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This article was published 02/03/2023 (1116 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dancing with time

Friday to Sunday, March 3 to 5, various times
Gas Station Arts Centre, 445 River Ave.
Tickets $25 at nafrodance.com

Winnipeg’s NAfro Dance is hosting a trio of performances this weekend that explore time and space.

WAKATI, which translates to “time” in the Shaili language, is a collaboration between NAfro founder Casimiro Nhussi and Egyptian-born colleague Mohamed El Sayed. Each choreographer has created an original 30-minute piece with eight dancers and eight musicians focused on the program’s central theme.

Nhussi’s creation deals with building inner strength during times of adversity.

“We cannot always wait for time to stop the pain or heal the wounds,” he says in a media release. “Within the spine of the world we need to find strength to keep our balance and move on, because time cannot heal all wounds.”

El Sayed was born in Cairo and has studied traditional dance and percussion with mentors across the world. His Folklorama performances are an annual highlight of the Egyptian pavilion.

WAKATI performances take place at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

— Eva Wasney

 

First Fridays event puts women painters in the spotlight

Celebrating Canadian Women Artists
Friday, March 3
Mayberry Fine Art, 212 McDermot Ave.

Paintings by some of Canada’s most famous women artists spanning more than 80 years will be among the highlights Friday evening for First Fridays in the Exchange.

The Mayberry Fine Art exhibition of 50 paintings by 38 artists covers a wide range, including historical works such as Forest Interior, a 1942 painting by Emily Carr, the British Columbia artist who had ties with the Group of Seven; and such contemporary paintings as Ingodwewaan (One Couple) Pair of Ducks, a 2022 piece by Dee Barsy, an Ojibwa painter from Skownan First Nation, about 300 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

Manitoba artists whose works are part of the exhibition and sale include Daphne Odjig, Wanda Koop, Ewa Tarsia and Diana Thorneycroft and Esther Warkov.

The works are available for viewing online at mayberryfineart.com, but on Friday night its McDermot Avenue gallery will be open until 9 p.m. for viewing the works. The exhibition will be on display until March 18.

Other First Fridays events on Friday include Ethereral, a series of oil paintings by contemporary impressionist artist Lori Ferguson at the Cre8ery Gallery (second floor, 125 Adelaide St.); a stained-glass exhibition at Artbeat Studio (62 Albert St.) by Chris Johnson; and the opening reception for Glodi Bahati’s exhibition Notes on Self Invention at the Platform Centre for Photographic and Digital Arts (121-100 Arthur St.).

Bahati, a Congolese-born photographer who moved to Winnipeg via Uganda, is the 2002 Platform Photography Award winner.

— Alan Small

 

Tinge plays the Handsome Daughter

Saturday, March 4, 8 p.m.
The Handsome Daughter, 61 Sherbrook St.
Tickets $16.50 in advance at eventbrite.com

“I don’t want to be this way, I don’t want to be at all some days, I don’t want to be alone, I just can’t explain myself to anyone,” Veronica Blackhawk sings on Armed to the Teeth, the self-assured and confident first single from Blackhawk’s new project, Tinge. “I feel almost everything, I’m in love with the world and it don’t love me.”

Blackhawk, an Anishinaabe songwriter from Lake of the Woods, has found in Winnipeg a home at the burgeoning label House of Wonders, run by Adam Fuhr (Yes We Mystic), who was convinced to sign Tinge very quickly. With good reason: Armed to the Teeth features introspective lyrics fused to a musical backbone reminiscent of artists such as Waxahatchee, the popular project of Katie Crutchfield, and the Toronto songwriter Charlotte Cornfield.

Released on Feb. 8, Armed to the Teeth has been received warmly, and Tinge — which features Jordan Tait and Lincoln Brown — has more up its sleeve. The five-song EP, Big Deep Sigh, is set to be released Friday, March 3, and the following night, Tinge will be joined by Jupiter Meltdown and Arielle Beaupre at the Handsome Daughter.

If the single is any indication of what’s to come, Tinge’s future will be bright.

— Ben Waldman

 

Have an ice weekend

Friday to Sunday, March 3 to 5, Gimli, various locations
Festival passes $5

We’ve all had the same thought: how far can a frozen pickerel be thrown?

For an answer, come to the Gimli Ice Festival. One of the dozens of events scheduled for the 12th annual celebration is the frozen fish toss. But if fish-flinging isn’t your jam, perhaps you might be interested in checking out a screening of the film Indian Horse, based on the award-winning novel by the late writer Richard Wagamese. Or maybe you’d like to head to the Waterfront Centre to see an art exhibit by the students from Arborg Collegiate.

But the ice festival is all about the frozen stuff: on Saturday, cars will race on the lake; over $50,000 will be up for grabs in an ice-fishing derby; and a 30-km run will be held on the lake. A doubles curling bonspiel will be held at the rec centre. And on Sunday, there will be a frozen T-shirt competition. After the iced T, head to the visitor centre for some hot tea, and a piece of fresh bannock.

— Ben Waldman