Coming Up At The Cultch For May & June:
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5 Things with Noam Gagnon
Noam Gagnon in 10 THINGS you'll HATE about ME. Photo taken by Chris Randle  |
10 THINGS you'll HATE about ME is a Molotov cocktail of spectacle, dance and desire from choreographer/performer Noam Gagnon. Organized as a series of deeply personal vignettes, 10 THINGS walks the tissue-thin line between art and autobiography.
The Cultch is now offering e-zine subscribers (that's YOU!) $10 tickets to see 10 THINGS you'll HATE about ME. To receive this discount, use the coupon code 0504noam at the time of purchase. This discount code is available online at tickets.thecultch.com or by phone at 604.251.1363.
1. What can the audience expect from 10 Things?
NOAM: For 10 Things, I want to take the audience into the story of a fairy tale for grown-ups (but not limited to). I want to create a world where the audience can be enveloped by the magic of what theatre can do. I am a dreamer by nature, an extreme optimist, and that has carried me through many hard times.
In the show, I ask people to forget about reality and send them on a ride, showing them a beautiful, visual physicality, a poetry where there are images filled with the power of the story of a boy, and the traditional story of the hero. It's about love. It's about survival. But ultimately, it's about being able to transcend and make the choices that lead you to live the life you were meant to lead, not the life that was given to you.
2. 10 Things is described as a series of personal vignettes, can you tell us more about them?
NOAM: 10 Things is a fairy tale, and a life in Technicolor. It draws on a series of vignettes, text, set design, and imagery to describe the boy's story, and is seen through a parallel of the story The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde.
I speak about love, loss, hope, transcendence; it is based on something greater than our day-to-day experiences. It's about our own humanity and the desire to transcend. So it's not a piece where you can sigh with relief. But you feel safe watching something that's sometimes tragic, and also creates a magic and a beauty in this world.
3. What have you been working on since 2007's world premiere of The Vision Impure at The Cultch?
NOAM: I have been touring the new solo version of The Vision Impure that will be shown at CDF this coming June, and premiere in Vancouver during Dancing on the Edge this coming July. Also a few film projects, a few small creations/explorations, mentoring (which was delightful), Beyond Pilates teacher training, and more....
4. What was your inspiration for this work?
NOAM: Essentially, creating magic in my overly-scheduled daily life.
5. You've described yourself as an emotional dancer. Do you ever fear of expressing your emotions on such a public scale? What compels you to do so?
NOAM: I believe in beauty. And beauty doesn't have to mean perfection. We are beautiful when we are tired - it's when our barriers are down that we are beautiful. These may be things we think others will hate. It's just our essence then, and I love that. It takes a lot of courage to be in those places. And I think people can find themselves in the story, and that is beautiful, too.
Executive Director Heather Redfern
The Cultch is thrilled to announce that our Executive Director Heather Redfern has been nominated for the YWCA Vancouver Women of Distinction Awards for her tremendous work in Arts, Culture & Design. The Awards began in 1984 to honour, encourage and recognize women whose outstanding contributions make a difference to the community.
Heather will also have an opportunity to allocate $10,000 to Healthy Choices for Youth - all you need to do is vote on-line for her! The nominee with the most votes will receive the Connecting the Community Award. Scotiabank will designate $10,000 to the YWCA program area she selects.
Vote once a day until Friday, May 28 at noon. Please help us spread the word about Heather's nomination and secure funding for Healthy Choices for Youth!
Thank you for your ongoing support (and don't forget to vote).
p.s. you can also join the Facebook Fan Page for updates.
They're Back! The Horror Clown Duo Are At It Again
Mump & Smoot in CRACKED  |
"Mump and Smoot are a national treasure." - The Edmonton Sun
After an eight-year hiatus, the famed Canadian clown duo return to The Cultch with a new work that promises to liberate Vancouver audiences yet again into the giddy, scary world of pure imagination.
Mump and Smoot inhabit a parallel Universe on planet Ummo, worship a god named Ummo and converse in their own gibberish language - Ummonian - all the while delighting in the chaos of a nightmarish world. In CRACKED we find the intrepid duo Mump and Smoot challenging their god Ummo, who seemingly is bent on the annihalation of their friendship and ultimately their very existence.
The duo will once again turn conventional clowning on its head in this darkly humourous new work that ranges from zany to macabre. Not for Children!
Performances Michael Kennard, John Turner and director Karen Hines met during Second City Workshops in 1986. The trio went on to study under acclaimed clown Richard Pochinko. In 1988, Mump & Smoot came to life in their premiere production Jump the Gun. The "horror clown" duo have performed and taught across the globe and have garnered awards including two Dora Mavor Moore awards for Outstanding Production and Direction, as well a Canadian Comedy Award, a Boston Theatre Award and a Drama Logue Award.
"Mump and Smoot offer comedy at its most anarchic." - The Vancouver Sun
Don't miss this opportunity to see Mump & Smoot at The Cultch from May 26 - 29, June 1 - 5 at 8PM. Matinee: May 30 at 4pm. For tickets, order
online at http://tickets.thecultch.com
or call the Box Office at 604-251-1363.
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The Cultch's 10/11 Season is chock-full of good reasons to subscribe
Never has there been a better time to renew your subscription or subscribe to our 10/11 Season! For as little as $90 you can enjoy four of our notoriously adventurous and brilliantly imagined performances in Vancouver's most intimate theatre. The Cultch's 10/11 Season is chock-full of good reasons to get out with your friends and family.
We know that our 10/11 Season will provide you with one-of-a-kind, immersive experiences you'll want to share with your loved ones. This coming season we are proud to present some of our most spectacular and cutting-edge performances yet.
Check out our website on May 19th as we
announce our 10/11 Season.
The Cultch's Summer Youth Performing Arts Intensive:
Now accepting applications! A one-of-a-kind summer camp experience for high-school aged youth, August 16th - 27th
Vancouver has a rich and diverse independent performing-arts community known internationally for its innovation. This is your opportunity to work with leading members of that community and learn exactly what it takes to bring a new production to a professional stage. Participants will form performance groups that will work in collaboration with our faculty of expert mentors to create an original multi-disciplinary work. Along the way the young artists will be given unprecedented access to professionals in the industry to which they aspire. The program ends on August 27th with the world-premiere of the student's work in The Cultch's beautiful, state-of-the-art Historic Theatre.
Expect to learn!
Expect to laugh!
Expect to be challenged!
It will be the most exciting and inspiring two weeks of your summer, guaranteed.
Continue reading "Introducing The Cultch's Inaugural Summer Youth Performing Arts Intensive"
 FACEBOOK TIP: Sign up as a fan of The Cultch on Facebook and become eligible for our exclusive Facebook ticket giveaways and last minute deals!
Community Announcement - DOXA Documentary Film Festival
In 2000, the DOXA Documentary Film Festival began with an idea to offer the very best documentary films available. Ten years later, DOXA has grown exponentially, becoming the largest documentary festival in Western Canada. Many of the films in our 10th Anniversary Festival share a strong activist component. Whether it's a Jewish academic fighting for first amendment rights in the US, yodeling lesbian twin sisters from New Zealand, or a lawyer taking on one of the largest corporations in the USon the behalf of Nicaraguan banana workers, the global enterprise of standing up, speaking out and fighting back is captured in all its glorious complexity in the art of documentary film.
DOXA Documentary Film Festival runs May 7-16, 2010. Tickets are available at Bibliophile Bookshop, Videomatica, Biz Books and online at www.doxafestival.ca. For further information, call DOXA at 604-646-3200.
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Print out this coupon and bring it to The Cultch next time you're in!  | | |
