Three of the finest folk violinists anywhere. A mastery of regional fiddle styles with alternately soulful, dazzling and nuanced performances."
- The Washington Post

Celtic Fiddle Festival will perform at Wolf Trap Barns in Vienna, VA, on October 25; and at Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA, on October 26.

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Renée DuRocher

September 7 to January 3, 2007

Renée DuRocher has a Bachelor's degree of Fine Arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal and taught drawing and painting in Granby from 1974 to 1990. Since then, she has concentrated entirely on painting. She has had more than 30 solo exhibitions of her work and has participated in collective shows in Canada, the United States, Italy and France. This is her second solo exhibition at the Zenith Gallery; her first was in 1998.

DuRocher's latest series, Spirits of Xi'an, is displayed at the Gallery of Mandarin Oriental Hotel, in Washington, DC, from September 7 to January 3, 2007. For more information, contact the the Zenith Gallery.

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Listening to our Ancestors: The Art of Native Life Along the North Pacific Coast

Through January 2, 2007

Listening to our Ancestors: The Art of Native Life Along the North Pacific Coast features more than 400 ceremonial and everyday objects made by members of 11 Native nations, including eight from Canada and others from Washington State and Alaska. Brilliantly colored ceremonial masks, delicately woven blankets, and other historical objects, plus an array of public programs, highlight the vibrant cultures and rich artistic traditions of North West Coast peoples.

This exhibition is being presented at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

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Marcel Dzama at the Corcoran Gallery of Art

Through January, 2007

Winnipeg-born Marcel Dzama is best known for his pen-and-ink drawings, which use large amounts of white space and unusual, ambiguous, and frequently unconnected subject matter.

In recent years, he has received broad recognition, landing solo exhibitions in the United States at the David Zwirner Gallery in New York and at the Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles. His work has also been shown internationally, most recently in Berlin, Cologne, Geneva, Venice, and Düsseldorf. Dzama's drawings have been featured in Harper's, Saturday Night, and The Globe and Mail.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, is displaying a drawing created by Dzama in an exhibition entitled redefined: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Collection.

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Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Dracula

October 7

Dracula is the newest full-length creation by renowned choreographer Mark Godden for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Godden, who has choreographed and developed 15 ballets for the Winnipeg company, transforms the classic vampire story into a bitingly dramatic and witty contemporary ballet.

Mark Godden's Dracula has also become an international film sensation in the hands of Winnipeg film director Guy Maddin. It won an International Emmy for Best Arts Programming, two Junos, the Grand Prize at the Sitges International Festival in Spain and a Gemini nomination for Tara Birtwhistle, the principal dancer.

Coming to the Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA, October 7.

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Cirque du Soleil – Corteo

October 26 - November 19

The world-famous Cirque du Soleil will be presenting their latest touring production, Corteo, under the Grand Chapiteau at City Center (Old Convention Center) in Washington, DC.

Corteo is a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show mixes together the passion of the actor with the grace and agility of the acrobat to bring the audience into a fabulous world of fun, comedy, and creativity.

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Eve and the Fire Horse at the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival

October 7

The DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival is featuring Vancouver-based filmmaker Julia Kwan's latest project entitled Eve and the Fire Horse. The film revolves around the story of Eve, an overactive 9-year-old Chinese-Canadian born in the year of the Fire Horse. This is a special year, as the Fire Horse only turns up every 60 years and has a reputation for producing troublesome children.

Eve and the Fire Horse won a Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, an Audience Winner award at the Vancouver Film Festival, and was an Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Eve and the Fire Horse will be screened on October 7 during the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival.

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Reel Affirmations Film Festival

October 12-21

One In Ten, Washington, DC's premier gay and lesbian arts organization, is proud to announce the sixteenth International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Reel Affirmations. The festival showcases the best work by, about, and of interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.

This year's Festival includes 5 Canadian films:

C.R.A.Z.Y.: Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, the film tells the story of Zach Beaulieu, a young boy growing up in a Catholic Quebecois family in the sixties and seventies. The second youngest of five brothers, Beaulieu deals with his relationship with his family as he struggles to come to terms with his own sexuality.

Deluxe Combo Platter: When a small-town waitress decides to take a chance at the town's most eligible bachelor, her plans are thrown off course when an attractive, successful big-city female corporate executive blows into town, taking the male population by storm. Directed by Victor Sarin.

End of Second Class: A powerful documentary, directed by Nancy Nicol, that traces the debate on same sex marriage in Canada.

Amnesia: The James Brighton Enigma: An American is found naked, beaten and amnesiac in a vacant parking lot in Montreal in 1998. He says his name is James Brighton, but the only thing he's sure of is that he's gay. Volunteers from S.O.S. Gay organize a media campaign in hopes of discovering his forgotten past. Three fruitless months go by until the Montreal Police arrest him after his brother, a Pentecostal minister in Tennessee, recognizes him on TV. What happened to James Brighton and how did he end up in Montreal? That's what Sylvie, a criminology student, tries to find out. Directed by Denis Langlois.

Whole New Thing: 13-year-old Emerson Thorsen's life growing up in Nova Scotia is about to undertake some big changes, as after years of home schooling, he attends school for the first time. Emerson's life changes as he develops his first crush on his 42-year-old English teacher, Don Grant, and throws himself unabashedly into this new awakening of his heart. Directed by Amnon Buchbinder.

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Book Reading with Vikki Stark

October 26

Montreal family therapist and author Vikki Stark, M.S.W. will be reading excepts from her new book, My Sister, My Self, at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC.

The book offers in-depth, firsthand insights into the life-altering impact of sisters' relationships. Based on the author's groundbreaking study, the Sisters Project, My Sister, My Self draws from interviews and questionnaires from four hundred women, teens, and girls worldwide to help explain what it means to be a sister: younger, older, middle, or twin. It shows how childhood dynamics affect a woman's self-image, adult relationships, and major life decisions. As well as discussing the effect of being a younger, middle, older or twin sister, the book also examines sister relationships characterized by conflict, caretaking, or extreme closeness. My Sister, My Self also offers practical advice on how to heal old wounds, deal with difficult sisters, improve family dynamics, and strengthen the bond that lasts a lifetime.

For more information, call (202) 282-0021.

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Girl in the Goldfish Bowl by Morris Panych

September 13 - October 15

Written by one of Canada's most acclaimed playwrights, Morris Panych, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl is the story of Iris, an 11-year-old girl growing up on the shores of a remote BC fishing town during the sixties. Troubled by her parents' problematic marriage and the death of her beloved goldfish Amahl, Iris discovers an amnesiac drifter and believes that he is the reincarnation of her beloved little goldfish, descended from above to save the day.

Directed by Gregg Henry, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl won the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama, Canada's highest literary honour, and five 2003 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, including Outstanding New Play.

Playing September 13 to October 15 at MetroStage in Alexandria, VA.

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An Evening with Colin and Brad

October 28 -29

Colin Mochrie first made a name for himself as an improv comedian through Toronto's famous comedy theatre Second City. He then went on to star in the highly popular British TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway? Though the UK version ended in 1998, Mochrie ended up starring in the US version of the show, which was on the air until 2004. Currently, Mochrie is on tour in North America with fellow Whose Line Is It Anyway? comedian Brad Sherman.

Colin and Brad will be performing at Millersville University in Millersville, PA on October 28 and in Jaffa Mosque in Altoona, PA on October 29.

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International Comic Arts Festival

October 12-14

Montreal-based artist Rupert Bazambanza will be speaking about his new book, Smile Through the Tears (Sourire malgré tout), during the International Comic Arts Festival. His book tells the true story of a Tutsi family, The Rwangas, during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rupert Bazambanza will be speaking on October 13 at the George Washington University's Gelman Library.

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